An Ode to Doc

Last week during the Winter meetings,  Free agent pitcher Roy Halladay signed a 1 day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays to announce his retirement from the sport as a blue jays player. It was a heartwarming press conference, where Halladay, just as usual, was grateful to everyone who was part of his journey. Shoulder and elbow issues got the better of him, which made him decide to hang up his cleats and call it a career. At the age of 36, Halladay is, as my colleague Chengez stated, "a fringe worthy hall of famer". It is only fair to see what makes him deserve this title and so much praise from fans of the sport like I.

Roy Halladay was not flashy. He wasnt a headline chaser. He did not want any sort of paparazzi surrounding him, and he was someone who never got into fights or arguments on the baseball field. He did not play the game for the fame or the money. He played the game for his love of Baseball. And that is what in my mind makes him someone who deserves a lot of respect in the world of sport. 

And if Stats speak for themselves, well Halladay's stats just speak of him as a workhorse who was consistent and dominant throughout his entire career. Roy Halladay was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round of the draft, 17th pick overall and made his debut as a Blue Jay in 1998 when he was 21 years old. Halladay quickly established himself as a dominant pitcher in the majors by having a repertoire of pitchers that made him deceptive. Halladay never made it to the postseason as a member of the Blue Jays franchise but did win a Cy Young in the year of 2003 and made 5 all star appearances as a Blue Jay. When the Phillies acquired Halladay to be part of their team before the start of the 2010 season. Hallday quickly established himself as the ace of the staff along with Cliff Lee and Cole Hamels.

Halladay after throwing a no-hitter

It finally seemed like Hallday had a team that had a good chance of winning the World series. Halladay went on to make his postseason debut against the Cincinnati Reds that year in the NLDS and went on to pitch a no-hitter, making him only the second baseball player to pitch a no hitter in the postseason. And if it had not been a walk issued in the 5th inning, that game would have resulted in a perfect game in the postseason, something that has never been done till this point. Speaking of perfect games, Roy Halladay also threw a perfect game against the Florida (now Miami) Marlins that same year, 10 days after Oakland A's pitcher Dallas Braden accomplished the same feat. Thanks to these extraordinary accomplishments that season, Halladay won his second, and last Cy Young Award in the year of 2010. He would go on to pitch for the Phillies in the 2011 NLDS where he went on to win Game 1 but lose Game 5 after a pitching duel against Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter. Halladay would never taste the postseason after that game ever again. While he did come into a team that was destined to dominate the league for at least a year or two, he could never accomplish his dream of winning a World Series ring. He went on to post a career 3.38 ERA after pitching in the majors for almost 20 years as a Blue Jay and a Phillie.

It is hard to argue against not electing "Doc" into the hall of fame, given his track record and his individual accomplishments. It is just a shame that his best years were spent with a team that never made it to the playoffs in arguably the toughest division in Baseball and that he reached the end of his peak as a Phillie after two years. Had Halladay been a member of a better franchise when he was a Blue Jay, I dont think the question of him being a hall of famer would be a hard one to answer. 

And so the chapter of Roy Halladay in the sport of Baseball comes to an end. He never failed to make a game interesting, and never failed to amaze the fans of the sport. In the words of Blue Jays Broadcaster Tom Cheek, "Long live the Doc". 

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Google Plus

About Aditya Sriwasth

Aditya is the Founder, President, and Publisher of SportsKop. His favorite sports teams are the Oakland Athletics, San Jose Sharks, San Francisco 49ers, and most importantly, Liverpool FC. He is a student of the game, who has mastered the rules of the sports he covers, and brings passion, humor, and a fan’s perspective to the writing he contributes. He never really fared too well as a baseball player and therefore called it quits and decided to just mumble about sports. He's fat and obsessed with Steven Gerrard and Bryce Harper, and also has a massive celebrity crush on Kate Upton.

Follow him on: