Former Jays pitcher Halladay dies in plane crash
Toronto Blue Jays legend Roy Halladay is dead after his personal plane crashed in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday afternoon.
He was 40.
The eight-time all-star and two-time Cy Young Award winner was involved in the crash at about 1 p.m.
Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said during a news conference that Halladay’s ICON A5 went down about noon off the coast of Florida. The sheriff ’s office marine unit responded to the downed plane and found Halladay’s body. No survivors were found. Police said they couldn’t confirm if there were additional passengers on the plane or say where it was headed.
Halladay was an amateur pilot who often posted on social media about small planes. ICON aircraft had posted a video with Halladay trying out a new plane.
“I have dreamed about owning an A5 since I retired! Real life is better than my dreams!! Thanks Kirk and everyone @ICONAircraft,” he wrote at the time.
“The Toronto Blue Jays organization is overcome by grief with the tragic loss of one of the franchise’s greatest and most respected players, but even better human being” the team said in a statement.
The Blue Jays continued “it is impossible to express what he has meant to this franchise, the city and its fans.”
“We are numb over the very tragic news about Roy Halladay’s untimely death,” the Philadelphia Phillies said in a statement in the afternoon. “There are no words to describe the sadness that the entire Phillies family is feeling over the loss of one of the most respected human beings to ever play the game.”
A nearby resident called in the crash, which occurred at about 1 p.m. Florida Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Coast Guard, Pasco Fire Department and Pasco Sheriff ’s Office all responded to the scene.
Halladay made his passion for flying clear on his social media feeds, regularly posting photos and videos of himself in the cockpit of his aircraft.
The right-hander was drafted 17th overall by the Blue Jays in 1995, won his first Cy Young in 2003 and remained with the franchise until he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in December 2009.
Among the greatest players in franchise history, he remains second all-time for Blue Jays wins, strikeouts, strikeouts per nine innings and shutouts; and third all-time in starts, ERA, innings pitched and completed games.
He retired after four seasons with the Phillies, during which time he won a second Cy Young, pitched a perfect game and served up a playoff no-hitter.
Other baseball players to die in plane crashes included Pittsburgh Pirates allstar Roberto Clemente, who was on a relief mission from Puerto Rico travelling to earthquake victims in Nicaragua on New Year’s Eve in 1972; New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson who was piloting his own plane near his home in Canton, Ohio, in 1979; and Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle who was also flying his own plane in New York City in 2006.