Memories pour in as baseball remembers ‘Doc’
One by one, from all parts of the country, from all corners of the baseball world, Roy Halladay’s former teammates and admiring opponents chimed in. Through Twitter, radio and television interviews, using all channels from which to pour their grief, they noted their memories of Halladay, offered their condolences to his family.
The mark he left on baseball was obvious when he played, bittersweet when he was forced to retire at the age of 36 in 2013 ... and somehow so inspiring after his death Tuesday at 40 from a plane crash off the Gulf coast of Florida.
“You are gone too soon, my friend,” Shane Victorino said in a statement released through the Phillies. “I was blessed to have shared the field with you as a teammate, competitor, friend and more importantly, brother. Praying for Brandy and the boys, my Ohana (family) and I will do all we can for them in this tragic time. I love you, bro.”
Roy Halladay was already acknowledged as baseball’s best pitcher when he came to the Phillies (in an odd, three-way trade involving Cliff Lee) in the spring of 2010. He had won 20 or more games twice and 19 in another season while with the Toronto Blue Jays, compiling a 148-76 record with them, the bulk of that coming from 2002 through 2009.
So all Halladay did as an encore in his first season with the Phillies was go 2110 with a 2.44 ERA, throwing the 20th perfect game in major league history on the road against the Florida Marlins in May, then firing a no-hitter in the 2010 National League Divisional Series against Cincinnati at Citizens Bank Park.
Three years later it would be all over, Halladay retiring due to shoulder problems. He won 203 games, made the All-Star team eight times, won the Cy Young Award twice (2010 with the Phils, 2003 with the Blue Jays) ...
Yet he will be remembered more for being the kind of teammate he was than for all of his pitching accomplishments.
Former Phillies teammate Kyle Kendrick: “Roy was so much more than a teammate. He was a great man who taught me so much on and off the field. Not only did I look up to him as a pitcher, but also as a friend, father and husband. He was like an older brother to me and I will miss him.”
Former Phil and Toronto teammate Scott Rolen: “I’m sick right now. Doc was as driven a human being as I’d ever met in my life. I’m hurting for his family and friends. We all lost a good man.”
Added former Phils manager Charlie Manuel: “His contributions to the Phillies can’t be measured.”
In an interview, former general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. talked of how Halladay would text him to apologize after a bad outing.
Other Phillies, most notably club chairman David Montgomery, talked about how Halladay would praise teammates after his special achievements.
After Halladay’s perfect game in May 2010, for example, he bought 60 Baume & Mercier luxury Swiss watches and had them engraved, then presented them to teammates and Phillies employees.
“After the perfect game, Roy spent hours agonizing over how to include his teammates,” Montgomery said. “He bought everyone in the organization that he felt touched him a watch. I even got a watch. The reality is that it was just Roy’s statement that it wasn’t about ‘me,’ it was about ‘us’ and what we accomplished.”
After Halladay won the Cy Young Award after that season, catcher Carlos Ruiz received another gift. He opened it, revealing a Cy Young Award replica from you know who.
“He was the ultimate teammate with a passion for being the best,” Chase Utley said. “I’m honored to have had the chance to compete with you, Roy. ... RIP Doc, but knowing you, rest is not in our vocabulary.”
Even af ter the injuries took Halladay’s game away from him, he didn’t stop giving back. Living in Florida, he showed up at Clearwater as a guest instructor for two Phillies spring trainings. Stayed away for a while, then came back in 2017.
It was then that Montgomery tried to talk to him about expanding his presence in another role with the Phillies going forward.
“I sat down and talked with him two or three times during the spring and he said ‘I would love to do more, but right now family comes first.’” Montgomery said. “I remember the one spring he was going to be there more, then he wasn’t for a few days. I just think he was conflicted because he wanted to be with (his) two boys. That’s another thing that is so sad today, that that was taken away from them. ... To see them grow up.”
“Such a sad day. We lost a great ball player but an even better human being. Many prayers to Brandy, Ryan, & Brayden. We will miss you Roy.” — Former Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard. “Saddened to hear my card playing partner on the (at) BlueJays just passed. RIP my man. You are missed already.” — Former Blue Jays teammate Jose Cruz Jr. “I only own like 5 signed jerseys , and I was so scared to ask him. Hewrote that he liked watching ME pitch. What an honor.” — Former pitcher Dan Haren ———