USA TODAY International Edition
Halladay widow’s words eloquent
COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. – It was the speech Brandy Halladay never wanted to give, but after tears, sniffles and choked emotions, it was her words that forever will be immortalized in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Brandy Halladay spoke for just seven minutes about her late husband, Roy. It was the shortest speech of the day in front of the crowd of 55,000. It might have the most lasting impact.
“I think that Roy would want everybody to know that people are not perfect,” she said. “We are all imperfect and flawed in one way or another. We all struggle. But with hard work, humility and dedication, imperfect people can still have perfect moments.
“Roy was blessed in his life and career to have some perfect moments, but I believe they were only possible because of the man he strives to be, the teammate that he was and the people he was so blessed to be on the field with.”
Roy Halladay, who died when his plane crashed two years ago in the Gulf
of Mexico near his Florida home, would have been 42.
It’s a death that still leaves questions, from his daredevil stunts that Nov. 7, 2017, afternoon, the morphine, amphetamines and Ambien found in his system, to his father and sisters revealing details to Sports Illustrated about depression and addiction to medication.
Brandy Halladay and her family, including their two sons, were hurt and angry. It was hardly the way they want their husband and father to be remembered. Now, they pray induction will perhaps provide closure.
“The message I wanted to convey there is that Roy was a very normal person with a very exceptional, amazing job,” she said after the ceremony. “These men doing these outstanding things, they’re still real people. They still have feelings. They still have families. They still struggle. So many of the guys that I’ve known in my life through baseball, they work so hard to hide them. I know Roy did. And Roy struggled a lot.
“Sometimes it’s hard to present the image you know everyone wants to see. It’s hard to be judged by the image people expect of you. It’s important we don’t sensationalize and idealize what a baseball player is, but look at the man and the human. I think Roy would rather be remembered by who he was, not what he did on the ballfield.”
The ovation after Halladay’s speech, with their two sons sitting in the front row, including Braden, a pitcher in the Blue Jays’ organization where his father once pitched, left a lot more people wiping tears away than just Brandy.
“It was an absolute surreal experience,” Braden Halladay said. “My Mom is a rock.”
The Hall of Famers on the stage behind her, most of whom she had never met, provided support all week.
“It’s hard to understand, but it happened,” Yankees closer Mariano Rivera said. “And all I was trying to do was pray for her because the Lord can give you strength. It was such a tough situation.”
There were a few tears, laughter and a whole lot of gratitude throughout the three-hour ceremony, and while Brandy Halladay certainly had the most moving and emotional speech, the longest and loudest ovations were for Rivera.
Rivera’s induction brought dignitaries from Panama President Laurentino Cortizo to former boxing champion Roberto Duran to the heart and soul of the Yankees’ dynasty: Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Tino Martinez, Andy Pettitte and Bernie Williams.
“I wasn’t going to miss this,” Duran told USA TODAY. “He meant so much to me. I saw him as a young boy growing up in Panama, and look at him now, a Hall of Famer.”
Posada and Jeter said they didn’t hesitate when Rivera invited them.
“It was important to be here,” said Posada, who won five World Series titles with Rivera as the closer. “It was such a special time. When you look back, what we were able to do, wasn’t easy. We made it look easy, but it wasn’t. We were very proud the way we played the game, the way we were able to bounce back after each year. You see the Red Sox have a little hangover from last year. But we were able to do it, man. It’s hard. October takes a big toll on the pitchers. And we were able to bounce back.”
The constant was Rivera, who saved 652 games, including 42 in the postseason with a stunning 0.70 ERA, and who will be remembered as one of the five greatest Yankees in history.
“I wanted to be the next Pele,” Rivera said of the famous Brazilian soccer star. “But my abilities were not good enough to be a soccer player. So the Lord was pushing me to baseball.”
Rivera signed for $2,000, received a new pair of shoes and a glove, and remembers crying at night, unable to speak English to communicate with his teammates. He learned English, learned to throw a cut-fastball, was called up in 1996 to stay, became the closer in 1997, and the rest is history. “I used that pitch for 17 years and used it well,” Rivera said.
Rivera, who spoke last and easily the longest with his speech lasting nearly 25 minutes, including about four minutes in Spanish, eventually had to turn around and apologize to his fellow teammates for the length.
No matter. No one seemed to mind, laughing when Rivera led off his speech asking why he has to always go last.
Lee Smith talked about growing up and learning life lessons in tiny Castor, Louisiana, while Mike Mussina echoed the same sentiments about life in Montoursville, Pennsylvania. Edgar Martinez talked about the pride of becoming only the fourth Puerto Rican player to be elected. And Harold Baines cried when talking about the strength and support from his wife, Marla.
The funniest line went to Edgar Martinez, who was interviewed about fellow Hall of Famer Randy Johnson after he was traded from Seattle to Houston in 1998. Johnson read his comments and was furious. When he tried to explain himself to Johnson, the pitcher looked at him, Martinez recalled, and threatened to drill him with a pitch the next time he faced him. “Don’t worry, it will hurt,” he said, “but only for a minute.”
Baines told the story about hitting his game-winning homer for the White Sox in the 25th inning against the Brewers in 1984. When he came into the clubhouse, a reporter told him, “You got all of that one?” Baines said: “Evidently.”
“I’ve never been outspoken or said very much,” Baines said, “but I think of my dad and the lesson he passed onto me: ‘Words are easy; deeds are hard. Words can be empty, deeds speak loudest, and sometimes they echo forever.’ ”
The greatest deed Sunday at Cooperstown was Brandy Halladay having the courage to stand up, speak from the heart and provide perspective into the man few people really knew.