Ottawa Citizen

Halladay laments what might have been with Jays

- RYAN WOLSTAT Rwolstat@postmedia.com Twitter.com/WolstatSun

Roy Halladay can’t help but feel a tinge of jealousy when he scans the star-laden Blue Jays lineup these days.

Halladay, either the best or second-best pitcher in team history, depending on how one feels about Dave Stieb, never made the playoffs during his outstandin­g 12 seasons in Toronto (148-76 with a 3.43 ERA).

“I would have given my left arm to have the team we have now, it would have been a dream come true the last four years to do this here,” Halladay said on Sunday morning in the Blue Jays dugout.

He was on hand as part of a 40th anniversar­y celebratio­n of the best pitchers in franchise history.

“But things work the way they did and we were kind of going the other direction to allow this to happen now. Glad it worked out.”

He said that last part with a wry smile. While he finally reached the post-season once he went to Philadelph­ia, Halladay’s heart has always been in Toronto and he would have loved to have played truly meaningful games while here.

Halladay talked about how loosening the purse strings in recent years has paid off.

“It’s funny how one trade (Troy Tulowitzki), with a good team and going after it (David Price, etc.) with one trade deadline seemed to really turn them all around,” Halladay said.

“You only have excitement coming into the next spring, the extra income you got in the playoffs to go out and get better ... it’s been awesome.”

Unfortunat­ely for Halladay, that wasn’t the way things were done during his tenure and he quickly answered when asked what the biggest trade deadline move by those Jays was.

“I don’t think we did (make any deals),” Halladay said.

“We were in first one year going into the break and I don’t think we got anybody that year. I think we were all kinds of dejected when we came back, because the Yankees got two or three guys, the Red Sox got two or three guys, and that pretty much was the end of us.”

Ultimately, the lack of contending teams ended Halladay’s time in Toronto, as he had to leave in order to finally get a real shot at a ring.

Halladay officially retired in December 2013 after signing a oneday contract with Toronto.

 ?? TOM SZCZERBOWS­KI/GETTY IMAGES ?? Former Jay Roy Halladay, centre, posed with Marco Estrada, left, and Aaron Sanchez during 40th anniversar­y celebratio­ns before the start of Toronto's game against Houston on Sunday.
TOM SZCZERBOWS­KI/GETTY IMAGES Former Jay Roy Halladay, centre, posed with Marco Estrada, left, and Aaron Sanchez during 40th anniversar­y celebratio­ns before the start of Toronto's game against Houston on Sunday.

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