As a Blue Jay, Roy Halladay was named to 6 All-Star games, the second most of any Jay, 1 behind Dave Stieb, so when SB Nation told us about doing a 'Top Ten All-Star moments, I figured Roy would have at least one or two of the top spots, but Roy really didn't show all that well in any of his All-Star games.
There was no way I was going to do this countdown without a Roy Halladay moment, so number 9 on our list is Halladay and the 2009 All-Star game.
Named to 6 All-Star games, Roy pitched in 4 of them for a total of 6 innings, and he gave up 6 earned runs in those innings:
- 2002: Roy pitched 1 inning (the 3rd) and gave up 3 hits and 3 earned runs, 2 on a Barry Bonds home run.
- 2003: He didn't play.
- 2005: He didn't play.
- 2006: Roy pitched 2 innings (3rd and 4th), gave up 3 hits, 1 earned run and struck out 1.
- 2008: Roy pitched 1 inning (the 4th), he gave up a hit and struck out 1, no runs scored, so his most successful All-Star appearance as a Blue Jay.
Then came 2009. As you likely remember, a couple of weeks before the All-Star game, JP Riccardi told a reporter that he was looking for ways to improve the Jays and was obligated to listen to any offer that would make the Jays better. Asked if that mean he was looking to trade Halladay, he said no. Would he listen to offers? Yes.
It all seemed, at least from this distance, to be a fairly innocuous thing to say, but it started a media feeding frenzy. Being so close to the All-Star game, it put Roy in a bad spot, with every baseball writer in the world converging on Busch Stadium, he was forced to sit through a press conference and to answer the same type of question, over and over again. Yes he enjoys playing in Toronto. Yes he would consider a trade to a contender, if the Jays brought it to him. For someone who works as hard at being focused on his job, as Roy does, it made it tough to do that job, at least at the level we expect out of him.
Halladay was named starting pitcher for the AL, which didn't do much to take the media's focus off him. You want to know why Doc doesn't speak to the media, his performance on this day shows why.
The trade rumors continued to swirl around Halladay until the trade deadline passed. Then at the end of the season, Riccardi was fired and Alex Anthopoulos hired. Alex traded Doc during the off-season.
In the first inning Doc got 3 straight ground outs. In the 2nd he got Ryan Braun to line out and Raul Ibanez then it all fell apart. David Wright, Shane Victorino and Yadier Molina hit consecutive singles, then Prince Fielder hit a ground rule double. 3 runs scored, 1 run was unearned due to a Josh Hamilton throwing error. A Hanley Ramirez ground out ended the innings and Roy came out of the game after the inning. And that was Roy Halladay's last All-Star game as a Blue Jay, unless....
Doc wasn't the only Jay in that game. Aaron Hill started the game in place of Dustin Pedroia, who missed the game to be with his wife who was pregnant and having complications. Hill went 0 for 3, 2 ground outs and a fly out.