Bluebird Banter - Roy Halladay's RetirementRoster moves R Us.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/47723/bluebird-fv.png2013-12-19T12:00:12-05:00http://www.bluebirdbanter.com/rss/stream/49599632013-12-19T12:00:12-05:002013-12-19T12:00:12-05:00Guest Post: A Doc to Remember
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<figcaption>Andy Lyons</figcaption>
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<p>Editor's note: Matt English (<a href="https://twitter.com/mattomic" target="new">@mattomic</a>) originally wrote this piece about Roy Halladay for his blog "<a href="http://mattenglish.kinja.com/" target="new">Carrie Hunt and the Spoonerisms</a>". We liked it so much we asked him to post it here too.</p> <p>"<i>You headed to the Jays game?</i>"</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span>It was a stranger on the subway talking to me. An older man, bearded, carrying one of those shabby Blue Jays giveaway bags from Mr. Sub that looked like it was won back in the <span>Juan Guzman</span> era. I was alone on the subway, headed to the Rogers Centre. I was probably around 17, which would put this squarely in the year 2004. You remember the summer of 2004: the Expos were bidding a final adieu, Paul Martin was forming an ill-fated government, your crappy local Canadian mall had a MusicWorld between the Randy River and the Stitches - and a tall redheaded man named Harry Leroy Halladay III was the reigning Cy Young winner after an otherworldly workhorse season, one where he faced 1,071 batters over 260 innings pitched.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>Of those 1,071 batters he faced in 2003, only 253 collected a hit, a paltry 39 got walked or wild-pitched, nine were foolish enough to crowd his sinker and got plunked, and the rest--<i>all seven-hundred-and-seventy of them--</i>trotted right back to the dugout as failures.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"<i>Yeah,</i>" I answered to the old-timer. It was pretty obvious where I was headed. As a high school kid with nothing to do on a muggy summer weekday, I'd catch a bus from the boonies of suburban North York, hop on the subway, find the scalper who looked least likely to murder me for meth money, palm him some cash I'd earned at my summer job mopping puke at Rainbow Cinemas, stroll into the Rogers Centre-<i>née</i>-<i>SkyDome </i>and plunk down in my seat to watch that season's 67 W - 94 L Blue Jays.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"> </p>
<p>"<i>Yeah, I saw you've got the new jersey,</i>" the old-timer said. Damn right I was wearing my spiffy new Jays jersey on the subway - the black alternate, natch, courtesy of Santa Claus. In retrospect, those 2004-2011 duds will probably mark a forgotten era of <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/">Toronto Blue Jays</a> history, duds in both a performance-wise and sartorial sense. As hard as it is to believe, I used to like that logo. We <i>all </i>kinda did. One day in the distant future the idea of the Blue Jays switching to silver-and-black uniforms with a sharper, meaner, over-stylized Terminator-lookin' logo, complete with our formerly passive blue jay now seeming to be full of Nu-Metal rage, will scream "<i>that's SO '00s</i>", the same way we now get a knee-jerk <i>so '80s!</i> reaction from <a target="_blank" href="http://i.imgur.com/D6bi2ws.jpg" style="background-color: #ffffff;">this</a>, or <a target="_blank" href="http://i.imgur.com/FNfkTt3.jpg" style="background-color: #ffffff;">this</a>. But at the time, those new Jays duds looked <i>fresh</i>.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1973479/ku-xlarge.jpg"><img src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/imported_assets/1973479/ku-xlarge_medium.jpg" class="photo" alt="Ku-xlarge_medium"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Image from <a target="_blank" href="http://mattenglish.kinja.com/a-doc-to-remember-roy-halladay-and-toronto-1485356218">Carrie Hunt and the Spoonerisms</a></i></p>
<p>The stranger and I talked about the team the whole ride, since my parents apparently never taught me not to talk to weirdos on the subway. <i>Boy, that Rios sure can hit. I hope the rumours about Delgado leaving aren't true.</i> He asked me who was pitching today, and I said I thought it was Halladay.</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span>That's when I saw it. He had a wistful look in his eyes the moment Halladay was mentioned. "I tell ya, that Halladay, he's something special." It was like he was talking about a beloved childhood pet, not a local baseball player.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p>I said something to the effect of "Yeah, he's really good". The old-timer, smelling of Labatt Ice and a half-pack of smokes, leaned in and told me something that struck me: "Naw, he ain't just good, he's <i>once-in-a-lifetime</i>. Just watch."</p>
<p> </p>
<p><span>I don't know why I remember talking to a grizzled eccentric on the subway about Roy Halladay nearly a decade ago, but I think from that point forward, it gave me some perspective. Here was a guy who'd probably seen four decades of mostly-heartbreaking Toronto sports--he knew the bad from the good, plus a crapload of the plain old mediocre. He knew how to tell a flash-in-the-pan success story from a bona fide star in the making. I guess to that point I'd been taking Roy Halladay for granted. He was our best pitcher, but ultimately, just another one of our five starters. And those five starters were just part of the 25 guys on the team, all with their own roles and personalities and stats to memorize. I was a greenhorn teenage baseball fan, after all – maybe I just thought having a Cy Young winner on your team was normal. Maybe I figured every team had a guy who'd go eight or nine innings every single night, pitching like he'd unlocked a cheat code, frustrating a new batch of baffled batters night in and night out with a slew of weak grounders to the shortstop and devastating, knee-buckling curveball strikeouts.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span>It turns out that no other team had a Roy Halladay. For a decade of dominance, he was ours and ours alone.</span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span>We didn't have five starters. We had four starters and one Doc Halladay.</span></p>
<h4>The Doctor Is In</h4>
<p>Nothing about <span>Roy Halladay's</span> demeanor screams "fun". From his granite-faced expression to his reputation for military-like focus and seriousness, he was no one's idea of a barrel of laughs. His retirement press conference may have been the most he's smiled in public in the past 10 years, his playoff no-hitter excluded. But one thing was undoubtedly fun: watching Roy pitch.</p>
<p>It didn't matter whether it was against the dynasty-era <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.pinstripealley.com/">Yankees</a> or the dumpster-fire-era Devil <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.draysbay.com/">Rays</a>, he'd approach every game like it was the deciding <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/world-series">World Series</a> game he would ultimately never get to play in.</p>
<p> </p>
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<img src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/25405013/73773617.0.jpg"><span>Photo credit: Gregory Shamus</span>
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<p>Roy's tall, imposing body would stand astride the mound like a Colossus, still like a statue, burning a hole through the opponent's bat with his unblinking gaze. It must have been terrifying to face Roy Halladay in his prime. I can just imagine stepping up to the plate, looking into his fiery orange beard and coal-black pupils staring back at you, knees trembling over what might be coming. For one, Halladay's just a huge human being. Batters who've faced him have said it felt like he was on top of you, like the ball was coming down at you from the heavens, able to dart in on your hands with his sinker or slip away off the plate with his cutter. He'd uncork his body in a flash of speed and his signature cutter would whiz by at 92 MPH, first feeling like it was coming right in on your delicate little hands, breezing your knuckle hair, then zipping back to catch the inside corner of the plate.</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="pullquote">He's playing chess, and all you brought was a checkers set.</div>
<p>Spitting on the AstroTurf and readjusting, you'd cock your bat and get ready--<i>alright</i>, here comes that cutter again, time to take a King Kong swing and unleash hell on this freaky ginger Mormon. The windup is the same, it's a buckle-high fastball right down Main Street, you're thinking <i>cutter </i>right out of his hand--only this time instead of zipping away, it darts in on you. You've swung right into Halladay's sinker, catching the handle of your bat and slashing it harmlessly foul, leaving your hands ringing like a jackhammer.</p>
<p>He knew you'd swing. Roy Halladay was five steps ahead of you on this entire at-bat. He'd been thinking about you since 8 AM this morning, you poor little Devil Rays batter. He's been sitting alone and going through this exact at-bat in his head over and over again.</p>
<p>He's playing chess, and all you brought was a checkers set.</p>
<p>On the third pitch you're tied up in a pretzel as a looping curveball comes in on you, dropping away and catching the corner of the plate. The ump rings you up with a bellow that echoes through the mostly-empty blue plastic of SkyDome. Radios across Ontario crackle with Tom Cheek howling "Got him!"</p>
<p>You retreat to the dugout, defeated, knowing what it feels like to be humbled by the best pitcher in baseball.</p>
<h4>Robo-Doc</h4>
<p>Back in the primordial soup that was mid-2000s internet sports discussion, there was no Twitter for teenagers to voice their dumb <span>Vernon Wells</span> opinions, so I'd frequent blogs like Drunk Jays Fans in its primitive Blogspot form. In any game thread before a Halladay start, Stoeten would post his <a href="http://blogs.thescore.com/djf/2009/07/24/game-threat-roy-halladay-11-3-vs-not-roy-halladay-6-7/" target="_blank">crudely-Photoshopped</a> picture of Roy Halladay as Terminator--half his face burned off over T-800 exoskeleton. It was a fitting image for Roy. For one, his pitching seemed so effortlessly dominant, so automatic, that we truly believed for a while that he must have been part cyborg. But on a deeper level, there was something about Roy Halladay's personality that seemed <i>robotic</i>. His focus and determination seemed superhuman. On TV you'd see him on the bench, just sitting alone with his jacket on, staring dead ahead with a grim, almost frightening level of focus in his eyes. No one dared speak to Roy while he was in the groove. Robo-Doc had taken over, and unnecessary conversation would just confuse his programming.</p>
<p>You can just imagine that when he stepped on the mound Roy saw everything in Terminator-vision, stats and figures and diagrams calculating everywhere. An infrared target would focus on the catcher's glove with blinking red text: "<i>TARGET: ACQUIRED. CALCULATING PITCH SELECTION... PITCH SELECTED: CUTTER, OUTSIDE CORNER. PROJECTED OUTCOME: SWINGING STRIKE.</i>"</p>
<p> </p>
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<img src="http://cdn0.sbnation.com/assets/3741491/312637.jpg"><span>Photo credit: Scott Halleran/Getty Images</span>
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<p>How did Roy become half-man/half-machine, the RoboCop of Major League Baseball? The conventional wisdom is that it must have happened back in 2001. Now part of the familiar Roy Halladay mythos, Roy made his Major League debut in '98, pitched a near no-hitter in his second MLB start (broken up by a pinch-hit homerun with two out in the ninth, in a game that lasted only 1 hour, 45 minutes), completely fell apart in 2000 to the tune of a historically-bad 10.64 ERA, and got sent all the way down to single-A ball in 2001. Not just rehabbing in AAA, or AA--crashing down in a freefall all the way south to sleepy Dunedin, Florida with the single-A Dunedin Blue Jays.</p>
<p>The late Mel Queen was brought out of retirement just to fix Halladay. It's almost as if he reported back to the brass in Toronto: "W<i>e can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world's first bionic pitcher</i>." In Dunedin, Halladay was completely dismantled by Queen. Not only were his pitching mechanics completely rebuilt from the ground up, Roy's entire way of thinking and pitching was stripped to the bone, leaving nothing but a shell of pure, raw talent. All the way from the bottom of the barrel, rescued from the brink of career disaster, Roy Halladay the Machine was born.</p>
<p>Armed with a new pitch repertoire, new throwing grips and a new mental outlook after the gruelling bootcamp in Dunedin, Roy Halladay returned to Toronto a new man. Just over a year later, Roy would throw four consecutive complete games, rack up 22 wins, and pitch 266 innings (no pitcher has thrown 260+ IP since) on the road to the Cy Young award. For Jays fans he had become more myth than man, a towering figure whose intensity would strike fear into the hearts of opponents (and, occasionally, teammates who would dare talk to him on start days.)</p>
<h4>A Halladay to Remember</h4>
<p>We tend to focus so much on his cyborg half, we forget his human half. Roy Halladay would step off the mound after a gruellingly intense outing, and he'd go back to being a mild-mannered citizen, with a wife and kids and a keen sense of humour. Maybe that dichotomy was what drew us to Roy. Maybe as a city, we've got a bit of that ying and yang--that business-like scowl mixed with that vulnerable humanity.</p>
<p> </p>
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<img src="http://cdn1.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/25405119/20131207_mje_mb2_021.0.jpg"><span>Photo Credit: David Manning-USA TODAY Sports</span>
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<p>Sometimes you'd hear an anecdote about Roy just being the most down-to-earth, fun-loving goofball, and you'd wonder if they were talking about the same warrior-like Roy Halladay who'd fight through a shredded shoulder if it meant giving his team another strikeout. It's hard to parse the vision of the intense, glowering Roy punching into his mitt after giving up a hit, and the Roy who was the most warm-hearted, generous guy in Toronto during his decade of dominance. After Spring Training night games in Dunedin he'd kick back in a tent behind the stadium bullpen, just having a beer with fans and shooting the breeze about baseball. He genuinely loved the city of Toronto, too--unlike a lot of local athletes, he actually lived in the city and became part of the local community, attending charity events and raising his children here. (His son Braden, now 13, was born in Toronto.) With his wife Brandy he started the Doc's Box program, partnering with Sick Kids Hospital to let hospitalized kids and their families enjoy Jays games. He always had time for children, and would take the time to chat up a group of kids for up to an hour just signing autographs.</p>
<p>Ultimately, that love of kids and family was in a way what led him to an early retirement. Here was a man who loved baseball more than you or I will ever love anything--but even then, he somehow found a way to love his family even more. He wanted to spend time with his kids, and avoid a of back surgery that might have squeaked out a couple more playing seasons at the expense of his quality of life. Not to mention that as a genuinely upstanding man, he had a hard time accepting another year of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/">Phillies</a>' money if he didn't feel he could compete at the level he was being paid. He accepted his retirement the same way he accepted his 2001 demotion, and his 2009 trade: with humility and class.</p>
<p>A lot has been written about that dark day in December of 2009 when the Jays traded Halladay. We all huddled around blogs like families huddled around a wartime radio broadcast, waiting for the grim news. We swallowed hard and accepted our fate, and asked each other how the name "Drabek" was pronounced. The greatest player Toronto sports fans had seen in a generation was gone--but in a way, it's like he never left. We all knew that Roy was going to leave, but what we didn't expect was the full-page newspaper ad he took out the next day to thank Toronto fans. The overwhelming sentiment from Toronto sports fans, a group known for being burnt-out and bitter? "No, Roy: thank you."</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><a target="_blank" href="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3741467/halladayreturn.jpg"><img src="http://cdn3.sbnation.com/assets/3741467/halladayreturn_medium.jpg" class="photo" alt="Halladayreturn_medium"></a></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo Credit: Abelimages</i></p>
<p>Although his initial homecoming as a member of the Phillies was delayed by a bunch of idiots setting fire to police cars up and down Queen West, I was at the game where Roy finally came home. I joined 50,000 other Jays fans, players, and staff members in a standing ovation. We all clapped until our palms hurt.</p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;">* * *</p>
<p>A Canadian woman named Joni Mitchell used to busk in downtown Toronto in the 1960s not far from where Roy Halladay lived, and she once wrote a lyric that rings true:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>"<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgMEPk6fvpg" target="_blank">Don't it always seem to go / That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone.</a>"</p>
</blockquote>
<p>We couldn't truly appreciate Roy Halladay while he was in Toronto, because we were too caught up in the moment. Now that we can step back and have some perspective on his career as a whole, it's only now that we can see him for what he was.</p>
<p>He was exactly what the old man on the subway told me: "<i>once-in-a-lifetime.</i>"</p>
<p><i>This piece is an edited version of the original, which <a href="http://mattenglish.kinja.com/a-doc-to-remember-roy-halladay-and-toronto-1485356218" target="_blank">was posted on Carrie Hunt and the Spoonerisms on December 17</a>. Reprinted with permission of the author.</i></p>
https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2013/12/19/5226528/a-doc-to-remember-roy-halladay-and-torontomattenglish2013-12-13T17:19:48-05:002013-12-13T17:19:48-05:00Halladay gave it one last shot in October
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<figcaption>David Manning-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>According to a tweet sent out by TSN's Scott MacArthur Friday afternoon, <span>Roy Halladay</span> actually tried out for the Blue Jays in the October instructional league but his velocity was still down so he packed it in and opted to retire.</p>
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<p>I'm told Halladay hoped to return to pitch for <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23BlueJays&src=hash">#BlueJays</a>, gave it a go in Oct in instructional league, threw 82-86 mph, shut it down. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23MLB&src=hash">#MLB</a></p>
— Scott MacArthur (@TSNScottyMac) <a href="https://twitter.com/TSNScottyMac/statuses/411576401499021313">December 13, 2013</a>
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<script charset="utf-8" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script></p>
<p>The key part of the story is that Halladay did want to pitch for the Blue Jays in 2014, even going so far as to going to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/">Blue Jays's</a> camp instructional league in October to see what he had left, perhaps at the invitation of the Blue Jays front office. It is interesting that Halladay would have been able to even do this in October, as technically he would not have been a free agent until after <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/world-series">the World Series</a> ended.</p>
<p>It was clear last year that the Roy Halladay wearing #34 for the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/">Phillies</a> wasn't the great Roy Halladay we remember. I am glad that ultimately he decided to hang up the spikes rather than to try to come back and possibly get lit up. I think it is better for Blue Jays fans to remember him as a dominating pitcher and for him not to be also remembered for poor comeback efforts à la Dave Stieb in 1998 and Pat Hentgen in 2004.</p>
<p>Halladay gave everything he had to Toronto when he was here, and wanted to come back to pitch again. When that failed he still wanted to sign a ceremonial contract to retire as a Blue Jay. How great is that?</p>
https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2013/12/13/5208470/roy-halladay-reportedly-gave-pitching-for-the-blue-jays-one-last-tryMinor Leaguer2013-12-10T10:00:17-05:002013-12-10T10:00:17-05:00Looking Back On Roy Halladay's Career
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<figcaption>Andy Lyons</figcaption>
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<p>Toronto Blue Jays franchise icon Roy Halladay retired yesterday closing the book on one of the finest careers this city will ever witness. </p> <p>Yesterday Roy Halladay signed a one-day contract with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/">Toronto Blue Jays</a> in order to retire with the team that brought him into the league as the 17th overall pick of the 1995 draft. When thinking back on <span>Roy Halladay's</span> storied tenure with the Blue Jays the same words often come to mind: steady, consistent, workmanlike and professional. These terms are all accurate but they all fail to do him justice.</p>
<p>Roy Halladay wasn't just a <span>Mark Buehrle</span> type who showed up every fifth day and gave his team a chance to win, he was a guy who showed up every fifth day and ensured his team brought home the victory. The problem is that there is something inherently mundane about consistency and although Halladay was not under-appreciated by Blue Jays fans the extent of his excellence might not have been understood.</p>
<p>The narrative arc of Halladay's career is a very familiar one to Blue Jays fans. Halladay had a brief cameo in 1998 followed by a longer look in 1999 where he put up a respectable 3.92 ERA despite a Drabekian 1.04 K/BB ratio. In the year 2000 everything would fall apart for Halladay. In 67.2 innings Halladay allowed 87 runs and was sent to the minor leagues. Later in his career Roy Halladay would manage to allow fewer than 87 runs in four different seasons where he pitched at least 220 innings. Halladay emerged like a phoenix from the ashes midway through 2001 and from that point until the end of his Blue Jays career he was an absolute magician.</p>
<p>When Blue Jays fans discuss Roy Halladay they are really talking about a 10 season span between 2001 and 2009. During that time Halladay was the best pitcher in baseball. He put up 50.9 WAR in those seasons, the highest total in the league by <i>seven</i> whole WAR. This feat was not accomplished on quantity alone, although Halladay could eat innings like no other, as he only pitched the seventh most innings during that time.</p>
<p>He made six All-Star teams during this period and put together a 135-62 record with a 3.13 ERA and a 3.20 FIP. Halladay's signature season with the Blue Jays was his Cy Young winning year in 2003. That season he went 22-7 with a 3.25 ERA and perhaps most importantly 266 innings pitched. That number is the highest single season total for any pitcher this century.</p>
<p>Roy Halladay was so good at so many things, he got ground balls, had great control, and could get the strikeout when he needed it, but perhaps what made him a unique talent was his ability to pitch games from start to finish in an era where no one else was doing it consistently. In his career Halladay led the league in complete games seven times and he did so every season between 2007 and 2011. During his 10 year window of dominance with the Jays the follow chart shows the league leaders in complete games and shutouts, sorted by complete games:</p>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center"><b>Pitcher</b></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center"><b>Complete Games</b></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center"><b>Shutouts</b></p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">Roy Halladay</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">47</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">14</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center"><span>Livan Hernandez</span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">31</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">5</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center"><span>C.C. Sabathia</span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">28</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">11</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center"><span>Mark Mulder</span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">25</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">10</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center"><span>Randy Johnson</span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">24</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">9</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">Mark Buehrle</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">24</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">8</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">Javier Vasquez</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">21</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">5</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center"><span>Bartolo Colon</span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">21</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">4</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">Chris Carpenter</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">20</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">10</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center"><span>A.J. Burnett</span></p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">20</p>
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
<p align="center">9</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p> </p>
<p>Halladay was in a league of his own when it came to throwing all nine innings. It was a possibility for the right hander every single time he took the mound. I can't claim to have seen inside Halladay's head, but I would warrant a guess that it was always something of an expectation on his part. In a lot of ways he was a relic of a bygone era.</p>
<p>Nobody worked harder than Roy Halladay, but over the course of his tenure in Toronto became a Sisyphus-like figure. No matter how good Roy Halladay was, and no matter how many innings he pitched at an elite level, the team around him could never rise into playoff contention.</p>
<p>Sometimes the rotation was solid but the team couldn't hit a lick. Some years the offense was excellent but the pitching wasn't there. Roy Halladay was always there. Eventually age was creeping up on Halladay and the likelihood of making the playoffs did not seem to be increasing. He was a part of the Blue Jays franchise for 14 years but it was time to move on.</p>
<p>Frankly, Halladay's career in Philadelphia isn't my story to tell here. I'm sure there are <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/">Phillies</a> fans who are far more qualified to spin that tale. He was undoubtedly brilliant for Philadelphia and I know that personally I was cheering him on every step of the way. In 2010 he threw a perfect game and a playoff no-hitter. The next season he won the Cy Young for the second time in what was probably his best season ever. The spotlight that he had always deserved found him, although he never seemed the type to reach for it.</p>
<p>Roy Halladay is arguably the best pitcher of his era. His story is one of perseverance and hard work and if you are looking for a role model he's probably a half decent pick. Roy Halladay was a reason to trek from any corner of the city down to the ballpark to spend your hard earned money on taking in a game of baseball.</p>
<p>He was a reason to believe that the Blue Jays were the type of franchise that could compete with the big boys in the AL East, even if they never quite managed do so. Every day that Roy Halladay didn't pitch was a letdown. Every time he pitched was an event. Generations of Torontonians who have not been born yet are going to hear about Roy Halladay. Moreover, they are going to get sick of hearing about Roy Halladay. They will look up to whoever Toronto's ace is in 2034 and will think he's as good as Roy Halladay. They will be wrong.</p>
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<p>For Blue Jays Winter Meetings coverage, keep an eye on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2013/12/9/5192134/2013-baseball-winter-meetings">Bluebird Banter's event StoryStream</a>.</p>
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https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2013/12/10/5193930/all-good-things-must-come-to-an-end-looking-back-on-roy-halladaysNick Ashbourne2013-12-09T13:09:30-05:002013-12-09T13:09:30-05:00Roy Halladay retirement press conference recap
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<figcaption>David Manning-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Non, il ne regrette rien</p> <p>Early Monday afternoon, <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/">Blue Jays</a> PR director Jay Stenhouse (friend of the blog) emceed the ceremony, and introduced <span>Roy Halladay</span>, who had just signed a one-day contract, as "the newest Blue Jay," just before announcing his retirement.</p>
<p>Halladay thanked the Blue Jays organization--front office, coaches, and players-- to thank them for turning his career around. He said that he had a great, fun time in Toronto but called the postseason experience with the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.thegoodphight.com/">Phillies</a> "the icing on the cake." He remarked about the great people in both cities. Sitting in front of Halladay were four caps representing the Blue Jays, the Phillies, and the caps of his two kids' baseball teams. Halladay mentioned that his next career step is to coach his sons. Halladay got emotional when he thanked his parents and "the front row," referring to his wife and kids.</p>
<p>Talking about the reason of his retirement, Roy Halladay mentioned that his shoulder feels fine, but he was battling back issues for the past couple of seasons (which included a fracture and ruptured disk), which prevented him from pitching his best. His doctors have told him that taking pressure off of it would make him be able to stay active. Halladay and his family decided against surgery, so that he can improve his quality of life and to spend more time in his family. Over the last two years, he had tried everything possible to overcome his problems, so he has no regrets about stepping away from the game at this point.</p>
<p>Halladay ended his speech by saying, "it was a tremendous experience--something that I will never forget."</p>
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<li> <span>Halladay will miss going out to face challenges every fifth day, but said that he would not miss the strenuous workouts. </span><span>"There will be parts I'll miss, but there will be no regrets."</span> </li>
<li><span>On the the playoffs, Halladay said that it was one of the greatest baseball memories, "from the camaraderie, to the atmosphere, to play in the playoffs." </span></li>
<li> <span>He said that a team could be the best team on paper, but </span><span>"when the squirrel runs across home plate when your team's trying to pitch, there's nothing you can do."</span> </li>
<li><span>On not winning <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="http://www.sbnation.com/world-series">the World Series</a>: "I'm more comfortable knowing that I fell a little bit short, than to have never gotten the shot."</span></li>
<li><span>Halladay decided to retire with the Blue Jays because of how the organization helped him in the early 2000s, "had I never had those chances, I would never have been able to play with the Phillies."</span></li>
<li><span>He mentioned that his career changed after being sent down to A-ball, realizing that what he needed to do was to go out and actually give everything he possibly could. He realized "just how quickly everything can be taken away."</span></li>
<li><span>Halladay mentioned that he loved completing games because he wanted to decide the game, and that he found being at the ends of the games when the stakes were highest was the most fun.</span></li>
<li><span>Halladay was very glad to have come up around Pat Hentgen, saying that he taught him a lot on the bench, including not flicking sunflower seeds. Also came up to a team with Chris Carpenter and Roger Clemens. Also thanked Harvey Dorfman for working on his mental skills.</span></li>
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<p>Even though the Blue Jays had a Halladay uniform on the stage, he never put it on during the presser. Oh well, seeing it was enough for me. I wait patiently for Roy Halla-Day at the Rogers Centre next season.</p>
https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2013/12/9/5192398/roy-halladay-retirement-press-conference-recapMinor Leaguer2013-12-09T12:28:40-05:002013-12-09T12:28:40-05:00Roy Halladay retirement live thread
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<figcaption>Andy Lyons</figcaption>
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<p>Watch it live here: <a href="http://www.sportsnet.ca/sportsnet-live/">http://www.sportsnet.ca/sportsnet-live/</a></p>
https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2013/12/9/5192372/roy-halladay-retirement-live-threadMinor Leaguer2013-12-09T11:15:51-05:002013-12-09T11:15:51-05:00Roy Halladay will retire as a Blue Jay
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<figcaption>USA TODAY Sports</figcaption>
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<p>Roy Halladay signs a one-day deal so he can retire a Blue Jay.</p> <p>Or at least that's what Jon Heyman says:</p>
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<p>Halladay and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/">Blue Jays</a> will announce a 1-day contract at press conference so he retires as a jay</p>
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) <a href="https://twitter.com/JonHeymanCBS/statuses/410075508051701760">December 9, 2013</a>
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<p>The Blue Jays announced they would have press conference today at 12:30 and speculation ran wild on Twitter for a few minutes. Was it a free agent. Maybe a trade. Maybe a first base coach.</p>
<p>Then Shi Davidi spoiled the fun by saying it wasn't a roster move or a coaching move. Speculation turned to an announcement of a new spring training home, something we know is going to happen but they haven't announced yet.</p>
<p>But Heyman put an end to that idea too.</p>
<p><span>Roy Halladay</span> pitched for the Blue Jays for 12 years and put up a 148-76 record with a 3.43 ERA in 313 games, 287 start. He's either the best or second best starter we ever had, depending on your feelings on Dave Stieb. He won a Cy Young with us and had 6 All-Star appearances as a Blue Jay.</p>
<p>In 4 seasons as a Phillie, he was 55-29, and won a Cy Young and made it to the playoff with them.</p>
<p>In total 203-105 with a 3.38 ERA. He's one of the best pitchers I've ever watched. Nice that he is retiring a Blue Jay.</p>
https://www.bluebirdbanter.com/2013/12/9/5192002/roy-halladay-will-retire-as-a-blue-jayTom Dakers