Blue Jays Discussion: RIP Roy Halladay (1977-2017)

[BlueForever75]

Very sad for all true Jays fans. Roy was an example of what every franchise in MLB would want in a leader, baseball player and human being. He was the heart and soul of the Toronto Blue Jays, his memories will forever be remembered. Thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

RIP Doc, we will always remember you and will miss you dearly.

 

[Protest]

I still can't believe it. That Phillies team means a lot to me, and even though he wasn't on the 2008 WS team it doesn't matter. It always felt like that when they had a 10th anniversary reunion, or some event down the line with all the guys, that he'd still be there because he was Doc and he deserved to be there.

The sports world has so many bad people: egomaniacs, abusers, criminals etc. and then you have Doc. Who brought sick kids to games, who would take pictures and spend time with anyone, who would fly to go pick up abused animals and find them a good home. He gave Carlos Ruiz, his catcher, his own Cy Young award. He gave his team watches after his perfect game to thank them. He requires no postmortem romanticizing because he already was all those nice things that we tend to say about people after they pass.

I hope that you guys give him the statue he deserves, and hang his number in the rafters where it belongs, and that my Phillies do the same.

 

[Silver91]

I was so shook when I saw this yesterday. He was a huge reason I followed the Jays when I was a kid, and one of my favourite athletes of all time. I remember being in awe of the work ethic, hearing about how he'd run along lakeshore in the early mornings, everything he did for the community, just everything that went into making him the man he was. I was there for his 10-inning shutout against Detroit, and it was amazing. We ran a little late, and I remember getting there in the bottom half of the first and being sad that we missed Doc starting the game. Then I just remember how crazy the whole game felt, flying by so quickly, and when he came out for the 10th I was floored. Easily my favourite Jays moment pre-bat flip.

To see all the love flowing in for him the last 16 or so hours is incredible, and just shows how great a player, teammate, and person he was. It's just so surreal that he's gone. I always thought that he would come back at some point and be a roving pitching instructor, similar to how Alomar is/was. I really hope that his 32 is retired this year and they wear a patch honouring him for the season.

 

[MapleLeafistan]

Well that really sucks.

 

[Anthrax442]

Kinda feel for Stroman, his big day was totally overshadowed by this tragedy

 

[93LEAFS]

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blo...vation-upon-return-to-toronto?urn=mlb,wp11338

I'll always remember taking my dad as a belated Fathers Day gift to this game. While alive for the early 90's team, they weren't really my guys. I remember tracking Halladay's entire career from beginning to end. Truly rattling to see his life cut short, after he earned a well deserved break and time to spend with his family. I can't wait to see 32 retired next to Alomar's.

 

[ShaneFalco]

Beloved Roy Halladay mourned by athletes around North America

 

[phillipmike]

After a day i could only bring myself to write this now. Doesnt even feel real, like someone is playing a sick joke on us.

Roy Halladay was my favorite athlete ever. Guy was a true professional and the sports world would be a better place if more were like him. I only ever got jerseys with no name on the back because i never wanted to get a player jersey then be stuck with it after they left the organization. But that did not matter for me, the only jersey i own with a name on the back is Roy Halladay's and that wont change for me. Regardless of what he did and where he went it did not matter for me - i needed to own his jersey and his jersey only.

I was a Jays fan before Halladay came up with the organization but Roy made sure i stayed a Jays fan in the losing years with his brilliant performances on the mound. He was a horse, a "legitimate ace" and someone we could rely on for a great pitching performance but simply as an entertainment vice to get away from the tough days of our real life. Definitely took him for granted as he was an ace for 8 straight years - something we havent been able to find since and likely ever wont find one like Roy. Pitchers and players like him only come around once in awhile and i was glad to have witness him pitch live on many occasions.

When i was buying tickets to a Jays game it was always to see Roy Halladay pitch. I have bought more tickets to see Roy Halladay pitch than any other pitchers combined on the Jays and i have been to well over 60 games in my life. My objective was clear, see Roy Halladay pitch - the best athlete i have ever seen live. When Roy left i made sure that i was going to be at the game when he returned to pitch at the Rogers Centre. I was a student on a student's budget but i saved enough to buy my brother 2 tickets to that July 2, 2011 game for his birthday. My brother did not have a say in the matter, he was taking me whether he liked it or not. I paid close to $200 for those tickets (200 level in what is the TD comfort zone but at the time was labelled the VIP section) which says a lot as i never spent more than $30/each on Jays tickets but i needed to see Roy return. And Roy didnt disappoint, he pulled a "Halladay" without his A stuff by pitching a 110 pitch complete game. Did i expect anything less?

Nothing gave me more joy when i read on December 9, 2013 "Roy Halladay signs with the Jays on a 1..." I was so happy that we got him back, that the Doc was home but it was short lived as it wasnt a 1 year deal rather a 1 day deal so he could retire a Jay. Regardless, i was happy he returned and retired as a Blue Jays something he will go in as when he gets inducted into the Hall of Fame.

He was only 40 and retired very young at the age of 36 - most pitchers of his caliber would be still pitching on one year deals (Colon, Arroyo, Lackey etc.) clinging to end their career. If he did not take so much pride in his craft and if was not a perfectionist he would still be pitching and you never know maybe he would still be with us. But that wasnt Roy, he had to be the best and once he knew his body could not perform to his standards he walked away.

As much as we treasure his on field accomplishments my heart breaks for his wife and boys. You never know anyone's relationship but i can remember his wife Brandy telling us the story when she met Roy for the first time at a gym. She met him during his workout and they agreed to go on a date, when Brandy got home she told her mom that she just "met her future husband." She knew from day one the he would be her everything and unfortunately she and her boys lost their everything far too soon.

Rest in peace Harry Leroy Halladay III!

 

[The Nemesis]

It still doesn' feel real. I woke up half expecting to find out that yesterday was actually part of my dreams and I would open my eyes to find that Doc still gets to spend time with his family and we still get to wait for his 2019 HOF induction speech

 

[The Apologist]

Its a day later and it still feels so unreal. I know most of us didnt know him personally but for so long he WAS our Jays. He was the light amidst a sea of hopelessness. And he was humble caring and everything you dont expect from an athlete today. Rest in peace Roy. Way too soon to leave us however i am so very honoured to have witnessed your greatness.

 

[TOGuy14]

Thinking about this still kind of makes me sick.

I remember the garbage rosters we ran out in the 2000s when attendance rapidly declined, but people would buy tickets in droves every fifth game to watch Doc pitch because he was the only thing that mattered.

He is probably the only player I can think of in Toronto (and maybe sports) where the entire fan base unanimously took his side when he requested a trade. The city was genuinely happy to see Doc go to a contender and hated ownership for wasting a real gem.

 

[MarMarSab3]

The sadness I felt yesterday turned to anger today after seeing the video of him acting foolish with his plane, leaving a wife and kids to suffer because of childish behavior.

 

[mmalady]

RIP

 

[hoc123]

Jesus this has been a horrible week, Boston Red Sox prospect Daniel Flores just died from cancer complications. Signed for 3.1 million as a IFA just 4 months ago.

Red Sox's Daniel Flores: Passes away

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

RIP Doc

 

[Jozay]

The sadness I felt yesterday turned to anger today after seeing the video of him acting foolish with his plane, leaving a wife and kids to suffer because of childish behavior.

Tough to watch.

I imagine he got an adrenaline rush that he probably hadnt felt since his baseball days doing that. Damn.

 

[Eyedea]

The sadness I felt yesterday turned to anger today after seeing the video of him acting foolish with his plane, leaving a wife and kids to suffer because of childish behavior.

What It’s Like to Fly—And Stall—In the Icon A5 Plane

Unfortunately they have essentially been branding their product as a flying car, and with the "sport" motif comes this presumption that you're capable of performing low altitude flight (and even aerobatics) once you have your license.

This isn't to take blame away from Halladay as in pretty much all cases the pilot is responsible for the crash. He obviously should have been much safer with flying. He should have known the dangers that come with these light aircrafts, especially with a father that was a commercial pilot. However, I don't think the company did enough to really surround him with the proper instructions of use, and the way they marketed seemed to give it this sense that it was a toy that you can play around with.

 

[Dr.Funk]

Nick Ashbourne may have summed it up best for me.

For Canadians, though, Halladay was more than just a great baseball player. Not because we felt like we knew him better – if anything the pitcher was on the guarded side. Not because he was one of us, because as much as we’d like to claim him he wasn’t ours to claim.

No, Halladay was an icon north of the 49th parallel because for more than a decade he was the Toronto Blue Jays. In a country that’s so big, with so many regional differences, the Blue Jays are one of the few things that people from Vancouver to St. John’s can stand behind. In the early 2000s, Halladay kept an entire country’s interest in baseball afloat almost single-handedly.

For most of the big right-hander’s 12-year Blue Jays tenure, he was the only thing right with the franchise.

Normally when exposed to excellence over a long period of time, people habituate to it and sometimes fail to appreciate it. That never seemed to be the case for Blue Jays fans with Halladay. Every year they would argue anew that he was the best pitcher in baseball as opposed to whoever else was hottest that season (he was), and that he deserved the Cy Young (he probably did). Every year they continued to treat him with the reverence he deserved.

Often when a player moves on – especially if his desire to leave is public knowledge – he is derided by the fanbase of his first team. Fans demand an irrational degree of loyalty that can’t possibly be repaid by athletes who owe nothing to franchises that draft them. In this case, though, Blue Jays fans understood. Some probably followed him to the Philadelphia Phillies, most others wished him the best there. To this day, it’s not unusual to see a Phillies jersey with ‘Halladay’ on the back at Rogers Centre.

Roy Halladay didn't need to be Canadian to be a Canadian icon

 

[Cloned]

Tough to watch.

I imagine he got an adrenaline rush that he probably hadnt felt since his baseball days doing that. Damn.

Probably gives off the illusion of safety when you're flying in one of those, especially over water, because you probably feel like you're hovering and not really travelling with a lot of velocity, and an impact would be survivable.

And to be fair an impact might actually be survivable in one of those given the right angle and velocity coming in. Seems like a fatal combination of bad judgment and bad luck.

 

[Canada4Gold]

Hate to break up the Doc discussion. Such an amazing player and person, gone way too soon, and deserves to be talked about for the rest of eternity TBH.

But Jay Bruce wants 5 years and 80-90 million and I even though I can't imagine he gets that or anything close to it, I don't want him at half of that. So I hope someone else mets his demands and doesn't let him get forced down into the Jays reasonable range

 

[Eyedea]

Yeah, and (also according to Crasnick) JD Martinez apparently wants 200m. H'okay, have fun with that.

 

[Leafin]

I don't see Bruce getting that. I'll puke if we give him that. Probably put my fandom of this team on hold until current management gets canned if they give him that.

 

[ToMaLe]

RIP Doc, Thoughts and Prayers go out to his Family.

 

[The Nemesis]

Some Boston area sports talk radio jabroni caused a bit of a firestorm yesterday with a scorching hot take about how Halladay was a selfish asshat for flying a plane when he had a family and about how he "deserved what he got" because he's apparently society's greatest monster for not sitting at home cocooned in bubble wrap.

Even if you think it was recklessness that contributed to his death, it takes a special kind of callous slimeball to go on the radio and chirp "he deserved it" about a guy who just passed away.

 

[Cleatus]

Not too big on baseball, but from the handful of games I watched of Halladay, the guy was absolutely mesmerizing on the mound.

I feel like his career with the Jays has a lot of similarities to Sundin's with the Leafs. Two great non-Canadian players who could single handedly win games for their crappily managed Toronto teams, and who basically wasted their careers with said teams.

R.I.P.