Former Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies great Roy Halladay lost his life on Nov. 7, 2017 when his personal plane crashed in Pasco County, Fla. During his MLB career with the Blue Jays and the Phillies, Halladay became one of the most dominant pitchers in the game, earning eight All-Star appearances and establishing himself as the ace on both staffs.
Here are some of his biggest highlights during a 16-year career that saw him win 203 games.
1998: Eight Innings of No-Hit Baseball Against Detroit
In just the second start of his major league career, Halladay was dominant against the Tigers, holding Detroit hitless through 8 2/3 innings. He lost the no-hitter on a home run from Bobby Higginson, but still kept the victory, winning a 2-1 decision over the Tigers.
2003: A Blue Jays Record for Wins
A throwback pitcher, when Roy Halladay started a game, he was likely to finish it. In an era where many starters rarely last beyond the seventh inning, Halladay led the league in complete games on seven occasions, including four seasons where he completed nine of his starts.
One such instance was his 22nd win of the 2003 season, against the Cleveland Indians. Just two years earlier, it had been the Indians who provided the foil when Halladay returned from a demotion as far as Single-A Dunedin and announced that he was back by shutting down the Tribe. He wasn’t quite as dominant in 2003 against the Indians, but he did enough to cap off a season as the only 22-game winner in baseball and the first 22-game winner in Toronto’s history with a 5-4 victory.
2009: Holding the Bronx Bombers to One Hit
![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,<svg height="161" width="242" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" version="1.1"/>)
In 2009, the New York Yankees were on their way to defeating the Phillies in the World Series. As usually was the case in Halladay’s Blue Jays career, the Jays were going nowhere despite Halladay’s efforts. But near the end of his time in a Blue Jays uniform, Halladay was dominant, holding the Yankees to just one hit in a victory that gave him a perfect send-off from the Toronto faithful on his way to joining the Phillies.
2010: The Perfect Game
In 2010, Halladay was expected to be dominant when he moved over to the National League and the Philadelphia Phillies. But nobody expected him to be quite as dominant as he was on May 29, 2010 when he faced the Florida Marlins in Miami.
With the Phillies providing little in the way of offense, notching just one run, Halladay had to be sharp. He was certainly that, shutting down the Marlins without surrendering a hit. When Juan Castro fielded a ground ball and fired to first base, the perfect game was Halladay’s, a fitting accomplishment for a pitcher who left little to chance with details.
2010: The Postseason Debut
Year after year, Halladay found himself on the outside looking in when it came to the postseason, stuck on a Blue Jays team that was never bad but could never get themselves into a playoff position. In his first year with the Phillies, Halladay finally got his chance to shine in the playoffs, and he didn’t waste any time making the most of it.
In his first time on the mound after Game 162, Halladay was brilliant, shutting down Cincinnati to join Don Larsen as the only men to toss a no-hitter in the postseason. Halladay faced 28 batters and threw a first-pitch strike to 25 of them. Only Jay Bruce reached base that day, and only because Halladay just missed on a cut fastball. Bruce took a pitch at which he usually swung, allowing the Reds to barely escape becoming the second team to be on the wrong end of a perfect game in the playoffs.
