Roy Halladay

Known for his outstanding durability, he led the league in complete games seven times, the most of any pitcher whose career began after 1945.

He also led the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio five times and innings pitched four times.

The feat would have joined the combined no-hitter by four Oakland Athletics pitchers (Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad, and Rollie Fingers) in 1975 and Mike Witt's perfect game in 1984.

The bid was broken up by pinch hitter Bobby Higginson's solo home run, the only hit allowed in a 2–1 Toronto victory, as he recorded his first major league win.

Prior to the home run, the sole base runner had reached on an infield error in the fifth inning, as Halladay struck out eight and walked none.

Harry Leroy "Roy" Halladay III (May 14, 1977 – November 7, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies between 1998 and 2013.

His nickname, "Doc", was coined by Toronto Blue Jays announcer Tom Cheek, and was a reference to Wild West gunslinger Doc Holliday.

An eight-time All-Star, Halladay was one of the most dominant pitchers of his era.

Halladay attended Arvada West High School, where he led the school's baseball team to a 6A state championship in 1994.

Raised in Arvada, Colorado, Halladay pitched at Arvada West High School, before being drafted 17th overall by the Blue Jays in the 1995 MLB draft.

In 1995, after graduating from high school, he was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the amateur draft, in the first round, as the 17th overall pick.

Halladay decided to forego his college baseball commitment to Arizona and sign with Toronto.

He made his major league debut in 1998, nearly pitching a no-hitter in his second career start.

He was promoted to the major-league club as a September call-up in 1998.

Halladay was raised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though he did not practice later in life.

In his second career start, against the Detroit Tigers on September 27, 1998, Halladay had what would have been the third no-hitter ever pitched on the final day of a regular season broken up with two outs in the ninth.

After struggling in 2000, he was demoted to the minor leagues, where he reworked his delivery and pitching.

During the 2000 season, Halladay posted a 10.64 earned run average (ERA) in 19 games, 13 of which he started, making his 2000 season the worst in history for any pitcher with at least 50 innings pitched.

Halladay's fastball was clocked as high as 95 mph, but it had little movement, and his pitches were up in the strike zone, which was ultimately the reason why his 2000 season was so unsuccessful.

He worked with former Blue Jays pitching coach Mel Queen.

The problem, Queen realized, was Halladay's total reliance on his strength: his attempt to overpower batters with straight-ahead pitches.

Within two weeks, Halladay had altered his arm angle for a more deceptive delivery, and added pitches that sank and careened.

Instead of throwing over the top, he chose to use a three-quarters delivery (the middle point between throwing overhand and sidearm).

Originally a fastball pitcher, he became reliant on keeping his pitches low across the plate, regardless of the type of pitch thrown.

The adjustments proved successful.

After a month and a half, he was promoted to Double-A Tennessee, and a month later, to Triple-A Syracuse.

By mid-season, he was back in the Blue Jays' rotation.

At the beginning of the 2001 season, Halladay was optioned to Class-A Dunedin to rebuild his delivery.

In 2002, Halladay established himself as a durable, elite starting pitcher, earning his first All-Star selection.

The following year, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award and led the AL in complete games, which he accomplished five times in seven seasons, through 2009.

He was traded to the Phillies before the 2010 season, and that year, he pitched both the 20th perfect game and the second postseason no-hitter in major league history, led the majors in shutouts for the second consecutive year, and won the National League (NL) Cy Young Award.

In 2011, Halladay had another dominant season, leading the NL in complete games, but he was plagued by injuries the next two years.

After the 2013 season, he announced his retirement as the active major league leader in complete games, with 67.

On November 7, 2017, Halladay died when he crashed his ICON A5 amphibious plane into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.

He was 40 years old.

The Blue Jays organization posthumously retired his number 32 on March 29, 2018, with the Phillies retiring his number 34 on August 8, 2021.

Halladay was announced as an inductee to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on January 22, 2019; he was the first posthumously elected player since Deacon White in 2013 and the first posthumously elected by the BBWAA since Roberto Clemente in 1973.

Born in Denver, Colorado, Halladay grew up in the suburb of Arvada; his father, Harry Leroy II, was a pilot for a food-processing company, who began teaching his son to fly during childhood; his mother, Linda, was a homemaker.

From an early age, Halladay loved baseball, trying every position on the field until, by age 14, his success on the pitcher's mound attracted the attention of major league scouts.

By the age of 13, he had begun training with Colorado baseball guru Bus Campbell, who had helped almost every promising pitcher from the Denver area, including Goose Gossage and Brad Lidge.