As we've all heard by now- Roy Halladay tragically passed away this week in a plane crash. Hearing that news was absolutely devastating- Halladay was similar to Tony Gwynn in that their considerable greatness on the field was surpassed only by how humble and kind they were off it off it, and as such, (aside from Jake Peavy and Trevor Hoffman) he was one of my favorite pitchers to watch growing up.
I first began watching baseball in 2003- and my first memory of Roy Halladay was hearing that he had won something called the "Cy Young Award"- so I was fortunate enough to see the beginning of Halladay's dominant career.
Prior to his death, there was some debate on whether or not Halladay was a first ballot Hall of Famer because his career was cut short by a torn rotator cuff- but when you look at the numbers, there really isn't a debate: Roy Halladay was the best pitcher of his 2000's.
Let's say that again: Roy Halladay was the best pitcher of his era.
He has the honors: Halladay won two Cy Young Awards, was named to 8 All Star teams, led the Majors in wins twice (if you're into that kind of thing and believe that the "Win" stat is worth something even when in reality it's totally meaningless) and pitched both a perfect game and only the second playoff no-hitter in baseball history. On the strength of those alone, Halladay should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, but his candidacy is backed up by advanced metrics; by Fangraph's Wins Above Replacement statistic, an overall statistic of player value, Halladay was the most valuable pitcher in baseball from 2000 to 2010- an entire decade!
It would've been absurd, nonsensical, and an affront to the integrity of the game if the best pitcher of his era was excluded from the Hall of Fame because some baseball writer didn't believe that he met some arbitrary criterion for career longevity- and while Halladay's first-ballot candidacy is essentially guaranteed now (if the Hall of Fame waives the traditional waiting period for recently deceased players, as the have before, Halladay could potentially be elected to the Hall next year, along with my other favorite pitcher, Trevor Hoffman), it makes my blood boil that Halladay won't be around to experience it.
Perhaps what hit me the hardest the most was the fact that baseball lost one of it's most psychologically savvy minds- after an atrocious season in 2000, wherein he had a 10.64 ERA and was demoted to single-A, Halladay resurrected his career by making use of a sports psychologist. Halladay was even considering becoming a sports psychologist after retiring from the game. As such, Halladay's death was especially tragic for me as a psychology grad student, and I am overcome with sadness at the fact the field of sports psychology has lost one of its greatest athlete ambassadors.
Roy, I hope that you're pitching to Tony Gwynn in heaven right now- after all, you two were gods amongst men during your playing careers. Rest in peace.
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