It is the end of a tremendous career for Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay. Halladay signed a one-day contract with the Toronto Blue Jays (the team that drafted him) today and ended what was one of the more impressive careers for a pitcher during the “steroid era” in baseball.
Roy Halladay had some outstanding performances for the Phillies. Most notable were his playoff no-hitter and perfect game against the Marlins, but it is fitting that he signed a one-day contract with Toronto to retire a Jay. As much as Philly loved Doc, we could never truly claim him as our own. He had most of his best years with the Blue Jays and a good portion of his accomplishments came from his dominance of the AL East.
Doc came to Philly in search of the one thing that eluded him for so long during his career: a championship. It hurts to know Doc will never get the World Series ring he craved so much. He will be remembered for the dominant pitching that ultimately led to him being overworked and causing injuries for the last couple years of his career. Halladay will go down as one of the best pitchers of his generation. He brought with a sense of professionalism that younger players can aspire to. He was a pure gentleman in a sport filled with some monstrous egos.
It is always hard to see such an important figure in any sport retire, and Doc is no exception. He left his imprint on the game. As a Phillies fan, I wish he would have brought home the ring but it just was not meant to be. At least made his tenure in Philly memorable.
