The Philadelphia Phillies officially retired Roy Halladays “34” Sunday in front of a packed Citizens Bank Park. It was alumni weekend, so a ton of Roy’s old teammates were in town to honor one of the best pitchers to ever don a Phillies uniform. The current team delivered, especially Zach Wheeler who had a Roy Halladay type performance. He became the first Phillies pitcher to retire 22 straight batters since Roy Halladay did so in 2010
Roy Halladay came over to the Phillies during the winter of 2009 for Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis d’Arnaud. He immediately proved to be the best pitcher in baseball winning his second Cy Young thanks to a 2.44 ERA, 219 strike outs, in 250.2 innings pitched. His 9 complete games and 4 shutouts led the league.
Roy spent 4 seasons in Philly and for the first 3 he was as close to unhittable as there ever was. It was highlighted by a perfect game and a playoff no-hitter. Unfortunately in his 4th season injuries ravaged Halladay and he retired following the 2013 season.
Roy passed away on November 7, 2017 in a plane crash. He was enshrined into Cooperstown in 2019.
