Red Sox competitive rival Roy Halladay to be inducted into HOF

Late pitcher Roy Halladay will be inducted in the HOF. The Boston Red Sox faced Halladay 42 times and had the most success against the champion.

The 2019 Hall of Fame’s induction weekend: a weekend of joy and sadness for many as the late pitcher Roy Halladay gets inducted. There’s going to be a missing piece this weekend. His tragic and sudden death is a lingering question mark. Roy Halladay: one of baseball’s greats. It is our pleasure to honor the former Red Sox rival as he enters Cooperstown.

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Having grown up in Canada, this is one of the rare occasions that I get the opportunity to write about a “home team” guy. Correction- a home team great. I’m sure my dad is internally jumping for joy at the rare moment, I’ve put the golden Red Sox to the side. Why would Roy Halladay’s name come up in a blog dedicated to the Boston Red Sox?

The Sox were one of the very few teams to have success against Halladay. In his career, playing against Boston he accumulated 14 wins, 15 losses, and a 4.39 ERA. The 4.39 ERA marks his second-highest ERA in his career. It’s also the only losing record against the teams that he’s faced more than 10 times. He started in 39 games against the Red Sox and appeared in 42.

While the rivalry between the two teams has always been known, Red Sox players remember him fondly. It’s easy to think highly of a guy that you’re playing with, a guy that sees you at your best and your worst. But for your opponents to think highly of you? That speaks volumes about a man’s character.

"David Ross said that Halladay was “one of the best of my era, on and off the field”."

Curt Schilling tweeted,

Halladay was born on May 14, 1977, and tragically passed away on November 7, 2017, at the age of 40. Roy Halladay was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the first round of the 1995 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in September of 1998 and stepped onto the mound for the last time in September 2013 at 36-years-old.

Roy Halladay was an 8x All-Star, 2x Cy Young winner, and now an inductee into the Hall of Fame. He had a career 3.38 ERA, 64.3 WAR, 1.178 WHIP, 203 wins and 105 losses in 416 games. He threw one perfect game against the Marlins in 2010.

Halladay played in the majors for 16 years, spending 12 years with the Toronto Blue Jays and 4 years with the Philadelphia Phillies. He spent 11 seasons in the Top 10 for Shutouts; 8 for Wins, Innings Pitched, Completed Games, Fielding Independent Pitching; 7 for WAR, ERA, Win-Loss Percentage, Batters Faced; 6 for Strikeouts, Hits, and Putouts; 4 for Games Started; and 3 for Salary.

As Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi notes Halladay was the everything that coaches love, he had the characteristics that players want, the talent, intelligence, incredibly disciplined work ethic, drive, and motivation. He embodied the coaches dream. He was the kind of player that you want on your team and that you dread playing against (as I’m sure a few Red Sox players would agree). In an interview, Halladay explained his work mentality,

"“I was always going to prepare as well as I could. I was going to give everything I have and I honestly believed that if I did things the right way, prepared that way, even though I had no control over the end result, for the most part they would be favourable if I continued to take the right steps.”"

Halladay had an unusual journey during his span in baseball. He was drafted after his senior season in high school in 1995. He spent two years advancing in the minor system and then made his MLB debut. He started very strong, being known as the guy who “almost threw a no-hitter” in his second start. Was this good for Halladay? He fell into a slump that dropped him back into the minors, Class A level minors.

In 2000, upon returning from a six-month stint in Triple-A, Halladay returned late in June to face the Boston Red Sox. It was one of the few games that he had success against the Sox. He lasted seven innings and recorded the win.

Roy Halladay was a great pitcher and a great person. His life was tragically taken too soon. Red Sox fans had the pleasure to see a star in 42 games. The Toronto Blue Jays drafted Roy’s son Braden in the 32nd round (in a tribute matching his father’s uniform number). He’s reached an arrangement to attend Penn State before playing in the Blue Jays organization, so in a few years, we’ll able to see another Halladay against us on the field.

MLB Network will be covering the event starting at 11 am ET. The ceremony will begin at 1:30 pm. Both MLB Network Radio and MLB.com will live stream the event.