Doc immortalized

August 6th, 2021

Right-handed pitcher Roy “Doc” Halladay may have only spent four years (2010-13) in a Phillies uniform, but he amassed numerous accolades, including the highest honor a baseball player could be bestowed.

Grover Cleveland Alexander, Robin Roberts and Steve Carlton, three Hall of Fame pitchers, won a combined 665 games wearing a Phillies uniform. They threw zero no-hitters. Yep, 0.

Halladay came to the Phillies in a big trade after the 2009 season. In his first season in pinstripes, he won 21 games in the regular season and was 1-0 in the National League Division Series. Two of his first 22 wins with the Phillies were no-hitters. Yep, 2.

His seventh win of the 2010 season was a perfect game in Miami on the last Saturday night in May, 1-0. His 22nd win came in his first postseason start, a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds on a Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park five months later, 4-0.

The 33-year-old right-hander attained a plateau never reached in baseball history with a no-hitter in the regular season and postseason. He became one of five pitchers in baseball history with two no-hitters in the same year, one of six with a no-hitter and a perfect game in a career and one of two with a postseason no-hitter. Major nuggets.

Among Phillies accolades, Doc was their first Cy Young Award winner since Steve Bedrosian (1987), the first right-hander 20-game winner since Roberts (1955), and when he started the 2011 All-Star Game for the National League, he was the first since Curt Schilling (1999).

Retired Number

Two years ago, the Phillies announced Halladay’s uniform No. 34 would be retired. Plans were scheduled for May 29, 2020, the 10-year anniversary of his perfect game. It was postponed by the COVID pandemic. On the final day of the 2021 Toyota Alumni Weekend, 34 will be officially retired, making Doc forever immortalized as an all-time Phillies great.

When he was acquired in a trade with the Blue Jays, he got No. 34, because his Toronto number (32) was retired by the Phillies. The last one to wear 34 for the Phillies before Halladay was Cliff Lee in 2009.

The Blue Jays retired No. 32 in 2018.

Doc joins Phillies legends Richie Ashburn (1), Robin Roberts (36), Steve Carlton (32), Mike Schmidt (20), Jim Bunning (14), Jackie Robinson (42) and Dick Allen (15). In addition, Grover Cleveland Alexander and Chuck Klein are represented at Citizens Bank Park.

Cooperstown

As a 21-year-old, Halladay took the mound in Cooperstown in 1998, tossing six innings for the Blue Jays in the Hall of Fame Game. Twenty-one years later, he was inducted posthumously into the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the 2019 class. He was elected by the BBWAA on 363 out of 425 ballots.

Harry Leroy Halladay died tragically in November 2017 at the age of 40.