Harry Leroy Halladay III (May 14, 1977 – November 7, 2017) was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies between 1998 and 2013. His nickname, "Doc", coined by Toronto Blue Jays announcer Tom Cheek, was a reference to Wild West gunslinger Doc Holliday. His lasting durability allowed him to lead the league in complete games seven times, the most of any pitcher whose career began after 1945. He also led the league in strikeout-to-walk ratio five times and innings pitched four times.
Raised in Arvada, Colorado, Halladay pitched at Arvada West High School before being drafted 17th overall by the Blue Jays in the 1995 MLB draft. He made his major league debut in 1998, nearly pitching a no-hitter in his second career start. After struggling in 2000, he was demoted to the low minor leagues, where he reworked his delivery and pitching. In 2002, Halladay established himself as a durable, elite starting pitcher, earning his first All-Star selection. The following year, he won the American League (AL) Cy Young Award and led the AL in complete games, which he accomplished five times in seven seasons, through 2009. Traded to the Phillies before the 2010 season, he pitched both the 20th perfect game and the second postseason no-hitter in major league history, led the majors in shutouts for the second consecutive year, and won the National League (NL) Cy Young Award. In 2011, Halladay had another dominant season, leading the NL in complete games, but he was plagued by injuries the next two years. After the 2013 season, he announced his retirement.
On November 7, 2017, Halladay died when he crashed his ICON A5 amphibious plane into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida. He was 40 years old. The following year the Blue Jays organization retired his number 32; the Phillies retired his number 34 in 2021. In 2019, Halladay was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
Early life
Born in Denver, Colorado, Halladay grew up in the suburb of Arvada; his father, Harry Leroy Halladay II, was a pilot for a food-processing company, who began teaching his son to fly during the younger Halladay's early childhood; Halladay was raised a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, though he did not practice later in life.
From an early age, Halladay loved baseball, trying every position on the field until, by age 14, his success on the pitcher's mound attracted the attention of major league scouts. By the age of 13, he had begun training with Colorado baseball guru Bus Campbell, who had helped almost every promising pitcher from the Denver area, including Goose Gossage and Brad Lidge.
Halladay attended Arvada West High School, where he led the school's baseball team to a 6A state championship in 1994. In 1995, after graduating from high school, He was promoted to the major-league club as a September call-up in 1998.
Career
Toronto Blue Jays (1998–2009)
1998–2001
In his second career start, against the Detroit Tigers on September 27, 1998, Halladay had what would have been the third no-hitter ever pitched on the final day of a regular season broken up with two outs in the ninth. The feat would have joined the combined no-hitter by four Oakland Athletics pitchers (Vida Blue, Glenn Abbott, Paul Lindblad, and Rollie Fingers) in 1975 and Mike Witt's perfect game in 1984. The bid was broken up by pinch hitter Bobby Higginson's solo home run, the only hit allowed in a Toronto victory, as Halladay recorded his first major Prior to the home run, the sole base runner had reached on an infield error in the fifth inning, as Halladay struck out eight and