Halladay even impresses when he loses
April 22nd, 2009 | by jays1992 |By Paul Bruno
There are a handful of pitchers that media types freely admit they would pay to go see. Roy Halladay is one of those pitchers.
When you think of how he has evolved into the quality hurler that he has become, he is even more compelling to observe.
Yeah, it’s hard to believe that in 2000, Roy posted a ghastly 10.64 ERA in 67.2 innings pitched, along with a 4-7 win/loss record.
The next move was a startling one, though. He voluntarily accepted a demotion all the way back to the lower minor leagues, where he rebuilt all his pitching mechanics in an attempt to salvage his pro career.
He quickly rose through the Jays’system for a second time, from stints in Dundedin, Tennessee and Syracuse, returning to the Jays late in the 2001 season.
Since then, he has posted a 118-52 record coming into the 2009 season, for a team that has not made one post-season appearance, while toiling in the league’s toughest division, the AL East.
He has become a perrenial automatic All Star selection and a true model of consistency. He is a thinking man’s pitcher, a hurler intent on staying one step ahead of his opposition. It has been a pleasure to watch him set up batters for failure, much more often than not, over the years.
We fast forward to this season and again, he’s off and running posting three wins to kickoff his 2009 campaign.
Then on Tuesday night, we settle in to watch this phenom and what happens?
He actually loses.
When you get used to his consistency, these losses really stand out. Sure, he gave up a pair of dingers to the hot-hitting Rangers (who lead the majors in round-trippers), but rest of their hits were jam shots and bleeders off the end of the bat. He struck out nine and didn’t walk anybody to minimize the damage.
We chalk this up as a reminder that even the best ones get touched up once in a while.
