The Doctor Is In

Roy Halladay, arguably the greatest pitcher in Major League Baseball, and the all-time greatest pitcher of the Toronto Blue Jays, will make his long awaited return to the Rogers Centre this July. The man who continually brought professionalism to baseball in the city of Toronto is set to return with his new team, the Philadelphia Phillies, for a three game set over the Canada Day weekend, and I personally have been counting down the days.

Roy Halladay is consistently considered the most prepared baseball player in the league. He shows up to the stadium 8 hours before a game to watch film, train and scout the opponent, and that’s on days he isn’t scheduled to pitch. Each year, Halladay is a front runner for the Cy Young Award, given to the league’s top pitcher, and has so far won two of them. Halladay amassed 148 wins in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform and brought significance to a struggling team with no playoff appearances since their historic World Series Championship of 1993. Without the presence of Roy “Doc” Halladay, there was little for Blue Jay fans, like myself, to cheer for.

Halladay genuinely loved his time in Toronto. When he was eligible for free agent status and could sign with any team in  the league, he elected to remain with the Blue Jays, at a cost well below market value for a pitcher of his calibre, in hopes that he could help resurrect greatness for the Toronto Blue Jays. Unfortunately for Doc, and the Blue Jay fans, this greatness never came and Roy stood out as the only consistently positive thing to take from a Blue Jays season.

As the 2009 season progressed, Blue Jays fans were forced to face the inevitable truth: Roy Halladay would need to be traded. He had given the city all he could in efforts to bring a respectable contender to Toronto, and the Jays were no closer than they were since the 1993 season. Doc wanted to go to a place where he had the opportunity to compete for a championship, and on December 15, 2009 he was dealt to the powerhouse Philadelphia Phillies. Roy would go on to win his second Cy Young Award and became only the 20 pitcher in baseball’s storied history to pitch a perfect game.

The wait for the Doc to return wasn’t supposed to be this long. The Phillies were scheduled to come to Toronto last season, but the series was moved to Philadelphia because of the G20 summit held in Toronto. I wasn’t going to miss that game. I grabbed some friends, jumped in the car and drove to Philadelphia and watched the Doc pitch a gem. The Philladelphia Phillies’ fans were clearly appreciative of the great arm they got, and I am glad Halladay is going to have the opportunity to contend for a World Series every year in Philadelphia.

The Blue Jays and Phillies typically do not play each other each year, as they are in different leagues, but after placing a formal request to the league, the Blue Jays will now host the Phillies in July. Blue Jays fans will finally be able to welcome back the greatest pitcher to ever wear a Jays uniform, and I can’t wait to be there.