Figured I did an MMA blog, thought I'd change it up some more with a baseball blog. A little out of season but suck it up...
Going through my daily sports search online, I came across an article informing the reader that Roy Halladay had bought ad space in the Toronto Sun and posted a "Thank you". Can someone already oozing class somehow ooze even more? The answer is YES! This guy is a class act as a person and an athlete. I have always had a soft spot for sports stories, and to watch an athlete, such as Roy Halladay, definitely pulls at my emotional strings.
In an era where athletes usually make the jump to the Big Leagues or fade away, Roy overcame, what was appearing to be him fading away, the odds and made it back to the Show. In my opinion, Halladay is the greatest pitcher to ever dawn a Blue Jays uniform, and is currently (and has been for the last number of years) the best pitcher in the MLB. Halladay has some very solid pitches, but his selection is nowhere as dominating as some current MLB pitchers. I think you would be hard pressed to argue that Halladay's selection of pitches is better than those of Santana or Hernandez, Burnett, even Lincecum. That's not to say that Roy doesn't have good pitches. He has great pitches, but its his mental approach to the game that separates him from all other pitchers and maybe any other pitcher who will ever pitch again.
The mental approach I see with Halladay when he pitches, I can honestly say I haven't seen from another athlete, each time competes, except possibly for Tiger Woods, who I believe is the mentally strongest athlete on the planet. I know most athletes realize that they're lucky that they make a living playing a game, however, I don't think that most realize that the game they play is still a job and they are compensated handsomely to do so. Halladay is not one of those athletes. As Jack Armstrong would put it, Halladay brings his "Lunch pale and hard hat" every fifth day. Not to say professional athletes don't take what they do seriously, I believe that Halladay just took it to a whole other level, which could usually be seen his training, game preparation, stats, and finally his eyes during competition.
Furthermore, usually when athletes ask to be traded I have anger and resentment towards them, but this was different. He never came out and said he wanted to leave Toronto, however, he did provide management with the impression that he would be exploring options after his contract ended. Even with a no-trade clause he was willing to let the Jays explore opportunities, so that they would be left with more than just draft picks. More than some Toronto athletes can say *cough* Carlos Delgado *cough*.
At the end of the day, I rarely want to see athletes who leave Toronto do well, however, I would love to see the Phillies win one for Halladay. I don't think there'll be anyone booing Halladay when the Phillies visit in June. The 'thank you' he gave us today is just icing on the cake. Looking back the fans of the Toronto Blue Jays should be a lot more thankful than that!
P.S. Whatever became of Gustavo Chacin?
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