In honor of their late former pitcher Roy Halladay, no one on the Phillies will where his No. 34 at all during the 2018 season.
The Phillies have figured out a way to honor the late Roy Halladay for the 2018 season. No one will wear his No. 34, which he wore from 2010-2013 while he was in Philadelphia.
It isn’t a full-blown retirement of his number, which the team usually reserves for a Hall of Famer. Halladay will be eligible for induction in 2019, and most expect him to get in the first time he is eligible. Perhaps the club will retire his number then.
This is the first season since Halladay hung up his cleats that no one in Philadelphia will wear No. 34. A.J. Burnett, Aaron Harang, Brett Oberholtzer, and A.J. Ellis all wore the number between 2014 and 2016.
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Backup catcher Andrew Knapp wore 34 last season, but he will change his number to 15, which he wore in college. The team called him about switching his number, but he actually thought about calling them first to ask about switching his number. He wanted to change numbers regardless out of respect for Halladay.
In four seasons with the Phils, Halladay made 103 starts and had a 55-29 record.
His peak with Philadelphia came between 2010 and 2011, where he recorded 17.2 wins above replacement in that span.
In 2010, Halladay led the league with 21 wins, 250.2 innings, nine complete games, four shutouts, 1.1 walks per nine innings, and a 7.30 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He threw a perfect game in May before tossing a no-hitter in the first game of that year’s National League Division Series. Halladay was the unanimous Cy Young winner and finished sixth in MVP voting.
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2011 was arguably a better season for Halladay, as his ERA dropped from 2.44 to 2.35 and he had a league-leading 2.20 fielding-independent pitching. He led again in complete games (eight), ERA+ (163), BB/9 (1.3), and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.29). Halladay received four first place votes for the Cy Young award, but it ultimately went to Clayton Kershaw.
Halladay started to fall off in 2012 and 2013 as injuries started to take their toll on him. They eventually forced him to retire after the 2013 season, but as a whole he still had a great career.
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Halladay passed away Nov. 7 when his plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico at 40 years old. He was a hobby pilot and helped coach his sons’ baseball teams. He also worked with the Phils as a mental skills coach with prospects in Clearwater.