Phillies alumnus Roy Halladay elected to join Baseball Hall of Fame

The late great former Phillies and Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writer’s Association of America.

To the surprise of few, former Phillies and Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay will join the ranks of the Baseball Hall of Fame this summer in Cooperstown. 85.4 percent of Baseball Writer’s Association of America voters named Halladay on their ballots.

Joining Halladay are Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez, and Mike Mussina. Rivera became the first player to ever be elected unanimously to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Halladay began his career in Toronto unspectacularly but turned things around after a stint in the minor leagues. In 12 years with the Blue Jays, Halladay had 313 appearances, a 148-76 record, 3.43 ERA, 1.198 WHIP, 1495 strikeouts, and 455 walks. He made six American League All-Star teams and won the AL Cy Young in 2003.

The Blue Jays traded Halladay to Philadelphia during the 2009-10 offseason, and he immediately etched his name into franchise history. In 2010, he threw just the second perfect game in franchise history and only the second postseason no-hitter in MLB history. He won the NL Cy Young that year, leading the league in wins (21), complete games (nine), shutouts (four), innings pitched (250.2), walks per nine innings (1.1) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.30).

Philadelphia Phillies

Halladay was masterful again in 2011, finishing second in Cy Young voting with a 19-6 record, a league-leading eight complete games, 2.35 ERA, 163 ERA+, 2.20 fielding-independent pitching, and 6.29 strikeout-to-walk ratio. That was his last successful year in the majors as injuries took their toll in 2012 and 2013, eventually ending his career.

Halladay tragically passed away when his plane crashed off the coast of Florida. The Blue Jays retired his No. 32 and the Phillies posthumously inducted him into the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame in an emotional ceremony.

Now looking towards other Phils on the ballot, Curt Schilling was the only one who came close to induction. He finished better compared to 2018 with 60.9 percent of votes this year compared to 51.2% last year. Schilling remains close to the induction threshold, but his political standing remains a divisive issue for voters.

Scott Rolen and Billy Wagner will remain on the ballot in 2020. Roy Oswalt, Michael Young, Freddy Garcia, Placido Polanco, and Juan Pierre were one-and-done candidates after failing to reach the five percent threshold to remain on the ballot.

Schilling, Rolen, and Wagner will be joined by other former Phils Bobby Abreu and Cliff Lee on the ballot next year. A.J. Burnett and Shane Victorino will be eligible in 2021, while Ryan Howard, Jonathan Papelbon, and Jimmy Rollins will be eligible in 2022. Jayson Werth will be eligible in 2023 and Chase Utley will be in 2024.