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Roy Halladay pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies from 1998 through 2013.
After he retired, one of the things he got into was flying small planes. There are photos of his plane and of him in a cockpit on his Twitter account.
Tuesday afternoon, a small plane owned by Halladay crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pasco County, and Halladay was killed, confirmed by the Pasco County Sheriff:
The deceased has been confirmed as Roy Doc Halladay.
— Pasco Sheriff (@PascoSheriff) November 7, 2017
We are deeply saddened by the loss of this amazing and generous individual. Our hearts go out to Roy and his family.
— Pasco Sheriff (@PascoSheriff) November 7, 2017
Halladay became a great pitcher for the Blue Jays after having to go all the way back to Class A to reinvent himself, a story well told by Tom Verducci in Sports Illustrated in 2010.
He won the A.L. Cy Young Award in 2003 with Toronto, then was traded to the Phillies before the 2010 season when the Jays could no longer afford him. That brought another Cy Young season, and against the Reds in a division series that year, Halladay threw only the second no-hitter in postseason history:
Halladay retired after the 2013 season. He’ll be eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot a year from now, and it seems possible he’ll be posthumously inducted.
Roy Halladay was 40 years old. He leaves behind his wife and two children and was, by all accounts, well loved in his community:
Roy Doc Halladay was at our Fishing for Families tournament last Friday. We are blessed to have known this incredible friend.
— Pasco Sheriff (@PascoSheriff) November 7, 2017
My sincerest condolences to all his family, friends and fans.