 Halladay in 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | May 29, 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Venue | Sun Life Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| City | Miami,Florida | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Umpires | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 25,086 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Television | Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TV announcers | Tom McCarthy (play-by-play) Chris Wheeler (color commentary) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
On May 29, 2010,Roy Halladay of thePhiladelphia Phillies pitched the twentiethperfect game inMajor League Baseball history, against theFlorida Marlins inSun Life Stadium. He retired all 27 batters, striking out 11. This was the first time in the modern era that two pitchers (Dallas Braden of theOakland Athletics being the other) threw perfect games in the same month and that multiple perfect games had been achieved in the same season.
Roy Halladay's rookie season in 1999 featured 3.92 ERA in149+1⁄3 innings for theToronto Blue Jays. In his second year, he finished with an ERA of 10.64, the worst by any pitcher who tossed 50 innings or more.[1] He improved from this dismal performance, and he played 12 seasons for theToronto Blue Jays, in which time he averaged 17 wins per season, made six all-star teams and, in 2003, won aCy Young Award. In his second major league start, on September 27, 1998, he carried a no-hitter into the 9th inning against theDetroit Tigers before giving up a two-out home run toBobby Higginson.[2][3] Halladay was traded to the Phillies for a package of prospects following the2009 season.
OnOpening Day, Halladay pitched seven innings while giving up a run against theWashington Nationals in his first game with the Phillies. He had nine strikeouts and allowed six hits. He helped himself by driving in his second career RBI and earned his first win of the season. He followed this start with a complete game on April 11 against theHouston Astros, giving up one unearned run while striking out eight and not giving up any walks in the Phillies' 2–1 victory.
Halladay pitched his first shutout in the National League, against theAtlanta Braves on April 21, becoming the first pitcher to reach four wins in the 2010 season. On May 1, Halladay pitched his second shutout of the season, limitingdivision rivalNew York Mets to three hits and striking out six.
ThePhiladelphia Phillies–Florida Marlins game began at 7:13 p.m. on May 29, 2010, to a crowd of 25,086 atSun Life Stadium inMiami.[3] The home plate umpire wasMike DiMuro, the first base umpire wasTim Welke, the second base umpire wasJim Reynolds, and the third base umpire wasBill Welke.[4]Roy Halladay pitched the 20thperfect game in MLB history, retiring all 27 batters, and allowing no hits, no runs, and no errors.[3] Although he is known as a ground ball pitcher, he struck out 11,[1] his most of the year and the most by a Phillies pitcher at that point in the season. The opposing pitcher,Josh Johnson, allowed seven hits, one walk, and an unearned run in seven innings. The unearned run came in the top of the third, whenChase Utley's line drive bounced off the glove of Florida center fielderCameron Maybin, allowingWilson Valdez to score from first.[3] This was the only run scored in the game.
Halladay's first pitch came at 7:17 pm, a called strike toChris Coghlan off a 92 m.p.h. fastball on the outside corner. He threw 19 pitches in the first inning, his most of the night, and needed no more than 12 in any other inning except the seventh. In total, he threw 115 pitches, 72 for strikes.[5] Halladay worked his way out of seven three-ball counts and sixfull counts, and credited the effectiveness of hissinker for his success.[3] Of his 11 strikeouts, four came by way of sinkers.[5]
In the bottom of the ninth, pinch hitterMike Lamb flied out deep toShane Victorino in center field for the first out. The ball would have been a home run in many other ballparks, but did not carry out of Sun Life Stadium's cavernous center field. Halladay thought he had lost the perfect game when the ball was initially struck. Victorino later commented on flagging the ball down, "I was going to do whatever it took." For the second out,Wes Helms, another pinch hitter, struck out looking – the sixth batter to do so. In the game-ending play,Ronny Paulino was thrown a 1–2 curveball and hit a hard chopper toJuan Castro at third base; Castro reached wide to his left to grab the ball, spun and threw to first base to preserve the perfect game. It was the second such play made by Castro in the game.[3] Castro had been chosen to start at third base overGreg Dobbs at the start of the game due to Dobbs's two-run error in Halladay's previous start.[5]
Halladay praised catcherCarlos Ruiz:
I can't say enough about the job that Ruiz did tonight, really. I felt like he was calling a great game up until the fourth or fifth, and at that point, I just felt like I'd let him take over and go with him. He did a great job. Like I said, it was kind of a no-brainer for me. I'd just go out, see the glove and hit it.[3]
Halladay only shook off Ruiz once the entire game.[5]
Halladay became the 10th pitcher in Phillies history to hurl a no-hitter;Jim Bunning's perfect game in 1964 was the only other time a Phillies pitcher tossed a perfect game. In addition, this was the eighth perfect game inNational League history, the last beingRandy Johnson's in 2004.[3] This was the first time in the modern era that two pitchers—Dallas Braden and Halladay—had thrown perfect games in the same month and that multiple perfect games had been achieved in the same season.[2] The twenty days between Braden's perfect game and Halladay's was the shortest span between two perfect games since 1880.[6]
Halladay pitched his perfect game on the same night thePhiladelphia Flyers played theChicago Blackhawks in Game 1 of theStanley Cup Finals.[7][8] The opening face-off at theUnited Center inChicago took place an hour after the Phillies-Marlins game began,[9] resulting in many Phillies fans and media there missing the perfect game due to the hockey game,[7] which the Flyers lost 6–5.[10]
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Phillies (28–20) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 0 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida Marlins (24–26) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| WP:Roy Halladay (7–3) LP:Josh Johnson (5–2)[4] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
BATTING
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FIELDING
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After the death of longtimesports commentatorHarry Kalas in 2009,Tom McCarthy took over as the Phillies'play-by-play television announcer, withChris Wheeler serving alongside him as acolor commentator.[11] During theComcast SportsNet Philadelphia television broadcast, McCarthy mentioned that the game was ano-hitter after7+2⁄3 innings, but did not say "perfect game" until there was one out remaining.[12] McCarthy said later that he did not "subscribe to thejinx part of it", referring to the notion that saying "no-hitter" or "perfect game" while a game is in progress will break the potential record, but that rather he and Wheeler were occupied with the other events of the game.[13] As it became more likely that Halladay was going to pitch a perfect game, McCarthy began scripting what he would say for the final call; he wanted to mention that it was the 20th overall perfect game in baseball history and the second in Phillies history.[14]
Scott Franzke andLarry Andersen were sitting in the booth next to McCarthy and Wheeler, narrating the game for radio.[15] Unlike television broadcasts, radio play-by-play announcers like Franzke did not subscribe to the superstition of refraining to mention a potential no-hitter or perfect game. Franzke said afterwards, "If they're listening on the radio, there's a 99 percent certainty that they're in their car. They're not looking at a stat box or a line score ... You have to mention it."[16] As the game approached its end, Franzke was attempting to look up a list of perfect games, but he had trouble with his laptop. Ultimately, he did not use the list in his final call, saying, "A perfect game for Roy Halladay! Twenty-seven up and 27 down!"[15]
While the game was being played, many Phillies fans were also following the first game of the2010 Stanley Cup Finals between thePhiladelphia Flyers and theChicago Blackhawks onNBC, or had chosen to watch the hockey game instead of the baseball game.[7] They came to know about the perfect game fromMike Emrick,Eddie Olczyk, andPierre McGuire when the network replayed the final out during the second period.[9][17] As a result of the timing, Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia decided to rebroadcast the game two nights later, though it happened on the same day the Flyers played Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals.[7]
For the Marlins,Rich Waltz called the play onFS Florida, while radio broadcasterGlenn Geffner called the play onWAXY, the Marlins radio station.[18]
Halladay's response to the postgame celebrations was understated, as was typical for the pitcher. He received astanding ovation when he returned to the clubhouse and proceeded to thankcatcherCarlos Ruiz for calling the game. First basemanRyan Howard retrieved the game ball from the final out to give to Halladay, while the Marlins presented him with the plate from thepitcher's mound. The following day, although he was not pitching, Halladay woke up early and went to the ballpark for his typical exercise routine.[19]
Cito Gaston, Halladay's formermanager when he was a member of the Blue Jays, attempted to call Halladay to congratulate him after the perfect game, but said that the media frenzy prevented him from picking up the phone. A reporter joked to Gaston that Halladay was likely exercising, as he often did in his free time.[20] Several other members of the Blue Jays organization offered their congratulations to their former teammate.General managerAlex Anthopoulos found out about the feat when he was attending a wedding, and received a number of congratulations himself. Some Blue Jays, like relieverCasey Janssen, told reporters that they would offer Halladay in-person congratulations when the team came toCitizens Bank Park the next month.[21] Halladay also received a congratulatory phone call fromJoe Biden, a lifelong Phillies fan and then-Vice President of the United States.[22]
Sun Life Stadium, which had a capacity of just over 36,000, had around 10,000 tickets still available from Halladay's perfect game. The following day, the Marlins began selling these unused perfect game tickets as memorabilia, for the same price as the game would have cost to attend.[23]
On June 2, 2010,Armando Galarraga of theDetroit Tigers retired the first 26 batters before the 27th batter reached base on an errant call by first base umpireJim Joyce. Had Galarraga's game been correctly called, the four-day span since Halladay's perfect game would have broken that 130-year-old record,[6] and marked the only time that three consecutive no-hitters had been perfect games, the only time that three perfect games had occurred in one season, the only time that three perfect games had occurred in a shorter span than a month, the only time four perfect games had occurred in a span shorter than a year, and the only time that four perfect games had occurred within a stretch of five no-hitters.[24]
After pitching his perfect game, Halladay commissioned around 60Baume & Mercier wrist watches that he subsequently gifted to all active roster members of the Phillies, as well as the coaching staff, all clubhouse personnel (including at least onebatboy), training and video staff, and public relations officials for the team. Each watch was personalized, with the name of the recipient engraved on the back, and an inscription on the boxes reading, "We did it together. Thanks, Roy Halladay."[25] Halladay enlisted the help of Frank Coppenbarger, the Phillies' director of team travel and clubhouse services, to help compile the list of recipients. In addition to those associated with the Phillies, Halladay's family, his wife's family, hisagent, Blue Jaysscout Bus Campbell, andsport psychologistHarvey Dorfman all received commemorative perfect game watches.[26]
On September 27, 2010, Halladay pitched acomplete game shutout to defeat theWashington Nationals 8–0 and lead the Phillies to their fourth consecutiveNational League (NL) East championship title.[27] When the Phillies played theCincinnati Reds in the2010 National League Division Series, Halladay was called to start Game 1, his first career postseason appearance. He proceeded to throw 104 pitches in ano-hitter, giving up one walk toJay Bruce in the fifth inning. Halladay also contributed offensively to the game, with anRBI single in the second inning.[28] Halladay was only the second pitcher in MLB history to throw a postseason no-hitter, followingDon Larsen's perfect game at the1956 World Series, and he was the first pitcher to no-hit in both the regular season and the postseason.[29] He was also the fifth pitcher in MLB history to throw two no-hitters in the same season, and the first sinceNolan Ryan in 1973.[30] Halladay's postseason effort was the first no-hitter in the history ofCitizens Bank Park, and it was the first time that the Phillies had no-hit the Reds sinceRick Wise pitched in 1971.[31] The Phillies swept the Reds in three games and advanced to the2010 National League Championship Series,[32] where they were defeated in six games by theSan Francisco Giants.[33]
Halladay's perfect game came during a dominant season for pitchers across MLB. By June 14, 2010, 24 starting pitchers had posted anearned run average (ERA) of under 3.00. By comparison, only 11 pitchers finished the2009 MLB season with a sub-3.00 ERA.[34] By July 31, pitchers were striking out an average of 7.03 batters per game, the highest of any MLB season. Teams were scoring an average of 4.94 runs per nine innings, the lowest since the1992 season, and only one batter,Jose Bautista of the Blue Jays, had registered 30 or morehome runs for the season.[35] Following Halladay and Braden's perfect games, Galarraga's near-perfect game, andStephen Strasburg's 14-strikeout major league debut, Roy S. Johnson ofESPN was one of the first to name 2010 the "Year of the Pitcher".[36]Sports Illustrated echoed the term, and attributed the strong pitching performance of the season to a ban onperformance-enhancing drugs for batters, greater attention to the development of young pitchers, as well as an influx of pitching talent across the league.[37] By the end of the year, the MLB league-widebatting average was the lowest that it had been since 1992, and pitchers had thrown five official no-hitters or perfect games—six, with the inclusion of Galarraga.[38]
Halladay and Johnson would pitch against each other several more times in their major league career. In a "perfect game rematch" on June 10, 2010, Halladay struck out eight batters, walked one, and allowed one run and six hits in eight innings, while Johnson struck out five, walked one, and gave up three hits. The Marlins ended their four-game losing streak in a 2–0 victory over the Phillies.[39] On May 10, 2011, Halladay pitched acomplete game loss whenOmar Infante reached home on anerror in the eighth inning. Johnson, who pitched only seven innings and left the game tied, was credited with ano decision.[40] On April 11, 2012, Johnson, who had not won a game in nearly a year, allowed five runs in the third inning to clear the way for a 7–1 Phillies victory. Halladay, meanwhile, held the Marlins to one run across seven innings.[41] Johnson, the Marlins'ace, maintained a respect for Halladay throughout their careers, referring to himself once as "like a little brother" to Halladay.[42]
Shortly after midnight on November 7, 2017, Halladay died when theICON A5 plane that he had been flying crashed into theGulf of Mexico, off the coast of Florida. He was 40 years old.[43] The Blue Jays officiallyretired Halladay's No. 32 jersey number on March 29, 2018, the first day of the2018 season.[44] The Phillies originally planned to retire Halladay's No. 34 jersey on May 29, 2020, the 10th anniversary of his perfect game, but theCOVID-19 pandemic delayed the2020 MLB season until July. The retirement ceremony was rescheduled for August 8, 2021.[45] On January 22, 2019, theBaseball Writers' Association of America voted to elect Halladay into theNational Baseball Hall of Fame. He received an 85.4% vote on the first ballot, far above the 75% threshold required for election. Halladay was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 21, 2019;[46] at the request of his family, Halladay's Hall of Fame plaque has no team logo on the baseball cap, as there was "no way to choose" between Toronto and Philadelphia.[47]
Lots of Philadelphians—including fans and plenty of writers in the United Center press box—missed Roy Halladay's perfect outing...because he threw it during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals. CSN, understanding that, decided to rebroadcast Halladay's historic performance. Smart. Unfortunately, and for reasons surpassing understanding, CSN chose to re-air it during Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Finals. Not so smart.
NBC broke into its coverage of the Game 1 of the Flyers-Chicago matchup to show a replay of the final out.
