Halladay led the majors in wins (21), complete games (9), shutouts (4) and innings pitched (250.2). He was second in the National League in strikeouts (219) while walking just 30 batters — a 7.31 strikeout-to-walk ratio — and second in the league in WHIP (1.04), trailing only his late-season teammate Roy Oswalt (Cliff Lee, by the way, led the majors with a 1.00 WHIP). He was third in the NL in ERA.
He threw a perfect game against the Marlins in the regular season, and a no-hitter in his long-awaited, long overdue playoff debut. He got to 20 wins and was on the mound for the division-clincher, pitching brilliantly in the process.
Roy Halladay did just about everything you can ask a pitcher to do, even staving off elimination on one leg to keep the Phillies alive one more day.
It was incredibly painful to see Cliff Lee shipped out of town — I mean, all we wanted was our two fronline aces, a crazy notion I envisioned the second the Phillies traded for Lee — but watching Roy Halladay go out and put forth perhaps the greatest season a Philadelphia Phillies starter has ever had was amazing.
Only one other Phillie had ever won the Cy Young in my lifetime: Steve Bedrosian in 1987. I was 3 years old, so I don't exactly remember it. Now 26 and watching damn near every pitch Halladay has thrown as a Phillie, I can honestly say it was the most remarkable pitching performance I've ever seen. It was so much damn fun, and with Halladay around for another three years minimum, it's only gonna get funner.
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