Roy Halladay was found dead among the wreckage of his ICON A5 aircraft floating in the Gulf of Mexico Tuesday afternoon. The plane was found 10 miles west of St. Petersburg at around 1 p.m.
Early reports indicated one fatality in the crash but the identity was later confirmed as Halladay by the Pasco County Sheriff office.
The Phillies issued a statement saying, “We are numb over the very tragic news about Roy Halladay’s untimely death,” the Phillies said in a statement. “There are no words to describe the sadness that the entire Phillies family is feeling over the loss of one of the most respected human beings to ever play the game. It is with the heaviest of hearts that we pass along our condolences to Brandy, Ryan and Braden.Halladay was an electrifying pitcher spending most of his career with the Toronto Blue Jays but later joined the Philadelphia Phillies in 2010. It wasn't always easy for Halladay even though he was a first-round pick in 1995. Before ascending to a dominant big-league career he almost washed out of baseball. A shift in arm angle unlocked success for the hurler and lead to a streak where he held the thundering A.L. East to an ERA under three. Halladay was an eight-time All-Star and two-time Cy Young winner. He has a perfect game and a no-hitter on his resume and is the only player to record both in a single season. The praise doesn’t stop there as Halladay is also one of two players to throw a no-hitter or perfect game in the playoffs – the other was Don Drysdale’s perfect game in 1956. Halladay was one of the first to fly the ICON A5 and in a video from Yahoo! Sports that followed them through the process of buying the plane, Brandy Halladay explains how her objections to buying the plane washed away.
By the evening hours Tuesday night, a flood of sentiment poured in from around the Major League Baseball community.
The Phillies posted a special tribute from his brief stint in the City of Brotherly Love.
Major League Baseball's crown jewel and South Jersey native sent his condolences.
Halladay was held in extreme reverence around baseball and here is one reason why; the message he sent when he retired.
