As the 2011 season approaches, it’s time to look back at some of the top moments from the Philadelphia Phillies 2010 season. While the team came short of their ultimate goal of winning a World Series championship, there were still several great memories from the past year. Here is a look back on the top 25 moments of 2010 Philadelphia Phillies season.
#1 Welcome to Doctober – October 4th
October baseball.
It’s the moment an athlete dreams of his entire life. From the time a ball player is old enough to have a catch in the field he envisions throwing that meaningful pitch to help his team win in October. That moment where the game is on the line and everything is up to you. All of the hard work put in during the offseason is to make sure that you are ready for October. Players battle through injuries and the dog days of summer with the goal of having a chance to play on the postseason stage. The opportunity to play for a chance to win the World Series is everything for a Major League baseball player.
Roy Halladay waited his entire life for this moment.
Roy Halladay was brilliant in his postseason debut
The 2010 National League Cy Young award winner had accomplished nearly everything during his illustrious career. But after 12 brilliant seasons as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays, Halladay requested a trade to Philadelphia seeking the one thing he had yet to achieve in baseball.
The opportunity to play in October for the right to win a championship.
“The longer you play, the more you think about having that chance and being able to be involved in it,” Halladay said. “It’s been fun to do here because of the atmosphere and the guys on the team. It’s been really everything that I hope it would be. It’s something that I’ve looked forward to, and obviously very glad I got the chance.”
From the 5am workouts at the Carpenter Complex in Clearwater, Florida in early December to the meticulous preparation for every last start, Halladay constantly worked towards October. His time to shine under the bright lights of postseason play had finally arrived.
Doc didn’t disappoint.
In fact, he pitched the game of his life.
Halladay joined Don Larsen as the only pitchers to throw a no-hitter in the postseason
Halladay joined former New York Yankee Don Larsen as the only two pitchers in the history of the sport to throw a no-hitter in the postseason as the Phillies won Game One of the National League Divisional Series 4-0 over the Cincinnati Reds. From the very first pitch of his first ever playoff start, Roy Halladay was in complete control. He dominated one of the best lineups in the National League. He was overpowering. Halladay was simply… perfect.
It might not go into the record books as a perfect game but sans a 5th inning walk to Jay Bruce, Halladay was perfect. 9 innings of no hit baseball on just 104 pitches. 25 first-pitch strikes to 28 batters. Eleven 0-2 counts. Halladay threw just 25 balls, only one more than opposing starter Edison Volquez threw in 1.2 innings on the mound. The pitcher even added a RBI single in the bottom of the 2nd!
Halladay became just the fifth pitcher ever to throw two no-hitters in the same season. Back on May 29th, the Phillies ace was perfect against the Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium. But on a Wednesday night in early October, Halladay was even better.
“Way better,” Cole Hamels said. “Way better.”
“I thought so,” added pitching coach Rich Dubee. “I thought he had four pitches, never really lost any of those four pitches. He had four pitches throughout nine innings that he pretty much could throw at any time and to both sides of the plate. He was [like that in Florida], but he wasn’t as consistent.”
“Was that a video game out there or what?” questioned rookie outfielder Domonic Brown.
“He was filthy,” Jimmy Rollins said. “Filthy, like just completely filthy.”
It was the greatest pitching performance of a generation and Halladay was even more dominant than the numbers showed. Normally during a historical pitching display there is a moment, a play, that you can look back on as the signature turning point. In Game One of the National League Divisional Series, there was no moment. Not one single play. There was simply weak grounder after weak grounder. Weak pop up after weak pop up. Strikeout after strikeout after strikeout. Complete control from start to finish.
“He’s probably prepared more than anyone in the history of the game for this start and it showed tonight,” said Phillies relief pitcher Ryan Madson in an elated clubhouse after the game.
Halladay became the first pitcher ever to throw a no-hitter in his first postseason appearance
“I knew my first time in a postseason game would be something special and extraordinary — but I couldn’t have envisioned anything like this,” added utility player Mike Sweeney.
“You go back and you see pitches guys were throwing 50 years ago and they might have the old fastball and maybe something else, maybe a curveball,” Phillies closer Brad Lidge said, “But I think 50 years from now, people are going to look back and say, ‘Roy had everything then that we have now.’ I don’t think you could throw a lot more stuff that he’s thrown.”
Halladay stifled the Reds lineup from start to finish. He used pinpoint control on both sides of the plate and a variety of pitches to shut down the top scoring lineup in the National League.
“You knew probably in the third or fourth inning,” admitted Cincinnati manager Dusty Baker. “When you saw his command. I’ve been on both sides of no-hitters. The deeper the game goes, you can tell they were feeling it.”
“We never envisioned that,” Reds first baseman Joey Votto said. “I don’t think anything we did would have mattered. He just pitched so well. When you’re trying to thread a needle at the plate, it’s miserable. It’s not fun being up there trying to hit nothing. Tonight was a nothing night. I took the one pitch I saw all night to hit because I wanted to see a strike. I hate to use hyperbole, but he’s an ace among aces.”
The two-time defending National League Champions started off the 2010 postseason by taking an early 1-0 lead on an RBI sacrifice fly by Chase Utley in the 1st inning. Philadelphia then added three more runs in the bottom of the 2nd on RBI singles by Halladay and Shane Victorino. Four runs were more than enough run support for the Phillies ace.
“In the bullpen, it was like ‘Wow!'” Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz said. “I said, ‘Guys, we need to score some runs today. If we score a run, we have a good chance to win.’ When he is on, you have a good chance to win. Everything was working in the bullpen.”
As the game progressed into the later innings, the magnitude of the moment became apparent for the sold-out crowd at Citizen’s Bank Park. Fans remained on their feet waiving their rally towels hoping they were about to witness history.
“When it gets that loud, it’s hard to ignore,” Halladay said. “I thought especially the last three innings, it seemed like it got louder every inning. It’s obviously one of the most electric atmospheres I’ve ever been in. It was pretty neat. It’s something you obviously can’t ignore, so it was a lot of fun.”
“It was just great,” added Jimmy Rollins. “Simple and classy. That was awesome.”
Citizen's Bank Park awaits history as Halladay delivers his final pitch of the night
At 7:42pm eastern time, Roy Halladay achieved baseball history. As the fans on hand roared in anticipation, Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips punched an 0-2 curveball into the ground in front of the plate. Carlos Ruiz ripped off his mask but Phillips bat landed in fair territory and the ball rolled up the length of the bat. The final out ended up being the toughest of the night. Ruiz dropped to his knees, picked up the ball, and made a perfect throw to first baseman Ryan Howard to cap off the no hitter.
“I was panicking,” Ruiz said.
“Pretty good pickup,” Howard joked.
Halladay was mobbed on the field and appropriately, the first teammate to reach him was his catcher, Ruiz.
“He takes the stuff that a pitcher has on a given night and uses it to the best that he can,” Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin said of Ruiz. “He has been fantastic. He has developed into a solid No. 1 catcher. He does everything well defensively. Calling a game is probably the most important aspect that he does so well. Day after day he knows, what pitches a guy will be successful with.”
“We need to give something to him [Halladay],” Ruiz said, “that’s go to the World Series. That’s what I want. That’s what he wants. It’s special for him and special for us. We have to keep going.”
Welcome to Doctober Roy Halladay
“I think once it ends, it’s a little bit surreal, it really is,” said Halladay. ”I just wanted to pitch here, to pitch in the postseason. To go out and have a game like that, it’s a dream come true. It’s been a great year, a fun year, but we obviously have a ways to go.”
Halladay’s no hitter virtually clinched a return trip to the NLCS for the Phillies. The team went on to sweep the Reds in the Divisional Series as Cincinnati never responded from the dominating effort of the Phillies ace in Game One.
“It’s hard to explain,” Halladay said. “But pitching a game like that, being able to win the game comes first. That’s kind of your only focus until after it’s over with. I think these are types of things that once the season is over, I think you’re able to kind of soak it all in and enjoy it.”
While the Phillies fell short of their ultimate goal of winning a World Series, Roy Halladay gave sports fans across the globe a memory that will last a lifetime. In the upcoming months and years ahead the magnitude of his incredible pitching performance will continue to set in. 50 years from now baseball fans will tell the story of a night in early October 2010 when Roy Halladay made baseball history.
His moment had finally arrived.
Welcome to Doctober.
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