MLB
Halladay remembered
CLEARWATER, Fla. — Two-time Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay was remembered Tuesday as an amazing husband, father, friend and teammate who was one of the best pitchers of his generation but an even better man.
A 91-minute “Celebration of Life for Roy Halladay” attracted more than 1,000 people to Spectrum Field, the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies, one of two franchises Halladay played for during a stellar 16-year career.
“The man made the ballplayer,” Phillies owner John Middleton said, “not the other way around,”
Halladay died Nov. 7 at age 40 when the private plane he was piloting crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.
The eight-time All-Star who pitched a perfect game and a playoff no-hitter, Halladay played for the Toronto Blue Jays from 1998-2009 and for the Phillies from 2009-2013, going 203-105 with a 3.38 ERA.
The public memorial began with a video tribute and ended with Halladay’s wife, Brandy, and sons, Braden and Ryan, standing on the mound and releasing butterflies from a container in a final “goodbye.”
“All eyes are on me,” the pitcher’s wife, the last of nine speakers, said from a rostrum perched behind the mound, flanked by pictures of Halladay with the Phillies and Blue Jays, along with floral arrangements bearing the 34 and 32 jersey numbers he wore.
“I’m really fortunate that I’ve gotten used to that feeling. I’ve literally been standing next to a man for 21 years that people could not take their eyes off of,” she said. “He was awe-striking. He was beautiful inside and out. Without saying a word, he seemed to always have just the right thing to say. When he did speak, people listened.”
Other speakers included Halladay’s dad, Roy Jr., former teammates Cole Hamels, Chase Utley and Chris Carpenter, long-time baseball executive and former Blue Jays GM JP Ricciardi, ex-Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and Blue Jays trainer George Poulis.
Hall of Famer Frank Thomas, former Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston, Rays manager Kevin Cash, and onetime teammates Cliff Lee (Benton, Arkansas Razorbacks), Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Jose Bautista, BJ Ryan, A.J. Burnett (North Little Rock, Central Arkansas Christian) and J.A. Happ were among other guests.
RED SOX
Doerr dead at 99
GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Bobby Do-err, the Hall of Fame second baseman dubbed the “Silent Captain” of the Boston Red Sox by longtime teammate and friend Ted Williams, has died. He was 99.
Doerr died on Monday in Junction City, Ore., the Red Sox said Tuesday in a statement. The Red Sox said Do-err had been the oldest living major league player.
“Bobby Doerr was part of an era of baseball giants and still stood out as one himself,” Red Sox owner John Henry said in the statement. “And even with his Hall of Fame achievements at second base, his character and personality outshined it all. He will be missed.”
Signed out of the old Pacific Coast League on the same scouting trip that brought Williams to Fenway Park, Doerr played 14 seasons with the Red Sox and joined his fishing buddy in the Hall of Fame in 1986. He had a.288 lifetime average and helped the Red Sox to the 1946 World Series. Doerr finished with 2,042 hits, 223 home runs and 1,247 RBI and he once went 414 games without an error — a record at the time. His six seasons with at least 100 RBI was not matched by another second baseman for 25 years.
Doerr was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986 by the Veterans Committee and the Red Sox retired his No. 1 jersey in 1988. The Red Sox honored Doerr with a 2004 World Series ring after breaking their 86-year championship drought. Doerr returned to the Red Sox as a coach from 1967-69 and was a batting coach for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1980.