Ex-major league pitcher and avid angler Roy Halladay died Tuesday in a private plane crash in shallow Gulf of Mexico waters near Holiday, Fla.
According to various news reports, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco confirmed in a news conference that Halladay’s small single-engine aircraft, said to be an ICON A5, went down off the Florida coastline around noon ET. Rescuers found the pitching great deceased when they searched the wreckage.
News reports noted that Halladay had apparently just attended a Fishing for Families tournament put on by the local sheriff’s office late last week.
“The worst case scenario happened and it breaks our heart,” said Nocco in a story posted online by the New York Daily News.
Former teammates and others throughout the big leagues were quick to respond to Halladay’s death.
“All of us at Baseball are shocked and deeply saddened by the tragic passing of former Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay,” said Major League Baseball (MLB) commissioner Rob Manfred in a statement posted on MLB.com.
“A well-respected figure throughout the game, Roy was a fierce competitor during his 16-year career, which included eight All-Star selections, two Cy Young Awards, a perfect game and a postseason no-hitter.
“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I extend my deepest condolences to his family, including his wife, Brandy, and two sons, Ryan and Braden, his friends and countless fans, as well as the Blue Jays and Phillies organizations.”
Halladay – eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019 – had a sterling career that featured a 203-105 record, a 3.38 earned run average and two of the most famous games in recent MLB history. The first came on May 29, 2010 when the pitcher tossed MLB’s 20th erfect game against the Florida Marlins. The second came a few months later on when Halladay threw a National League Division Series (NLDS) no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds, the first post-season no-hitter since Don Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series.
While Halladay will be remembered by most for his numerous baseball accomplishments, many in the bass fishing world will recall Halladay for his deep love of angling. That includes Dave Mercer, Bassmaster Elite Series emcee and the host of Facts of Fishing on Outdoor Channel.
“So sad to hear about the passing of this amazing man & friend to anyone that was lucky enough to meet him @RoyHalladay #RIPDoc,” stated Mercer’s tweet of the pitcher known to his friends as “Doc.”
In addition to Mercer, 2009 Bassmaster Classic champ Skeet Reese befriended Halladay through fishing, a friendship that began in the fall of 2010 when the two were paired for a day of bass fishing on California’s Clear Lake.
Halladay – who was featured in a cover story for the March 2011 issue of Bassmaster magazine – would venture to Brazil’s Amazon River basin with Reese, fellow Elite angler John Murray and others the next winter to target double-digit peacock bass in December 2011.
While on that trip, the two were involved in a much-heralded story that saw them rescue a local angler reportedly attacked by a large anaconda that had left the man stranded on a log without any of his clothing or his small boat.
Halladay, whose father was reportedly a corporate pilot, had a deep love of planes and flying along with boats and fishing. According to Halladay in one interview, he came to that love of fishing at an early age.
“My grandpa used to always take me fishing and taught me patience, and really more than anything, just how much fun it was to be outside on the lake and around the water,” stated Halladay in an interview with the National Marine Manufacturers Association’s DiscoverBoating.com website.
“That was the most fun for me, and obviously digging through the tackle box, that was always pretty cool too.”
Halladay leaves behind his wife Brandy and two sons, Ryan and Braden.
