Chris Carpenter mourns the loss of Roy Halladay

Chris Carpenter mourns the loss of his former teammate and dear friend Roy Halladay.

Late yesterday afternoon, the baseball world was shell-shocked with the news that former MLB pitching sensation Roy Halladay had died in a plane crash while flying his airplane over the Gulf of Mexico.

If your heart can take it, here are more details of this tragic event.

The MLB community still hasn’t recovered, no doubtingly taking this news as hard as us fans. One member is his former teammate and dear friend, Chris Carpenter, who expressed his condolences via the St. Louis Cardinals press release on Twitter.

Carpenter and Halladay were as thick as blood going through the Toronto Blue Jays organization as first-round draft picks in the early 90’s. Both players made their MLB debuts within one calendar year of one another, Carpenter in 1997 and Halladay in 1998.

Each pitcher went on different paths, but had near mirrors of one another in their accomplishments. Halladay won two Cy Young awards, while Carpenter won one — should have earned a second one like his counterpart.

Carpenter stayed in the Toronto Blue Jays Organization until leaving for the Cardinals in 2003, while Halladay remained in Canada through the 2009 campaign, going to join the 2008 World Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

Even though both went to opposing teams, they continued as a band of brothers. Both would venture into the exotic Amazon rain forests in South America on an annual fishing trip, in one case even just weeks before their epic showdown in the Game 5 of 2011 the NLDS.

Both starters got the nod, Carpenter donning the Birds on the bat, while Halladay put on a similar Phillie white and red attire. We have you covered if you want to take a trip down nostalgia road, with the entire game archived on MLB.com.

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While re-watching this game this morning, my Cardinal and baseball heart could only take so, where I was teared up for a good portion of this game. Yes, real men do cry.

In that winner take all match, Carpenter outdueled his friend Halladay 1-0, in a pitching duel for the ages. Carpenter went the distance, while Halladay went eight strong innings, both pitchers not yielding an inch.

The result was a 1-0 Cardinals win, in one of the greatest ever played in MLB history. No better way than two friends competing for the ultimate prize.

After knocking the heavy favorited Phillies, the Cardinals went on to win the World Series epically against the Texas Rangers.

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Now, as we reflect on the career of Roy Halladay, specifically with his connection to his dear friend Chris Carpenter, where do we go from here?

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to pull up that epic 2011 Game 5, find the old XBox game with Doc on the cover, and mourn the loss of one of my favorite MLB players the only way I know how. Celebrating his life and living vicariously through my younger self through the art of nostalgia.