The fact that former Toronto Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay still leads the majors in complete games since 1998 speaks volumes on the changes in the league.
Recently, the Toronto Blue Jays Twitter manager – their social media manager, I suppose – tweeted that Roy Halladay still leads major league baseball in complete games since 1998, and I’ll take that as bible-stuff because…the blue Twitter checkmark or whatever.
It actually doesn’t matter whether or not the figure is actually verified by whoever is now the authority, however. Halladay must be near the top of that list. That fact is impressive, but only in a way dependent on a pandemic for something to tweet or write about. But here we are.
Roy Halladay first pitched in MLB in ’98, when he was a mere 21 years old.
Many people, of course, know his story, his struggle to stay in the majors, gutting that out after a demotion to the minors early on, and then, dominance and Hall of Fame recognition after his effort in his 30s with the Philadelphia Phillies.
The hard-working right-hander threw a perfect game, then a no-hitter in the playoffs for the Fightin’ General Losers. (And to this observer’s eye, the no-hitter may have been more masterful.)
But then, Halladay died young in a private plane he piloted. That crash now seems related to drug use, abuse, or simple miscalculation, and we’ll likely never know which is the right term there.
This is obviously terribly sad, but so is the fact of Halladay’s place in major league baseball in the entirety of his career.
Yes, there is no doubt that in his time – or his prime – Roy Halladay was insanely dominant, but having watched all three of them, this fan would say he wasn’t as dominant as Sandy Koufax or Bob Gibson. The numbers indicate he wasn’t as dominant as, say, Lefty Grove or Ol’ Pete Alexander, either.
Historically, Halladay was also part of that impressive Phillies rotation of the early part of the past decade, a rotation that didn’t deliver a championship to Philadelphia. Also, the complete-game number touted by the Jays in this idle pandemic spring, while impressive in Halladay’s era, is only impressive in the context of understanding MLB’s changes.
Roy Halladay had 67 complete games in his 16 years at baseball’s highest level. This translates to six complete games per every 162 appeared in during regular seasons. He only pitched in relief sparingly early in his career – in only 26 contests.
He won more than 20 or more games three times, a tough row to hoe in the 21st century. He was, put simply, really good. Moreover, he relied on four different pitches, rarely throwing a “simple” fastball, another testament to advanced skill.
But the sadness of Halladay’s complete-game total and average is seen in comparing him to Koufax, who had 137 complete games in the 397 he appeared in, 19 fewer than Halladay, and the left-hander’s average of 13 CGs per 162-game “chunk” is even more impressive in that the Dodgers great threw in relief in 83 games.
Likewise, Halladay trails Gibson in total 9-inning efforts and regular-season average. The aggressive Cardinal posted 255 CGs for a 17-game CG average. Further back in history the numbers for Grove and Alexander likely become mind-boggling for the average 21st century fan – Grove put up 298 and 19, and the Philadelphia Phillies Worse Trade Mistake ever, Alexander, posted 436 and 23.
In 1915 and ’16 alone, Ol’ Pete threw seven more CGs (74) than Halladay did in his entire career.
Obviously, these two great right-handers were separated by almost 100 years, and baseball changed drastically in that timeframe. However, in the long story that is major league baseball, Roy Halladay will likely be primarily seen as “a bit of a throwback starter.” But only a bit. He never reached ten complete games in a season. Four times he had nine.