Doc Halladay is Good
I imagine my shocking and controversial headline will incite some rage and perhaps some skepticism…
I usually meander on about this ratio, pitch selection, etc etc. With Doc we don’t have to do this. And to be fair it’s a bit of a pain in the ass (since he’s got about five plus pitches). Perhaps that’s why Halladay hasn’t caught on with the mainstream media (minus the T-Dot factor). It’s easy to root for a power pitcher (Randy Johnson back in the day) or someone with a plus-plus offering (Santana’s change). Doc can almost make a fan feel stupid at times, throwing this pitch and that pitch at any time, with varying locations and velocities.
After last nights win Halladay jumped into tenth all-time in winning percentage! Sabermetric whores will come out of the woodworks and proclaim this and that about wins but they do have their place. With the win Halladay passed Smokey Joe Wood, the great pitcher/hitter from the early 1900’s (an injury forced him to switch over to the OF after the age of 25. In 1912 he went an unbelievable 34-5).
Up next on the all-time winning percentage list? Arguably the greatest lefthanded pitcher of all-time, Lefty Grove. And that’s some pretty nice company for Halladay to be in.
Wins definitely have their place. I think Pedro Martinez is on that same top ten list and your description reminds me of what people used to say about Pedro. He threw any pitch with any velocity in any count to whoever he felt like it and stared at them after they struck out. Maybe Doc doesn’t do the stare down, but he’s earned a Pedro in his prime comparison.
Astute comment Mark. Pedro is actually just ahead of Halladay in 7th place all-time. (.684 for Pedro, .673 for Doc)
When number 32 is on the mound you expect a win, now with some backing he can go a complete game and let in a run and not lose. Fans are torn up inside when he is injured or taken out of a game, you feel his passion with your own. CC and AJ took big contracts with the Yankees, I hope that Toronto will respect the doc enough to offer him a salary to keep him a Jay. We all know he respects the team but the front office needs to respect him as well.