Ricky Romero tells hilarious story about Toronto Blue Jays legend Roy Halladay
Former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Romero recently shared yet another legendary tale of the late Roy Halladay.
Since his tragic passing over seven years ago, many stories have surfaced about not only what an incredible teammate Halladay was, but also how much respect he gained throughout the entire MLB.
Romero recently made an appearance on the Gate 14 Podcast, sharing a legendary story on when Halladay went after Boston Red Sox icon David Ortiz to back up one of his Blue Jays teammates.
“It was in ’09. Adam Lind had hit three home runs at Fenway Park,” Romero recounted. “Jonathan Papelbon smoked him right in the triceps. Put Adam out for like a week or so. Papelbon’s looking in our dugout saying, ‘My bad, my bad’. Everyone’s motherf*cking him, and I’m just a rookie so I’m kind of like, ‘What the heck is going on?'”
As it turned out, Halladay was up to pitch the next day, and seemingly had vengeance on his mind. Romero detailed how Halladay started preparing ahead of his start by throwing fastballs high and inside the strike zone. Sure enough, once the game began, Halladay plunked Ortiz with a fastball high and inside.
“Big Papi just looked at him, nodded his head, took off his elbow guard, and walked to first base,” Romero chuckled. “Years later, I heard the story about Doc, because he was such a controlled pitcher, that he was in the bullpen working on that fastball, four-seam fastball because he didn’t throw any fours seamers. Four-seam fastball, up and in, up and in. He was such a perfectionist that he was working on that pitch to make sure he didn’t miss.”
@gate14pod Roy Halladay is an absolute legend. What a story #BlueJays #TorontoBlueJays #MLB #Baseball #FYP #RedSox
Halladay’s resume certainly helped with that respect as well. He was able to pitch in eight All-Star Games, six of which came while he was with the Blue Jays. He also won two Cy Young Awards in 2003 and 2010.
Many of Halladay’s former teammates have raved about the work he put into his craft, and this story shows just that.
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