CY YOUNG AWARD
TOPS LIST OF ACCOLADES
FOR BLUE JAYS’
ROY HALLADAY
The 26-year-old Halladay pitched nine complete games, a league-high total, striking out 204 batters while walking just 32. Leading the AL with 22 wins, his total innings pitched (266) was 24 higher than his next-closest competitor, Bartolo Colon.
Earlier this month The Sporting News named Halladay the Pitcher of the Year and for the second straight year a Blue Jays Player was chosen the best player by his peers, winning the Players Choice award for Outstanding Pitcher.
The Outstanding Pitcher trophy has also been won by Pat Hentgen ('96) and Roger Clemens ('97 and '98).
Getting off to a slow start, he became the first pitcher since Mike Cuellar in 1974 to win 22 games without winning before April 30. Later in the season, Halladay won 15 straight decisions over a span of three months, finishing fifth in the AL with a 3.25 ERA, tying a record set by Walter Johnson in 1912. That mark had been tied four times, but only once in the last 60 years by previous Blue Jays player, Roger Clemens.
During a late-season start against the Detroit Tigers on September 6th, Halladay took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and settled for a 10-inning shutout, the first of his career and the longest outing by any Toronto starter in more than a decade. Halladay went on to toss five complete games in a six-start span setting a franchise record with 22 wins, allowing him to lead the league in innings pitched for the second straight season.
Thus ending a remarkable year by the player who, just a few seasons ago was struggling to stay in the majors.
Special to Canadian Baseball News – 11 November 2003
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