By Josh:
Last year baseball was hit hard by the passing of multiple young and talented players. It hit baseball especially hard as each death seemed to come so close to the other deaths that baseball fans just weren’t able to fully process and go through the grieving process.
The last week or two has brought back a lot of those memories and feelings for those in and around baseball.
Roy Halladay
Baseball fans were shocked at the loss of one of baseball’s best, both on and off the field, to come in the last 30 years. Halladay was one of the most dominating pitchers of his generation. He was the clear ace for both the Blue Jays and the Phillies during his career. In fact he would have been the clear ace on 95% of the teams in baseball during his career.
Despite his talent he never was a player to take it easy. He was seen by his teammates as the hardest worker on the team. He earned all of his awards and honors through his work ethic.
Most importantly Halladay was seen as one of the great guys of the game of baseball. He was respected by his teammates, opponents, and fans has a man of integrity and respect. His death has left a whole in the baseball world that can’t be filled.
Bobby Doerr
Doerr was the oldest living Hall of Famer before he passed away at the age of 99. He was a connection to the golden age of baseball that is slowing fading away and being pushed out of our memories. Doerr like Halladay was a great player who was respected on and off of the field.
Doerr had a great career that even included a missed year while he served in the military during World War II. He was a 9 time all-star who batted over .300 three times.
A few years ago I got to meet Doerr at a special event at Volcanoes stadium in Salem, OR. He signed autographs and talked with fans for almost the entire game. Despite being in his 90’s he still pushed himself to be there and available for the baseball fans that were there.
Baseball Will Remember
Even though these two icons of baseball have passed away they won’t be forgotten. Bobby Doerr will live on in the Baseball Hall of Fame and I truly believe that Roy Halladay will join him there soon enough. Legends never die.