Halladay posthumously inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame

Due to the untimely and unfortunate death of Roy Halladay in 2017, he was posthumously inducted by his wife, Brandy. Halladay’s sons, Braden, and Ryan were in attendance at Sunday’s ceremony in Cooperstown.

After MLB commissioner Rob Manfred presented her with Roy’s Hall of Fame plaque, Brandy Halladay gave a moving speech about her husband. She thanked the fellow inductees and mentioned how they, and the rest of the Hall of Fame members in attendance, supported her throughout the weekend. “Anybody who thinks baseball truly isn’t a family has never been involved in baseball,” Brandy Halladay said during her speech. She elaborated on the family aspect of baseball, after the ceremony, saying, “You’re with this group of people, together, you’re in the same boat, you’re going through the same things and you instantly have 25 new friends, 25 new sisters, 80 new kids…you take care of each other. That support system is built-in, and if you’re lucky, it’s a really good one. I’m always lucky to be part of an amazing group of women and I knew that they would always be there for me. Those girls that I met through baseball are some of my friends for life…that’s what baseball does.”

Roy Halladay was one of baseball’s best pitchers throughout his career, and Brandy mentioned in the speech how he had the mentality of a “true competitor” and how every game he “went to the field every day to do whatever it took to give his team the best possible chance to win.” She also mentioned a conversation with Roy’s former teammate, former Phillies pitcher J.C. Romero, where Romero said “Roy didn’t play that way because he wanted to be in the Hall of Fame. He’ll be in the Hall because of the way he played.”

While Roy Halladay was unfortunately not there in person to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, Brandy Halladay did a fantastic job honoring her late husband. While she stood on the stage delivering her speech, everyone in the crowd in Cooperstown supported her and honored the memory of Roy, as he got the ultimate honor for any baseball player.