It was the second no-hitter in all of Major League Baseball’s post season history. The last one was in 1956 with Don Larsen of the New York Yankees. Of course, I’m talking about Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay‘s 4-0 game against the Cincinnati Reds last night. He threw 104 pitches and struck out eight batters. That’s all well and good — OK, that’s amazing — but this isn’t a sports website, so while we’re impressed by his athletic prowess, we’re more impressed with Halladay’s work off the field. And listen up, folks, because you’re going to like this guy even more.
The 33-year-old pitcher brings in a cool $15.7 million a year but doesn’t even know it. According to this Canadian newspaper (He used to pitch for Toronto), he won’t look at his pay stubs but instead, hands it over to his wife, Brandy.
“It bothers him to make as much money as he does,” she told the Toronto Star. “He feels like he’s out there doing his job. Should he get paid? Of course, he should be paid. But there’s a lot of people out there that work hard. He works hard at what he does, but it doesn’t mean that other people out there don’t deserve those kinds of checks, too. It’s kind of humbling. [His charity work] is his way of paying back.”
Nicknamed “Doc” (Get it? Doc Halladay?), he started the Doc’s Box program with his wife while with the Blue Jays. Together, the couple would host 10-15 children suffering from serious illnesses in their luxury suite each game through the Ronald McDonald House and the local Hospital for Sick Children.
Growing up in Colorado, Halladay had a pitching mentor in Bus Campbell, who worked with him from the time he was 13 years old. Once Halladay made it to the majors in 1995, the pitcher famously conspired with Campbell’s wife to get him out of the house so he could install a satellite dish complete with the MLB extra innings package. It was the only way Halladay could repay Campbell, who refused gifts or money, for his instruction.
“A lot of emphasis is put on how much money the guys make,” Brandy said. “People are obsessed. I agree that athletes are overpaid. But that provides us the opportunity to help. What I would like people to see is these guys are not out there just buying sports cars and taking vacations. The majority of the people on the team really are doing good in the community … and they’re trying.”
As for her husband’s nearly perfect game last night? The Doc said, “It’s surreal, it really is. I just wanted to pitch here, to pitch in the postseason. To go out and have a game like that, it’s a dream come true.”
Photo by imagesbyferg via Flickr.