PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- Phillies radio announcer Scott Franzke made sure to document the moment more than 46,000 screaming fans at Citizens Bank Park were on their feet in hopes of seeing something spectacular in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds — who sported a tremendous lineup.
“Just about a quarter to 8, October the 6th, 2010 — the first postseason game for Roy Halladay,” Franzke said on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, as well as the other Phillies Radio Network affiliates.
The late, great Halladay, 33 at the time, was making his playoff debut in his first of four seasons with the Phils. Halladay — one of the best pitchers of his generation — was acquired by the Phils in the winter of 2009 from the Toronto Blue Jays. The Jays never came closer than within 10 games of the American League East crown during Halladay’s prominent years with that organization.
Halladay biographer Todd Zolecki, who has covered the Phils since 2003, wrote in his recently published book, "Doc: The Life of Roy Halladay," told KYW Newsradio in May, “He had nine days to prepare from his final start (of the regular season) before that Game 1, and Roy said the whole reason that Roy wanted to come to Philly is that he never pitched in the postseason and he just wanted to know could he do it ....
"He just so badly wanted to know, ‘If I got to the postseason, could I do it, too? Would I be good? Would I feel pressure? Would I be bad?’ And, he used those nine days to prepare for the Reds.
"He said he never felt more confident stepping on a mound than Game 1, because he knew that nobody on the Reds could outwork him in those nine days. He studied every hitter. He not only studied every hitter, he studied pitchers that he thought might hit in that game .... And sure enough, that actually happened.
"He ended up getting him out — Travis Wood.”
The preparation paid off.Halladay was brilliant that night through 104 pitches — striking out eight and accomplishing something done only once before in Major League Baseball history.
The Phillies led the Reds 4-0 with two outs in the ninth inning. Halladay, who had nine complete games that season — unheard of even 10 years later — was still on the mound.
Franzke continued, “He winds … the 0-2 … swing and dribbler out in front of the plate.”
To that point, the Reds managed only one walk against Halladay. Just over four months prior, he pitched a perfect game against the then Florida Marlins on May 29, 2010. Now Halladay had a chance to be only the second pitcher to toss a postseason no-hitter. In 1956, Don Larsen threw a perfect game for the Yankees in Game 5 of the World Series.
The Reds had one walk. That’s it. No hits. It was all in jeopardy because of a little dribbler by Cincinnati’s Brandon Phillips, who dropped his bat very close to the ball that catcher Carlos Ruiz was trying to quickly pick up and throw to first baseman Ryan Howard.
This was anything but a routine play. Can you imagine history — postseason history — being lost on a silly little dribbler merely feet in front of the plate?
“Ruiz out to get it,” Franzke said as the city of Philadelphia held its breath. “The throw from his knees ... it’s in time and it’s a no hitter ... unbelievable!”
Halladay hugged Ruiz — who he very often credited for his success — and the Phillies stormed out of the dugout and from wherever they were on the field to embrace Doc on the first night of "Doctober."
“Ruiz and Halladay embrace,” Franzke shouted. “And the Phillies, again, celebrate around Roy Halladay!”
“It’s just unbelievable what he did tonight,” Franzke’s radio partner and former Phillies pitcher Larry Andersen said after Franzke’s call. “The best hitting team in the National League, the Triple Crown winner for a team, and he just shut 'em down. The hardest ball hit was Travis Wood, their second pitcher, and he just flat dominated.”
It was the first no-hitter in the history of Citizens Bank Park, which opened in 2004. The Phillies swept the Reds in three games to advance to their third-straight National League Championship series.
Moments later, Halladay told TBS reporter David Aldridge with the late, great Harry Kalas’ rendition of “High Hopes” — sung by the Phillies faithful — in the background, “This is what you come here for. It’s a good team. They know how to win, and you come in, you try to chip in and be a part of it, and it’s been a great year. It’s been a fun year, and like I said, we obviously have a ways to go, but it’s a veteran team that knows how to win. I can’t say enough about them.”
When asked by Aldridge what his feelings were being in the same conversation as legendary late Phillies pitcher Robin Roberts and Larsen, Halladay said, “It’s surreal. I mean it really is. I just wanted to pitch here, pitch in the postseason. To be able to go out and have a game like that, it’s a dream come true.”
Halladay died tragically at the age of 40 in November 2017, when a plane he was flying crashed.
Despite only pitching four seasons in Philadelphia, compared to more than double of that in Toronto, his widow, Brandy, and his sons Braden and Ryan, decided Halladay would posthumously go into the Hall of Fame without either team’s logo on the hat of his plaque, in part because Philadelphia gave Roy the opportunity to compete for a championship in the playoffs.
“That was one of the things that was real important to me,” former Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr, who traded for Halladay in the winter of 2009, told KYW Newsradio over the summer.
“I knew a lot about him. I had done a lot of research about the man himself, and one of the things that I knew that he wanted to do was to play in the playoffs and try to win a World Series, and so it was a great fit for us ...
"And when you get a guy of that caliber and you have that kind of a club, all you really want to do is give him exactly what it is that he wants. Not only the city, but to the team, and particularly for him, because he works so hard to try to master his craft in a way that he could perform at the highest level. And you saw that in his very first performance against Cincinnati, throwing a no-hitter. It was just amazing.
"It makes me emotional, still, just to think about. He had lived and worked his whole life to pitch in a playoff game, and the very first one he pitches in, he throws a no-hitter. It’s unimaginable.”
It was reality, and to this day, it brings back so many memories to Philadelphia sports fans who adored and miss Halladay.