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Roy Halladay dead: legendary pitcher perishes in plane crash

Roy Halladay pitches for the Philadelphia Phillies during a spring training game against the Washington Nationals in Clearwater, Florida, on March 6, 2013. The Phillies organisation said it was 'numb' over his death: REUTERS/Steve Nesius
Roy Halladay pitches for the Philadelphia Phillies during a spring training game against the Washington Nationals in Clearwater, Florida, on March 6, 2013. The Phillies organisation said it was 'numb' over his death: REUTERS/Steve Nesius

Former major league baseball player Roy Halladay has died in a plane crash, a premature end for one of the most dominant pitchers in recent history.

Officials in Pasco County, Florida confirmed that Mr Halladay died after his plane plummeted into the Gulf of Mexico. A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed the agency was investigating the crash and had dispatched an investigator to Clearwater, Florida.

“He was one in a million. It is a true loss for us”, Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said at a press conference.

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A 15-year major leaguer who split his time between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies, Mr Halladay was arguably the best pitcher in baseball during his prime. He will have a strong case to make the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible. Among his accolades are two Cy Young awards, given each year to the best pitcher in each league, a perfect game and a vanishingly rare postseason no-hitter.

“We are numb over the very tragic news about Roy Halladay's untimely death”, the Phillies organisation said in a statement. “There are no words to describe the sadness the entire Phillies family is feeling over the loss of one of the most respected human beings to ever play the game”.

As news of Mr Halladay’s death spread, tributes poured in from fans, sportswriters and fellow athletes who bore witness to the late pitcher’s greatness.

After retiring from Major League Baseball following the 2013 season, Mr Halladay turned to amateur piloting. He regularly shared updates about his flights in the days leading up to his death.

In recent days Mr Halladay giddily shared news of receiving a new plane from ICON aircraft. Officials identified the ICON A5 model - which Mr Halladay said he had “dreamed” of owning and is shown receiving in a video posted by the aerospace company - as the plane that crashed.

“I grew up around airplanes and always wanted to get my license”, Mr Halladay says in the video, adding that “when I retired” from baseball, “that was one of the first things I wanted to do”.

In a league where modern analytics and injury concerns often prompted managers to monitor pitch counts and pull starting pitchers early, Mr Halladay was a rare commodity: an old-school workhorse who regularly threw more than 200 innings a year. Four times, he led the league in innings pitched. His reputation earned him the nickname “Doc”, a nod at his toughness and a reference to the Wild West gunslinger John Henry “Doc” Holliday.

The bulk of Mr Halladay’s career was spent in Toronto, where he was a bright light on a succession of dull Blue Jays teams. A 2009 trade sent him to the Phillies, a then-powerhouse coming off of consecutive World Series appearances, where he slotted into an overwhelming rotation that also included star pitchers Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt and Cole Hamels.

Despite Philadelphia boasting that lethal rotation, Mr Halladay never won a World Series title. But in his first year in Philadelphia Mr Halladay gave fans an indelible moment when he pitched a no-hitter over the Cincinnati Reds during his first-ever postseason start. It was just the second playoff no-hitter in baseball history.