Halladay Tops Off Amazing 2010 With NL Cy Young Award

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- How often does it happen that a superstar free agent comes to Philadelphia and doesn't exactly produce anywhere close to how they were billed (think Lance Parrish and Ron Solt)?

Now here comes Roy Halladay, who not only produced but also exceeded every expectation the demanding fans of this city want from their superstars.

Halladay was rewarded on Tuesday when he became the fourth Phillies' pitcher to win the National League Cy Young award, as voted on by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Halladay now joins Hall of Famer and four-time Cy Young winner Steve Carlton (1972, 1977, 1980, 1982), John Denny (1983) and Steve Bedrosian (1987) as winners of the NL Cy Young.

Halladay was a unanimous winner--and he did it in a season of "the pitcher."

"The pitching was better this year than I've seen it in a long time, so it was definitely special for me, knowing how good the competition was, not only the numbers that were being put up, but the whole season has been a dream come true, and I can't thank the Phillies enough for giving me the opportunity, "said Halladay, who is vacationing in Mexico and was on a golf course when he received the call. "It's a special moment."

This is Halladay's second CY Young, his first coming in the American League when he won it in 2003 as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. Halladay joins another exclusive club in becoming the fifth pitcher to win Cy Youngs in both leagues, with Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry, Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson and former Phillie Pedro Martinez. Halladay's seven-year gap in between winning Cy Young awards is longest for any repeat Cy Young winner.

Halladay, 33, was an obvious choice, after going 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA in 33 starts for the Phillies in 2010.  It marked his third career 20-win season, and Halladay became the first Phillies' pitcher to win 20 games since Carlton went 23-11 in 1982.  The dominant Halladay led the National League in wins (21), innings (250.2), complete games (9) and shutouts (4). He topped it off by pitching the 20th perfect game in major league history on May 29 against the Florida Marlins.

"Roy sets such a great example and everything he does is such a positive," Phillies' pitching coach Rich Dubee said. "He helped Cole Hamels immensely. He's a great leader, a great pitcher, and a great person. Everyone benefits from him being around. Roy has a lot of confidence in himself. This guy doesn't sit still. He's always trying to improve and get better. When you look at everything he's done, [Halladay] was an easy choice by the voters."

Against the NL East, Halladay was amazing. He posted a 14-1 record in 15 starts, which were the most wins by any pitcher in a single season since the NL was broken into three divisions in 1994. His .933 winning percentage against the NL East was the second-best in division history (minimum 10 wins).

What also marked Halladay as special was his ability to rise in big situations. His fourth shutout of the season clinched the NL East Division title in Washington.

And just when everyone thought they would see everything from Halladay, he rose again by pitching the second no-hitter in major league baseball playoff history when he shut out the Cincinnati Reds—in Halladay's first postseason start. He became the sixth pitcher in major league history to have two no-hitters in the same calendar year and first since 1973 (Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan). Overall, he went 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA in three playoff starts.

"Having success and highlights during the season, it made it all so memorable for me, and it made it by far the most fun I ever had playing this game," Halladay said. "It's everything I would have hoped it would be and hope to improve on it next season. The goal of everyone coming into the season was to win a championship. You don't focus on the personal stuff, and we came up short, and that was a little tough.

"But sometimes you think the journey is better than the final reward, and I'm looking forward to that journey again. I was fortunate coming in, and definitely worried about coming to a new team and how different the new league would be. I got a lot of help along the way, and that made the transition easy for me."

Halladay hesitated when it came to future Hall of Fame consideration. In fact, he has some larger goals before thinking of the Hall of Fame, where Halladay will certainly wind up. "I want to accomplish some things first, before thinking about the Hall of Fame, and that's winning the World Series," he said. "I think that's what everyone in the Hall of Fame thought about to get in there. Philadelphia is one of the greatest places I could have played, not only in the stadium, but in the whole city. There is a special energy there."

As there was each time Halladay took the mound in 2010.

Reported by: Joseph Santoliquito