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Roy Halladay: adopts fresh mental approach to the game: after struggling to find his place on the Blue Jays pitching staff, 25-year-old right-hander became club ace in 2002 with a 19-7 record and 2.93 ERA.
IT WAS A DIZZYING DESCENT RATHER than a small step back, an assignment to the minor leagues that initially mystified Roy Halladay.
He knew there was no chance of opening the 2001 season in the Toronto Blue Jays rotation, considering how poorly he had pitched in spring training.
But the young high school graduate wasn't expecting a back-to-square-one demotion to Class A Dunedin, a Florida State League stop where Halladay, 24, pitched in 1996.
"It turned out the best thing that could've happened was to come here," Halladay said last year at the Blue Jays' spring camp. "I didn't feel like each time I go out and pitch, if I pitch well, I'm going to get back to Toronto. I knew that I had a road ahead of me, and I could take my time to do things right. I didn't feel it had to be a quick fix and I had to do something right aw ay."
Fast forward to Halladay's final 2001 start. On October 5 against Cleveland, the American League Central champion, he pitched a two-hit shutout with no walks and eight strikeouts. The Indians' first hit came with two out in the eighth. Halladay's workday consisted of only 83 pitches, including 60 strikes.
"Unbelievable," said Ellis Burks, Cleveland's designated hitter in that game. "He's an awesome pitcher--control, velocity, movement on the ball. To shut us down the way he did, when we were swinging the bats well at that time, he showed me a lot."
By then, Halladay had demonstrated plenty to the Blue Jays, completing an odyssey to get back to the big leagues. He survived a shaky relief outing July 2 upon returning and then settled in to the Toronto rotation, making 16 starts. He left five games with leads that were blown by the bullpen, so his 5-3 record could have been much better. Still, Halladay finished with a 3.16 earned run average and began realizing the potential the Blue Jays envisioned when they selected him 17th overall in the 1.995 draft.
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