Today, At 40 Years Old We Lost A Baseball Legend, Roy Halladay

Roy Halladay, a two-time Cy Young Award-winning pitcher who retired from baseball nearly four years ago, has died in a plane crash in the Gulf of Mexico. He was 40 years old.  -ESPN.com

What an absolutely heartbreaking story. This is one of those things that just takes you back for a second.

Earlier in the day the news broke that a plane had crashed in the Gulf of Mexico and it was registered under Roy Halladay’s name. At the time we were uncertain if Halladay was a passenger on the plane or not, but I, like most, had a horrible, gut feeling that we were going to be receiving some horrendous news.

Officials then later confirmed that the body that was discovered in shallow water was Roy Halladay’s.

I just can’t put into words what this guy meant to the game of baseball. He was one of the most feared pitchers in baseball who was universally well respected by players and fans alike.

You never want to hear a story like this regardless if it is an athletic icon, or a normal citizen. It’s just tough to swallow that a guy, who says that his dream was to fly planes since he was a boy, lost his life doing something that was supposed to bring nothing but incredible enjoyment.

Halladay won the Cy Young two times over his career and landed in the top 5 of voting six times. He spent most of his career with Toronto from 1998-2009 and finished it off in Philadelphia where he spent his final four years. He retired at the age of 36.

Rest in Peace, Roy. “Legends never die.”

Written By: Nick Quaglia (@NickQuag)