November 7, 2017: The Death of Roy Halladay

November 7, 2017: Roy Halladay is killed in a plane crash off the coast of St. Petersburg, Florida. He was 40 years old. An 8-time All-Star, he won the Cy Young Award in the American League with the 2003 Toronto Blue Jays, and in the National League with the 2010 Philadelphia Phillies. That made him only the 5th pitcher to win the Cy Young Award in both Leagues. There has since been a 6th.

In that 2010 season, he joined Don Larsen as the only pitchers to throw no-hitters in postseason play, and became the 5th pitcher to throw 2 no-hitters in the same season, and the only one ever to throw one in the regular season and the postseason in the same season. If you had told someone then that 81-year-old Don Larsen would still be alive on November 8, 2017, and 33-year-old Roy Halladay wouldn't, no one would have believed you.

Injuries cut his career short: He finished 203-105, for a .659 winning percentage. His ERA was 3.38, his ERA+ 131, his WHIP 1.178. He had 2,117 strikeouts against only 592 walks. The Blue Jays retired his Number 32 and named him to their Level of Excellence, and the Phillies named him to the Philadelphia Baseball Wall of Fame. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019, in his 1st year of eligibility.

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November 7, 2017 was a Tuesday. The baseball season had ended 6 days earlier, with the Houston Astros cheating the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. Football was in midweek. There were 10 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Charlotte Hornets, 118-113 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Brooklyn Nets lost to the Denver Nuggets, 112-104. Nikola Jokić scored 41 points to lead all players on the night.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Washington Wizards, 113-99 at the Capital One Arena in Washington.

* The Toronto Raptors beat the Chicago Bulls, 119-114 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 124-119 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 40 for the Bucks, but it wasn't enough.

* The New Orleans Pelicans beat the Indiana Pacers, 117-112 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis. Anthony Davis scored 37.

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 120-107 at the AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) in San Antonio.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Utah Jazz, 104-97 at the Vivint Arena (now again named the Delta Center) in Salt Lake City.

* The Sacramento Kings beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 86-94 at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento.

* And the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 98-97 at the Moda Center in Portland. CJ McCollum scored 36 for the Blazers, but it wasn't enough.

There were 9 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Islanders lost to the Edmonton Oilers, 2-1 at the Barclays Center. Connor McDavid scored the winning goal, 38 seconds into overtime.

* The New Jersey Devils lost to the St. Louis Blues, 3-1 at the Prudential Center.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Florida Panthers, 3-1 at the PNC Arena (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-2 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Buffalo Sabres beat the Washington Capitals, 3-1 at the HSBC Center (now the KeyBank Arena) in Buffalo.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Arizona Coyotes, 3-1 at the PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

* The Vancouver Canucks beat the Calgary Flames, 5-3 at the Saddledome in Calgary.

* And the Los Angeles Kings beat their neighboring rivals, the Anaheim Ducks, 4-3 at the Honda Center in Anaheimm California. Nick Shore scored the winning goal with 1:09 left in overtime.

October 6, 2010: Roy Halladay's Postseason No-Hitter

October 6, 2010: At Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Roy Halladay throws the 2nd no-hitter in postseason history, and becomes the 1st National League hurler to throw one. He had also thrown a no-hitter in this year's regular season, so he becomes the 1st pitcher to throw a no-hitter in both the regular season and the postseason, ever, let alone in the same season. The Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-0, in Game 1 of the NL Division Series.

It's nearly a perfect game: He walked Jay Bruce in the 5th inning, but that was the only baserunner he allowed. His teammates made no errors. They gave him a run in the bottom of the 1st inning, on a sacrifice fly by Chase Utley; and 3 in the 2nd, including his own RBI single.

Halladay had gone 148-76 and the 2003 American League Cy Young Award with the Toronto Blue Jays, but had never pitched in the postseason. After the 2009 season, the Jays traded him to the Phils for 3 players, and he went 55-29 for them, helping them win the NL Eastern Division in 2010 and 2011, and winning another Cy Young in 2011. So this game wasn't just his 2nd no-hitter, it was the 1st postseason game in which he'd ever played.

An injury ended his career at the age of 36, and a plane crash ended his life at 40. With a career record of 203-105, an ERA of 3.38, an ERA+ of 131, and a WHIP of 1.178, he was probably headed for the Baseball Hall of Fame, anyway. His early death may have led to a sympathy vote that won him election in 2019, his 1st year of eligibility.

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October 6, 2010 was a Wednesday. There were 2 other Playoff series opening that day, both in the AL. The New York Yankees beat the Minnesota Twins, 6-4. It was the 1st postseason game played at the Twins' new Target Field in Minneapolis. CC Sabathia was the winning pitcher. Mark Teixeira hit a home run. Derek Jeter went 1-for-5. Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with a walk.

In the other game, the Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-1 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. Cliff Lee, the previous year's big pitching acquisition for the Phillies, was the winning pitcher for the Rangers, who went on to win their 1st Pennant.

There were no other games: Football was in midweek, the NHL season started the next day, and the NBA season started 20 days later.