What Roy Halladay Owes Philadelphia

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The Sunday before last, Roy Halladay gave up nine runs in 2 and 1/3 innings to the awful Miami Marlins, bringing his ERA for the season to 8.65. After the game, Halladay admitted that his shoulder had been bothering him for awhile. Following a visit a few days later to Dr. Lewis Yocum -- because clearly, the Phils were too cheap to spring for Dr. James Andrews -- it was determined that the pitcher needed surgery, which will keep him out for several months.

While it's commendable that Halladay kept pitching through the pain -- and I'd have bashed him if he'd pulled a Bynum and sat out -- there's no excuse for going out there when you're not able to pitch effectively. Especially when the pitcher had to have known there was a terrible traffic jam outside, and a whole lot of fans -- Angelo Cataldi included arrived at the game with the Phils already losing 9-0.

Halladay also said there's "no timetable" for his return. Sound familiar, Sixers fans?

It's a repeat of last spring with Chase Utley: Halladay lied to the team, the team lied to Halladay, and both Halladay and the team lied to the fans. None of this would happen if the Phils would simply release every player's full and complete medical records, but then I guess they don't trust us lowly fans with such information.

All of this was bad enough, but then Halladay did the unthinkable: He apologized:

“You know, I don’t know,” he said. “I really want to get through this, come back and see how strong I can be and see how effective I can be, and see if I can help us. … I’m not going to make any decisions right now about down the road. I’m going to focus on the here and now and this process.

“I’ve always told you guys I love Philadelphia, love playing here. It’s a great place to be. But there’s a lot to be determined. I want to be effective. And I want to be a part of the team. I don’t want to be a hindrance.”

It's that second part that gets me. Because when Halladay was asked about his contract and refused to commit to staying with the Phillies on a hometown discount, I lost a lot of respect for him.

Roy Halladay and Philadelphia have a bond. Because of that, Roy should give the Phillies a break.

There's one way Halladay can make it up to us. He should announce, today, that as soon as he's done rehabbing and able to pitch again, he'll do it for a year, for the Phillies, for free. After all, Halladay's getting $20 million this year to barely pitch, so pitching next year for free would only be fair. After all that's happened since Halladay came to Philly -- two no-hitters in one year, two playoff appearances, three years as their ace, hundreds of innings pitched -- Halladay owes the team an arrangement in which he assumes all of the risk and they take on none.

And besides, Halladay's made about $80 million in his career. Isn't that enough?

Remember J.A. Happ? On the same day of Halladay's press conference, Happ, who's now with the Blue Jays, was hit in the face with a line drive. And even after he was hospitalized, he was home the next day and probably won't miss much time. Makes me think maybe all those fans a few years ago who demanded the Phils not give up Happ for Halladay had the right idea.

And apologies are one thing. But when will Halladay refund Angelo's money?

Other Philly sports takes:

What a disgrace that the Eagles, Flyers and Phillies desperately need new GMs, but only the Sixers get one. The hiring of Sam Hinkie, however, shows us once again what an invaluable voice  we have here in Marcus Hayes. In his Monday column, Hayes argued forcefully that there's no place in the NBA for intellectualism or rigorous statistical analysis. The argument has been made before, and much more skillfully and humorously, but still, good for Marcus.

Eagles minicamp started this week. Has the team shown us anything yet indicate that they're on the way to winning a Super Bowl? All I see is that they've eliminated Andy Reid's one worthwhile innovation, Taco Tuesday.

Speaking of Andy Reid, he said last week that he's been to 50 barbecue places since taking over as coach of the Chiefs. Since he was hired in early January, that averages out to a different barbecue place roughly every third day, and that's not even taking into account repeat business. I haven't had to do this type of calculation since Wilt Chamberlain's autobiography came out.

If I'm running the Eagles, I start Nick Foles, with Matt Barkley as the backup, and I bring back Trent Edwards third string. Then I trade Michael Vick for a first round pick or two. But I guess I'm not as smart as Howie Roseman.

I want to try out for next year's Wing Bowl with the gimmick "Eagles Punter Brad Wing."

Editor's Note: please look up at the byline and realize that this post was written by a guy named FakeWIPCaller. You can follow FakeWIPCaller on Twitter.

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