Denver, Colorado– Roy Halladay, the pitcher, was known for his arm on the baseball diamond. Roy Halladay, the man, had a love for the skies and flying. The latter would be the last thing he did.
His father sat down with Denver7 just days after a plane crash took his son’s life.
“I’m extremely proud of him,” Roy Halladay Jr. said of his son.
Roy Halladay III started playing baseball at a young age. He went on to thrive at Arvada West High School and a dominant career in the major leagues.
“He was an all-star in everything that he did,” Halladay’s father said.
And along the way, his father’s love for aviation would rub off on his son.
“I’m a flight instructor, and he would sit there and fly beside me,” he said. “I think the aviation was a big part of who he was.”
So much so, that once he retired from baseball, Halladay III became a pilot and recently purchased an Icon A-5 airplane. He referred to it as a “fighter jet” to his father.
“We had a few discussion prior to him even buying the airplane that I was a little concerned. I said be careful because I don’t want anything to hurt you,” Halladay said.
Last Tuesday, the two time Cy Young award winner was killed when that plane crashed in the Gulf of Mexico. The NTSB says the plane was making steep turns and flying just feet above the water before the crash.
“I think he could’ve exercised a little more caution in how he was flying it. I don’t think we’d be in this situation,” his father said.
Denver7’s Jason Gruenauer asked Halladay if he had any second thoughts about getting his son into aviation.
“No, not really. I think it would’ve left a hole in his life if he hadn’t,” he said. “I wish he that he had not done this of course. I miss him a lot.”
The Halladay family is now left with an empty space.
“I wouldn’t say we’re healed by any means. not sure that we will ever be healed fully,” he said.
Halladay, the pitcher, will likely go on to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. His father says as a person, he’s already an all-timer.
“I think everything about his life was really satisfying and spectacular for me to observe,” he said.
