Baseball pitcher Roy Halladay has done something no other pitcher has done since 1956. The pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies pitched a no-hitter in the playoffs.
A no-hitter means that Halladay, whose nickname is “Doc,” pitched to 28 batters, and not one of them was able to hit their way to first base. It may not sound that hard, but it is — and it doesn’t happen very often. Most pitchers go their whole careers without ever pitching a no-hitter.
And to do it in the playoffs is even rarer.
And here’s something even more incredible. This is Halladay’s second no-hitter this season. There haven’t been two no-hitters in one season since 1973. In fact, there have only been five pitchers ever in the history of the game to do that.
No wonder Phillies fans are calling this month, “Doc-tober.”
To get his no-hitter, Halladay threw 104 pitches. The main pitches he used were a fastball, a changeup and a curve ball.
Halladay used to be a Toronto Blue Jay. He pitched for the Jays from 1998 until 2009, when he was traded to the Phillies.
He got the nickname “Doc” from a Blue Jays announcer, who borrowed it from famous wild west gunslinger Doc Holliday.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Roy Halladay played for the Toronto Blue Jays between 1998 and 2009. Even though he was an excellent pitcher, many Americans had never even heard of him until he left Toronto and played for the Phillies.
If you were a professional athlete, would you choose to stay in Canada and play for a Canadian team, or would you choose to play in the United States?
Reading Prompt
Today’s article states: “Most pitchers go their whole careers without ever pitching a no-hitter. And to do it in the playoffs is even rarer.”
Why do you think it would be more difficult to pitch a no-hitter during the playoffs?
Primary and Junior
make inferences about texts using stated and implied ideas from the texts as evidence (OME, Reading: 1.5).
Grammar Feature: Paragraph Writing
In school, students are often taught that they need to write in paragraphs, which should be about five sentences long. This article (and most articles in newpapers, magazines and journals) doesn’t follow that rule. For example, in this article, some paragraphs are one or two sentences long.
Why do you think journalists write in this style? Do you think it is effective?
