For 13 seasons, Roy Halladay had waited for this moment, as did the rest of baseball. In 2 hours and 34 minutes Wednesday, he made the most memorable postseason debut ever as the Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-0, in Game 1 of the National League division series at Citizens Bank Park.
"It was a lot of fun," Halladay said, as only he could.
After pitching one of the greatest games in baseball history, Halladay was mobbed by his teammates on the mound. It was a scene that happens in the postseason only when a team wins a series.
And this was just the beginning.
Halladay pitched the second no-hitter in postseason history. He stands beside the Yankees' Don Larsen, who pitched a perfect game in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series, as the only ones to do it.
It was Halladay's second no-hitter of the season. He threw a perfect game May 29 against Florida, a night that became the signature moment of his career - until Wednesday.
The sellout crowd stood, cheered, and waved white towels for much of the final six outs. His teammates didn't move from their positions in the dugout. Fans booed other fans for getting up and leaving their seats for different viewing positions.
In the owner's box, Phillies president David Montgomery sat with other team executives. He didn't move, either.
"You're watching," Montgomery said, "and you say, 'This can't really happen, can it?' "
It did. It happened, and many in the Phillies' clubhouse said Halladay had even better stuff Wednesday than he did on that sticky May night in Miami. On a bigger stage, with the baseball world watching, Halladay was pristine.
The only Reds runner, Jay Bruce, reached on a six-pitch walk in the fifth inning. Incredibly, Halladay threw first-pitch strikes to 25 of the 28 batters he faced. Of the 104 pitches he threw, just 25 were balls. He struck out eight.
"Absolutely unreal," Charlie Manuel said.
