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Halladay is a classy guy..

Doc right back at it
By Ken Fidlin, Toronto Sun

Last Updated: October 7, 2010 11:02pm

.PHILADELPHIA - After he pitched his perfect game against the Florida Marlins in May, Roy Halladay presented his catcher, Carlos Ruiz, with some gifts.

He had them dig up home plate at Sun Life Stadium and gave it to his battery-mate, along with a ring engraved with the words: “We did it together. Thanks, Roy.”

That wasn’t the end of Christmas in May. Halladay bought and distributed 60 Swiss-made watches to his Phillies teammates, coaches and all the little people in the organization: The bat boys, clubhouse attendants, training staff. In short, anyone who had a role to play in the day-to-day routine of the team.

“For me, it was just a way to thank everybody,” Halladay said at the time. “It’s something you tend to get the credit for but a lot of other people are big parts of that. It’s not just that day, but everything leading up to it. I just wanted them to know I appreciated everything they’ve done for me.”

Jimmy Rollins was ruminating on that generosity Thursday afternoon, the day after the night before when Halladay became the second man in history to pitch a no-hitter in the post-season, beating the Cincinnati Reds 4-0.

“Maybe we get watches with diamonds this time,” joked Rollins, who admitted to being jacked-up during the dramatic final few innings as he played shortstop behind Halladay.

“In every no-hitter or perfect game, there’s a play that gets replayed all the time, a play that made it possible,” said Rollins. “That was on my mind.

“My mindset was: ‘Which great play are you going to make?’ A dive? Bare-hand catch? I was hoping to be that guy.”

Turns out, Halladay didn’t need that extraordinary defensive gem. He just kept mowing down the Reds to the finish, 28 up, 27 down, a fifth-inning Jay Bruce walk the one exception.

Closest thing to the kind of play Rollins envisioned was a sliding catch made by Jayson Werth in the third inning when Reds relief pitcher Travis Wood lined a ball into right field.

“I would say the slide was more for show than anything else,” said Werth on Thursday. “It was a pitcher (at bat), I was playing him short anyways. The guy swings the bat pretty good for a pitcher. So I wasn’t playing him too short, but I was able to go over there and catch it.”

Typically, Halladay was the first man at the ball park Thursday, a slave to his legendary physical routine.

“He’s like a boxer in training for a 10-round fight, except he’s going to train as if it’s 25 rounds,” commented manager Charlie Manuel.

“He’s the most humble superstar I’ve ever seen,” said centre fielder Shane Victorino. “Nothing changes about that guy. I got here pretty early this morning and he was already here, doing his workout thing.”

It was probably a good day to have off for the Phils as they attempted to move on from this singular accomplishment.

“It’s part of history,” said Victorino. “It’s going to be there in my memory forever. But we’ve just started to go where we want to go. There’s a lot to finish.

“We’ve celebrated, now we move on. It’s something special. It’s history.

“I can use that word because it’s in the past, it’s behind us.”

Halladay made certain it was behind him. After the team workout Thursday, he dressed quickly and slipped out a side door to avoid 100, or so, reporters.

Guess he wanted to be fresh for his cheerleading duties on behalf of Roy Oswalt, whose scintillating September record provides the most compelling argument that the Phillies will have little trouble “moving on” from Halladay’s achievement Friday night.

Oswalt was just about the best pitcher in baseball the last month, allowing a grand total of two earned runs in his last 28 innings. Since he joined the Phils in late July, Oswalt is 7-1 with a 1.74 ERA.

“If you’re going to turn the page on a no-hitter,” said Manuel, “this is a pretty good page to be turning to.”

He also turned down Letterman and other shows because he had family things and his sons 6th b.d. to attend..