Roy Halladay wins 2010 NL Cy Young Award

Posted on November 16, 2010

Roy Halladay #34 of the Philadelphia Phillies pitches against the San Francisco Giants during the game at AT&T Park on April 26, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

It came as no surprise to anyone who follows baseball that Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay won the 2010 National League Cy Young Award today, declaring him the best pitcher in the league. This was Halladay’s first season in the National League, as he came over from the Toronto Blue Jays in a big trade last December that I wrote about here. Halladay had his usual steady, if not boring campaign for the Phillies this past year, mixing in a perfect game in Miami and a no-hitter during the first round of the playoffs against the Reds.

Halladay is the greatest pitcher in baseball over the past decade, and I have had many chances to photograph him over the years. I shot him three times in 2010. Once in San Francisco in April, at the All-Star Game in Anaheim in July, and in the NLCS  in San Francisco last month. I was glad I was able to shoot him so often this year, but I always came away disappointed in my pictures. Despite being so terrific on the mound, Halladay is boring as Hell to shoot. He does not make any faces, has a drab delivery and just plain doesn’t look very exciting. I have shot him from many different angles and it does not matter. I guess I am spoiled after shooting the dynamically photogenic Tim Lincecum so often.

Roy Halladay wins 2010 NL Cy Young Award – Images by Brad Mangin

Leave it a whiny photographer like me to complain about how good or bad a great athlete photographs. Kinda lame, huh? Well, that is just what goes through my head when I go out to the ballpark. I always want to make the best pictures I can. Sure- it is a thrill to have the opportunity to shoot such a great talent as Halladay, but I guess part of his greatness is in his no-nonsense delivery. I know damn well he could give a shit what photographers think. However, I am really glad my Giants were able to beat him in Game 1 of the NLCS in Philly last month. That game set the tone for the entire Series, don’t you think?