Voila_Capture775This is so incredibly disheartening and kills the joy of a great Eagles win. Jon Heyman is reporting that Roy Halladay is RETIRING, and as a Blue Jay:

There had been much speculation about Halladay’s health over the last few years. His season ended early with “arm fatigue” after he returned from surgery on his throwing shoulder. It was at that point that Halladay acknowledged he was suffering from some sort of diet issue which caused him to lose weight:

Later in his postgame interview with reporters, Halladay admitted that this has been a “stressful” season. He went on to admit that he’s dealt with more than shoulder issues. He said he recently began taking medication for an illness related to diet.

“We got it figured out,” said Halladay, whose weight is noticeably down. “Some of it’s personal. It’s a family history deal. It took us a while to figure out the cause and basically it’s related to diet. They put me on some medicine that will prevent that from happening and ever since then it’s been great.”

Whether that had anything to do with his premature retirement, we may never know. But something was very clearly – visibly – wrong with Halladay these past two seasons.

UPDATE 1: Jim Salisbury reports that Halladay’s announcement will come today. He is signing a one-day contract with the Blue Jays.

UPDATE 2: Has anyone checked on Chooch?

UPDATE 3: 46 minutes ago the Blue Jays tweeted:

UPDATE 4: Just thinking out-loud: This seems abrupt. Less than two-hours notice for a shocking retirement of a superstar. Halladay never seemed to love the spotlight, so I guess this is fitting. I’m disappointed that he’s retiring as a Blue Jay, but he did spend 12 seasons there and only four with the Phillies (feels like more). Arguably, his best season came in 2010, when he went 21-10 with a 2.44 ERA, 219 strikeouts, only 30 walks, a 1.04 WHIP, a perfect game and a Postseason no-hitter. On second thought… there’s no argument. His 2010 was one of the greatest seasons ever for a pitcher. Three years later, he could barely throw the ball. I’m sad.

UPDATE 5: Serial killer Jake Diekman:

UPDATE 6: Tough day for this guy:

UPDATE 7: Video from all angles of the final out of Halladay’s Postseason no-hitter with me screaming my head off.

UPDATE 8: The last time Halladay walked off the mound in front of a home crowd (he pitched his last game in Florida):

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UPDATE 9: I don’t know how much Doc is going to tell us at 12:30. There are a few theories: A) He wanted to preserve his dignity and not go out like Steve Carlton. B) His arm troubles are still there. C) Whatever mysterious health issue he had was, as suspected, impacting him more than he let on. Maybe it’s a combination of all three. When you think about it, him retiring isn’t surprising, but it came as a surprise. It makes sense when you step back and assess the situation, but no one – not Doc, not fans – really acknowledged that it was a possibility.

Pic courtesy of Frank from Philliedelphia.com