Phillies Won't Wear Halladay's No. 34 In 2018
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A baseball team will often sew a patch on its uniform as a tribute to someone recently lost. In 2018, it's not what the Phillies will be wearing to honor the late Roy Halladay, but rather what they won't be wearing.
MLB.com's Todd Zolecki reports via the Phillies website that nobody will wear No. 34, which Halladay wore from 2010 to 2013. Halladay died on November 7 when his plane crashed into the Gulf of Mexico. He was 40 years old.
Phillies catcher Andrew Knapp wore number 34 last season. The team assigned it to him at the end of Spring Training after he made the Opening Day roster. Knapp has since changed to No. 15, the number he wore in college.
According to Zolekci, after Halladay died, the Phillies talked internally about what to do with No. 34. They called Knapp to see if he had any thoughts about it.
During his four seasons with the Phillies, Halladay made quite an impact on the team and with its fans. As the ace of the pitching staff, he won the 2010 National League Cy Young Award, threw a perfect game against the Florida Marlins in Miami, and later tossed a postseason no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies still have not announced if or how else they might remember Halladay next season.