Flashback Friday: Roy Halladay’s “Born to Play” Commercial

I think most Blue Jays fans would agree that they have a soft spot for Harry Leroy Halladay. After spending 12 years in a Blue Jays uniform, there are a lot of great memories surrounding Doc’s time in Toronto.

And while he may be in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform now, that doesn’t make the recent news about Halladay’s injury any easier to take. But for the meantime, at least we have cute little commercials like these to remember Doc by in Toronto.


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For this week’s Flashback Friday, we take a look back at Roy Halladay’s “Born to Play” television commercial.

Now, for the most part, the Blue Jays commercials have been hit or miss over the years, with some campaigns more effective than others. But this one with Roy Halladay is right on point.

I don’t doubt that a young Roy Halladay kept the neighbourhood raccoons very well fed during his formative years in Denver.

If you’ll look closely, you’ll see that the kid in the video has already perfected his grip on the two-seam fastball.

A point to young kids who want to grow up to be like Roy Halladay; it turns out you don’t need to eat all your vegetables to be a Cy Young Award winner after all.

Ian Hunter

Ian has been writing about the Toronto Blue Jays since 2007. He enjoyed the tail-end of the Roy Halladay era and vividly remembers the Alex Rodriguez "mine" incident. He'll also retell the story of Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS to his kids for the next 20 years.