Coming to Philly ‘the greatest' for Halladay

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CLEARWATER, Fla.Roy Halladays love of fishing took him to the Amazon this winter. He came home with quite the fish story, a must read that John Gonzalez has here.

Angling for prized bass is Halladays escape from his full-time pursuit -- winning a World Series.

Thats the ultimate goal, he said Tuesday. The drive is always there.

Halladay pushed for a trade to the Phillies before the 2010 season because he believed they were a team equipped to win a title. After zero postseason berths over a decade in Toronto, he has been to the playoffs twice with the Phillies. Both trips have ended short of the World Series. The Phillies lost to San Francisco in the 2010 National League Championship Series and to St. Louis in the 2011 NLDS. Both of those teams went on to win the World Series, while the Phillies, who had the best record in the majors both years, went, well, fishing.

We've had opportunities here, Halladay said. That's all I wanted. It just hasn't gone the way we wanted to it go. We've hit teams that were peaking at the right time and playing better than they were at any point in the season.

Halladay has finished first and second, respectively, in NL Cy Young voting the last two seasons. Even with his 35th birthday looming in May, he remains at the top of his profession. He is signed through 2013 and has an option for 2014 in his contract. He hopes the Phillies continue to have opportunities to win baseballs ultimate prize.

I realize that I'm not getting younger, Halladay said. But, you know, the greatest thing that's ever happened to me was coming here. I've given myself two chances to be in the playoffs and try to be in the World Series that I wouldn't have had in a lot of other places, let alone where I already was. So to this point, I have no regrets.

If I go the rest of my career and never get another shot, I'll have no regrets. That doesn't mean it means less to me. But I wanted that chance and I enjoyed that chance and I'm looking forward to that chance again. It would be nice when you do go away to go away as a world champion. I think any player would want that. And I definitely do.

Halladay last took the mound on Oct. 7 in the decisive Game 5 of the NLDS. He pitched brilliantly, allowing just one run over eight innings. But St. Louis starter Chris Carpenter was just a little better. He pitched a shutout to lead St. Louis to a 1-0 win.

Halladay and Carpenter, of course, are best friends, dating to their time as teammates in Toronto. Carpenter accompanied Halladay on an off-season fishing trip to the Amazon this winter. Halladay said the two friends did not talk about facing each other the night the Phillies season ended.

I didn't want to talk about it, Halladay said. I'm sure he did. But he didn't bring it up. That was nice."

Halladay said he did not spend the winter stewing over the first two batters of that game. Rafael Furcal tripled to open the game and Skip Schumaker capped a 10-pitch at-bat with a double to score the games only run.

Any game you ever lose you could do that, Halladay said. If you do, you're going to wear yourself down. You pour your heart into it, do what you can, accept the results, and move on. That's the only way to go about it. It's harder to do it when it's the last game of the year. But it's essential.

If Halladay had a weakness last season, it was the first inning of a game. His ERA for the season was 2.35, second-best in the NL. In the first inning, however, it was 3.66. Halladay made 34 starts last season, including the postseason, and allowed the first batter he faced to reach base 17 times with 16 hits and a walk.

Halladay was unaware of that statistic. He attributed his early troubles to being aggressive -- and hes not going to change that.

Ive always believed in being as aggressive as I can in the first inning, he said, citing the advice he received from legendary sports psychologist Harvey Dorfman. Harvey used to tell me all the time that you cant come out like a boxer. You cant come out and feel your way through the first round or youre going to get knocked out. Youve got to come out swinging. Ive always tried to take that approach. If anything, at times Ill be a little too aggressive early in a game and maybe throw too many strikes and that may cost me. But if Im going to get beat, Im going to get beat being aggressive.

Manager Charlie Manuel has not named his opening day starter yet, but it figures to be Halladay for the third year in a row. The Phillies open in Pittsburgh on April 5. Halladays second start will come in front of the home fans and he appreciates their support.

People have been great to me, they really have, he said. Its been unbelievable. If any player ever asks me about playing in Philadelphia, what I thought it was and what it actually is, its completely different. People are friendly. Ive never had anybody yell at me driving down the street. It really has been an unbelievable experience, and Id tell any player that.

The fans are phenomenal. Theres nowhere like it in baseball right now. Its been an incredible run, something that hopefully continues.

E-mail Jim Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcastsportsnet.com

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