Memorial service will celebrate the life of former Jays pitcher Halladay

Roy-Halladay-with-the-Toronto-Blue-Jays

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay smiles on the bench in Toronto in 2003. (Fred Thornhill/CP)

Former star pitcher Roy Halladay, who was the face of the Toronto Blue Jays for about a decade, will be remembered today in a memorial service.

A celebration of Halladay’s life is scheduled for this afternoon at Spectrum Field in Clearwater, Fla., the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies.

The service will be open to the public, and a sizable contingent from the Blue Jays is expected to attend.

Halladay was killed when the sport plane he was flying crashed in the Gulf of Mexico last week. He was 40.

The Denver native played in Toronto from 1998-2009, posting a 148-76 record with a 3.43 earned-run average and winning the American League’s Cy Young award as top pitcher in 2003.

He spent the next four seasons with Philadelphia, pitching a perfect game in 2010 en route to winning the National League’s Cy Young award.

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