Roy Halladay and the Five Greatest Postseason Pitching Performances
In order for a team to be successful in the playoffs, it is imperative that it has at least one dominant starting pitcher.
Each year, the winner of the World Series features one, if not a few starting pitchers who are capable of tossing eight innings of shutout ball on any given night.
Halladay did one better last night.
With his electrifying performance in Game 1 of the National League Division Series came visions of postseason dominance gone by. Here are the five greatest postseason pitching performances of all time.
2000 ALCS Game 4: Roger Clemens
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Going up against a Seattle Mariners team loaded with players like Alex Rodriguez and Edgar Martinez, Roger Clemens twirled one of the greatest postseason gems of all time.
With a blistering fastball and devastating splitter at his disposal, all Clemens did was go nine strong innings while striking out 15 and allowing only one hit.
The only blemish was a seventh inning leadoff double by Al Martin that tipped off Tino Martinez's outstretched glove. It may not have been a no-hitter, but it was an unbelievable performance.
2004 ALCS Game 6: Curt Schilling
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With a torn tendon sheath in his right ankle that was surgically repaired in the trainer's room before the game, Curt Schilling delivered one of the gutsiest performances in postseason history.
While the box score wouldn't indicate anything other than a good performance (7IP, 4H, 1R, 4K), to dismiss this game as simply a "good performance" would be blasphemy.
In a game the Red Sox needed to have, Schilling came out in front of 57,000 fans who hated him and shut down the Yankees on the way to the most improbable comeback in postseason history.
1991 World Series Game 7: Jack Morris
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The stage doesn't get any bigger than this.
Jack Morris came out against the favored Atlanta Braves and threw 10 innings of shutout baseball to clinch the World Series for the Twins, their second title in five years.
In the process, he out-dueled another great pitcher in John Smoltz while facing a tough lineup in the Atlanta Braves.
Without Morris' performance in that Game 7, it's safe to say the outcome would have been much different for the Twins.
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2010 ALDS Game 1: Roy Halladay
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This was pure dominance. There's no need for context since the game is so fresh in our minds, so let's take a look at the numbers.
Twenty-five hitters saw first pitch strikes.
Nine batters went to 0-2.
He threw only 25 balls to 28 hitters.
He allowed zero hits.
In only the second postseason no-no of all time, Roy Halladay showed the world that he is just as good a postseason pitcher as he is in the regular season.
1956 World Series Game 5: Don Larsen
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This was truly the gem of what was largely an unspectacular career for Larsen (his career win-loss record is only 81-91). It simply doesn't get any better than this.
A perfect game in the World Series is impossible to top.
Larsen struck out seven Brooklyn Dodgers, a pretty good hitting team for their time with guys like Gil Hodges and Duke Snider populating the lineup.
Until someone throws a perfect game in the clinching game of the World Series, this will continue to top all lists of dominant postseason performances.
Mike Osterberg is a student at Penn State University and a writing intern at BleacherReport.com. Follow him on twitter @Mike_Osterberg.
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