Halladay a Hall lock

When he retired last week, former Phillies ace Roy Halladay certainly did so as one of the greatest pitchers of his generation. Ah, what the heck . . . Let's call him one of the greatest pitchers of any generation.

Need proof?

Among pitchers in the modern era (since 1901) with at least 100 decisions, he has the fifth-best winning percentage of all time (see the top 20 below).

Throw in a perfect game here . . . the second postseason no-hitter in history there . . . and a couple of Cy Young Awards (one in each league, for good measure), the feeling here is that if he doesn't get into the Hall of Fame, then they just might want to shut it down.

Rk. PitcherW L Pct. Rk. PitcherW L Pct.

1. Whitey Ford. . . 236 106 .690 11. CC Sabathia. . . 205 115 .641

2. Pedro Martinez. . . 219 100 .687 12. Mike Mussina. . . 270 153 .638

3. Lefty Grove. . . 300 141 .680 13. Jim Palmer. . . 268 152 .638

4. Christy Mathewson. . . 373 185 .668 14. Dwight Gooden. . . 194 112 .634

5. Roy Halladay. . . 203 105 .659 15. Juan Marichal. . . 243 142 .631

6. Roger Clemens. . . 354 184 .658 16. Eddie Plank. . . 326 194 .627

7. Tim Hudson. . . 205 111 .649 17. Andy Pettitte. . . 256 153 .626

8. Mordecai Brown. . . 239 130 .648 18. Chief Bender. . . 212 127 .625

9. Randy Johnson. . . 303 166 .646 19. Carl Mays. . . 208 126 .623

10. Grover Cleveland Alexander. . . 373 208 .642 20. Carl Hubbell. . . 253 154 .622