"I Went to the Zoo With Roy Halladay"

August 8, 2014 9:42 AM

" After more than four years, 1,800+ bolg posts, and countless silly indulgences surrendered to in the name of "being ZWR" … I’m incredibly proud to say that at approximately 10:00 a.m. this morning I went to the zoo with Roy Halladay!"

In 2010, an accountant from Philadelphia created ZooWithRoy, a "bolg" dedicated to convincing (now former) Philadelphia Phillies ace pitcher Roy Halladay to go to the zoo with him. Today, he was victorious.

Far from being a one-trick pony, "ZWR" and a handful of contributors maintained a genuinely engaging, funny Philly sports blog for many years, including such regular features as:

• Phillies High, a Saved By the Bell-esque comic series imagining what the Phillies would be like as kids in high school
• Esotericky Botallico, which combines deep philosophical thinking with post-game analysis from former Phillie Ricky Botallico
• The Cholly Series, a peek inside the Phillies clubhouse as former Phils skipper Charlie Manuel talks to his team
• The Eagles in One Sentence
• Super Pumped Marlins Fan Guy Meme
• Phillies E-Cards
• The Jimmy Rollins Swag-O-Meter
• One sentence recaps of Phillies, Sixers, Flyers, and Eagles games
• Holiday gift guides for:
  • 2010
  • 2011
  • 2012
  • 2013
  • plus a special Valentines Day 2013 edition

Other highlights include Chip Kelly surfing into Philadelphia on a Chipwich, The Phillies as Your Office Coworkers, and Math is Cool, with Ryan Howard, Roy Halladay's perfect game, and Roy Halladay is Retiring.

Additional coverage of this momentous event from USA Today and The 700 Level.

posted by tonycpsu (8 comments total)

A triumph of humanity itself.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:50 AM on August 8, 2014 [1 favorite]

Baseball is fun.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 10:09 AM on August 8, 2014

All this niceness in Philadelphia? This is going to ruin their reputation as hard assed sports fans.
posted by 724A at 10:44 AM on August 8, 2014

Truly a great bolg, and it's always a pleasure to see the real world listening to harmlessly amusing Internet goofiness. Still, actually sending Roy to the zoo feels like it ranks somewhere near Disco Demolition Night on the list of promos that give off a strong scent of franchise desperation. PLEASE DON'T DESERT US, MS PAINT GUY, WE REALLY DO LOVE YOU
posted by RogerB at 11:21 AM on August 8, 2014

Considering how funny Roy is on Twitter (especially considering how quiet and stand-offish he seemed as a player) there's a good chance he read the blog all along and it was his idea to go to the zoo, not the Phillies'.
posted by thecjm at 12:18 PM on August 8, 2014

I am so so so so mad that that entry was not a recap of the zoo trip, which if God is just involved WACKY HIJINKS and ZANY ANTICS.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 1:35 PM on August 8, 2014

In retirement, Roy Halladay has been able to show his fun side

Before arriving at Citizens Bank Park yesterday, where he would throw the ceremonial first pitch to open Alumni Weekend, Halladay went to the Philadelphia Zoo.

Why? Because 4 years ago some guy decided to create a silly blog called "I Want to Go To The Zoo With Roy Halladay," a Phillies-centric website that's light on the baseball and heavy on the humor. And, of course, Halladay and Zoo With Roy became fast friends shortly after Halladay arrived on Twitter.

And so they went to the zoo.

"He's Roy Halladay and he shows up in a gold Chevy Malibu," said anonymous South Philadelphia native Zoo With Roy, who lives in suburban Washington, D.C., and works in the government. "He's not big time. He's very humble . . . He was super, super nice."

Roy Halladay, dream maker.

...

"I kind of had these thoughts of maybe being a [general manager]," Halladay said. "But once I got there I realized how much I actually loved just talking to guys and talking about the mental side, talking about mechanics. Teaching, really. Teaching and just sharing what I've learned that's been given to me for free. So, I've been doing that here and there. I plan on going to school working on a psychology degree and go from there."

posted by tonycpsu at 8:32 AM on August 9, 2014

And, for completeness: The Official Zoo With Roy Zoo With Roy Recap
posted by tonycpsu at 11:37 AM on August 12, 2014