Former Blue Jay’s pitcher Halladay wanted to say goodbye and thanks to his former fans, who stuck with him when he was really the only bright spot on a pretty terrible team that kept almost being half decent (the worst kind of team to root  for, in our humble opinion.)

He’s off to the Phillies, and he took out a full page newspaper ad to say thanks to his long-suffering fans.  Compare that, by the way, to Brett Favre, who’s headline on ESPN today involves him being miffed–still–that the Green Bay owners didn’t want to keep him.  Favre kicked the Packers around on national TV this year…twice.  And he said not a word about the fans who had lived and died with him, some of them for their entire lives.  (Seriously, how old is Favre?  He’s been QBing our entire football-following career, anyhow…)

Halladay, who was drafted by the Blue Jays back in 1995, said in the ad that he felt blessed to have been a part of the organization, and that he’d always have a special place in his heart for Toronto.

Here’s the ad, courtesy of Toronto Mike.