Yes,
Roy Halladay has the
Carlos Ruiz pillow/doll/toy/whatever-it-is at his home in Florida.
It's in his youngest son's bedroom.
Halladay shot a commercial for
2K Sports' MLB 2K11 three or four weeks ago, and Phillies fans love it. Who knew Halladay could act? Who knew he had comedic timing?
"Are you guys saying I'm boring?" he said with a laugh.
Not at all, but an athlete acting can be a train wreck. For every
Peyton Manning there are 10 athletes who look like extras in a high school play or musical. They are rigid and robotic, but not Halladay.
"I didn't feel natural," Halladay said. "But it was fun. I had a good time doing it."
Halladay, who said the entire commercial took about 1 1/2 hours to shoot, enjoyed showing the fun side of his personality. Fans and media mostly see Halladay's work ethic, which has made him arguably the best pitcher in baseball.
"When you're here it's obviously all business," he said. "I don't think people ever see really who you are outside the field. So, yeah, I think it's good. I've always kept that stuff separate. Yeah, I enjoyed doing it. And it was fun because it involved Chooch. That kind of made it fun."
Halladay's co-star is a pillow/doll with Ruiz's picture on it.
"I couldn't get ahold of (Ruiz)," Halladay said. "He's got like six phone numbers. I guess finally through the players' union they got ahold of him. They obviously had to get his OK to do it. They got his approval and went from there."
Halladay said he was on board with the idea of acting with a pillow from the beginning.
"There were a couple proposals early and I liked that one," he said. "It seemed to make sense. That was definitely one of my favorites."
See the commercial here.
Update: A Hollywood prop company made two Chooch pillows. They cost $300 each and are the only two in existence. Halladay has one. Not sure who has the other one. Quick, somebody check ebay!