When this Blue Jays rookie, and future Hall of Famer took September by storm

As August draws to a close, the last full month of the MLB regular season brings with it an interesting wrinkle. Rosters expand in September, allowing teams to call up players, some of whom will be getting their first taste of Major League action. Recently, MLB.com listed the best September call ups in each teams history and for the Blue Jays they landed on a player who would go on to have a Hall of Fame career. It was only a two-game appearance at the end of 1998, but it was two-games that showcased the flashes of greatness that was to come for the late-great, Roy Halladay.

When this Blue Jays rookie, and future Hall of Famer took September by storm

Drafted by the Blue Jays in the first round (No. 17 overall) in 1995, Halladay came up to the big leagues for the first time as a 21-year-old to pitch in game 157 of the season for a Toronto team that was putting the finishing touches on their first winning season since the 1993 World Series.

They were a good team, and tied the Texas Rangers with the fourth best record in the AL, but it was a time with only one Wild Card spot and so there was no postseason berth for the 88-74 Blue Jays this season, which allowed Halladay to come up and pitch with virtually no pressure on his shoulders, other than the fact that he was now in the big leagues.

In his first outing, the Denver, Colorado native got to face the Devil Rays in Tampa Bay. Halladay faced an expansion Rays lineup that included future Hall of Famers Wade Boggs and Fred McGriff. Halladay struck out the first batter he ever faced, getting Randy Winn to strikeout swinging. He didn't give up a run until the bottom of the third, when former Blue Jay McGriff singled home a run with a line drive in to center field. Halladay got out of the inning without further damage and the Blue Jays were ahead 3-1.

The next inning he gave up a two run home run to another former Blue Jay, Canadian outfielder Rich Butler. It was one of just seven career home runs Butler would hit. Halladay got through that inning as well, and came back out to pitch the top of the fifth with the score tied 3-3. He struck out Aaron Ledesma looking and ended his day with a line of five strike outs, two walks, three runs allowed (two earned) with eight hits allowed in five innings pitched. He would turn the ball over to a 40-year-old Dave Stieb who pitched the next 2.2 innings - talk about a literal passing of the torch moment.

While that debut would mark a nice start for Halladay, "Doc" would really turn heads in his next outing on September 27, in his home debut at what was then known as Skydome. In front of 38,036 fans, Halladay and the Blue Jays took on the Detroit Tigers in a game that has since become infamous for what transpired. Halladay carved up the Tigers order. Through eight innings he struck out eight, allowed no hits, no walks and only one batter reached base - Tony Clark reached on an error to lead off the fifth, but Halladay got the next three guys out in order.

The Blue Jays were leading 2-0 as Halladay trotted out to the mound to begin the top of the ninth, with still a giant zero on the scoreboard in the hits column for the Tigers. Gabe Kapler led off the inning and lined out to left field. Paul Bako pinched hit for Deivi Cruz and grounded out to second base for the second out of the inning. Then Bobby Higginson came into the game to pinch hit for Kimera Bartee and on the first pitch he saw he sent the ball into the Blue Jays bullpen for the Tigers first and only hit of the game. Halladay regroup to get future Blue Jay Frank Catalanotto out by lining out to short to end the game.

Despite losing the no-hitter with two outs in the ninth, Halladay showed he had the raw talent and skills to be a major league player. While it took him a few years and a trip all the way down to Single-A before he finally became the Halladay that Blue Jays fans would come to love, this two game stint as a September call up goes down as the best late season cameo in Blue Jays history.