By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
For the first time since Feb. 28, 2011, a Halladay took the mound at the spring training home of the Toronto Blue Jays, Dunedin Stadium.
Braden Halladay, the son of late Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies pitcher RHP Roy Halladay, threw a 1-2-3 perfect eighth inning Saturday afternoon in the Canadian Junior National Team (U-18)'s annual trip to the venue.
Halladay, 17, is a Calvary Christian High School junior committed to joining Penn State Baseball after graduation next year.
Halladay first got the idea to play for the Canadian Junior National Team while watching his father get inducted into the country's Baseball Hall of Fame last summer. The Toronto native, despite spending most of his life in the United States, views himself as a dual-citizen and immediately sought to don the Maple Leaf to honor his father, who spent 15 seasons with the Blue Jays organization from 1995-2009.
"I find myself at the first day of school, when they ask your name and your grade and a fun fact about you, my fun fact is always I was born in Canada," Braden told MLB.com's Gregor Chisholm. "I feel like I couldn't have had a better place to grow up. I feel I would not be anywhere near where I was. I still go back once or twice a year, and even though I'm not living there, I still feel it's a part of who I am."
Chisholm writes:
Braden is not his father. He doesn't possess the mid-90s fastball that came with devastating stink and pinpoint command. He's probably not going to be a first-round pick, but what's important here is that he's living his baseball dream. The high school junior is committed to Penn State, and it's possible that by 2019 he will also be in the mix for the MLB Draft.
Despite the differences between son and father, there are similarities as well. The delivery, the methodical way he breaks down his own abilities and the skill sets of others. The way his eyes light up when he talks about pitching. He seems more outgoing than his father ever was, at least publicly, with a personality that he at least partially gets from his mother, Brandy. Braden is his own man, but he also seems to get it a lot more than most kids his age would.
Halladay put his perceived Canada roots to the test for his team Saturday, recording a perfect frame, with a fastball “sitting in the low 80s” and a breaking ball “registering in the upper 60s.”
While it is clear Braden has not yet peaked as a pitcher, there is still ample time for growth and development, akin to his father’s transformation after struggling early on in his big league career.
"He's going to have his own journey and you want to have that, as much as his father would obviously be a huge influence baseball-wise and life-wise," said Greg Hamilton, Baseball Canada national director and coach.
"It's also his journey, and it has to be the right fit and he has to be based on merit, which certainly deserves the opportunity. He was born in Toronto, and we evaluate him like any other Canadian kid. He deserves to be here and have some fun with it."
