We don’t have many baseball idols around the 35th Street offices, but what few we revere tend to be either members of the pre-1996 teams or pitchers who disappeared just as quickly as they rose. One such pitcher, one held just a notch below patron saint status, is none other than the great one-and-done highlight reel Esteban Loaiza.

In 2003, Loaiza came to spring training from literally out of nowhere as a non-roster invitee. His previous employer, out of either disdain or indifference, let him walk after a poor showing at the back end of their rotation. Armed with only a $5.5million pay cut and a new cutter developed with help from Sox pitching coach Don Cooper, Loaiza went on to systematically destroy the American League for exactly one season before reverting to form and being shipped out for a Jose Contreras who the Yankees gave up on.

Also in 2003, Loaiza’s league-minimum salary was almost exactly the pay increase given to the ace of his former team’s pitching staff. For a mere $500,000 that ace turned in not just a stellar season but the only season deemed superior to Loaiza’s by Cy Young voters.

That ace, Roy Halladay, starts tonight against the White Sox on behalf of that former employer. Loaiza is long gone – twice, in fact – but that fine season lives on in memories and on the back of a t-shirt we found at SportMart for $6.

Go out there and win tonight, Good Guys. Beat Halladay for the pride of being in first. Beat Halladay out of spite for the Twins. But most of all, beat him for the pitcher who couldn’t.