Boston radio host mocks Roy Halladay's death, says he 'got what he deserved'

Mike Oz

It seems like a good bet that Boston sports talk radio host Michael Felger isn’t a big believer in the notion of respecting the dead. Felger and co-host Tony Massarotti do afternoons on Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub. Felger spent part of Wednesday’s show mocking Roy Halladay, blaming him for his death and calling him names.

Halladay, the ex-MLB star and two-time Cy Young winner, died in a plane crash Tuesday in the Gulf of Mexico, near his home in Florida. He was 40. He’s survived by his wife and two teenage sons. Halladay was flying a sporty plane he got last month, it’s a two-seater that’s been described as a “Jet Ski with wings.”

Felger decided it was important to blame someone for Halladay’s death, so he blamed Halladay, over and over again, in fact — calling him a “moron” and saying Halladay “got what he deserved.” Here’s the entire 10-minute segment captured by Awful Announcing’s Andrew Bucholtz:

Boston radio host Michael Felger and MLB pitcher Roy Halladay, who died in a plane crash Tuesday. (CBS Boston/AP)
Boston radio host Michael Felger and MLB pitcher Roy Halladay, who died in a plane crash Tuesday. (CBS Boston/AP)

Deadspin and Awful Announcing each collected some of Felger’s worst moments, and here they are, if you’d rather not listen to the entire segment:

“He’s not a militarily-trained pilot, he’s not a professionally-trained pilot, he’s a Joe Q. Citizen who buys a plane that folds up and you can put in your garage and that’s amphibious, ‘Wheee! Oh look, I just landed on the water, everybody! I’m going to tweet it!’ Splat. You’re dead. With two kids. Moron.”

“As a 40-year-old grown-ass man, you’re still doing that, to the point where you’ve got to get in planes and race cars and all that crap? I’m sorry, dude, you’re on your own. I’ve got no sympathy for you.”

“That guy’s like the bad guy to me. You’ve got a family! And you’re going to screw around in a little toy plane?”

“If that’s how you’re wired, and that’s how you die? Bon voyage.”

“I don’t blame the plane for the fact that the guy wanted to dive-bomb through mountains. Idiot!”

In case you’re wondering if Felger holds other athletes to the same standard, the answer is yes:

“Was it Dale Earnhardt who died? The race car driver who died? I root for the wall. I really do. That ain’t no tragedy … I’m supposed to feel bad for you? Give me a break.

And Felger also gave permission for anyone to mock him should he die tragically:

“If I die helicopter skiing, you have the right to do the exact same thing I’m doing to Roy Halladay. He got what he deserved.”

A video obtained Wednesday by TMZ Sports showed Halladay flying erratically in the minutes before the accident — changing altitude from 100 feet in the air to just above the water. That’s part of what inspired the segment, according to Massarotti’s Twitter feed:

A full NTSB investigation into Halladay’s fatal accident has begun and a preliminary report is expected in 7-10 days, an investigator said Wednesday.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!