Former star MLB pitcher Roy Halladay had morphine in his system when he fatally crashed his small plane into the Gulf of Mexico, according to an autopsy report revealed Friday.
The 40-year-old baseball great — who played for the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies — was flying his single-passenger aircraft 10 miles west of St. Petersburg, Florida, in November when he lost control.
He had trace amounts of morphine and generic-form Ambien in his system at the time he died, according to TMZ, which cited an autopsy report. There were also amphetamines in his system, according to the site.
Halladay’s blood tested positive for 72 milliliters of generic Ambien — more than enough to impair driving, according to TMZ, which cited the Food and Drug Administration.
Officially, his cause of death was blunt trauma — including lung, liver and spleen injuries — and drowning, according to TMZ. He also suffered a subdural hemorrhage in the crash.
Halladay was flying his rare ICON A5 plane erratically shortly before the aircraft plunged into the ocean, according to past reports.
The pitching legend retired in 2013 after a career that included eight all-star appearances and more than 2,000 strikeouts.