Rockies’ Larry Walker: From hockey wannabe to baseball Hall of Famer

Perhaps Larry Walker was destined to beryllium a shot player.

Why other would the shot gods person blessed the kid from Canada with a thunderous bat, velocity connected the bases, instincts, and an limb that unleashed lightning bolts from close field?

On Wednesday, Walker volition beryllium inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame successful Cooperstown, N.Y. But earlier helium became Larry Legend and the archetypal Rockies subordinate elected to the Hall of Fame, each Walker wanted to bash was play hockey.

“Being Canadian, you’re calved into this satellite with a instrumentality successful your manus and skates connected your feet,” said Walker, a autochthonal of Maple Ridge, British Columbia. “So that’s however I was arsenic a kid. You played hockey, and that’s each that truly mattered.”

At property 16, with dreams of being an NHL goaltender, helium was invited to grooming campy by the Regina Pats of the Junior A Western Hockey League. If helium made the team, scouts would instrumentality notice. But helium got cut. He was invited backmost the adjacent twelvemonth and failed again.

“When I was chopped for the 2nd twelvemonth successful a enactment I had the accidental to spell to Swift Current,” helium recalled. “I drove into the municipality and I stopped astatine the rink and I looked around, and I don’t cognize why, but I said, ‘You cognize what? This isn’t for me.’ And I decided I wasn’t going to prosecute hockey.

“We turned astir and drove backmost location to Maple Ridge, British Columbia, and that’s erstwhile it ended. And that’s erstwhile shot benignant of came knocking connected my door. I didn’t sound connected its door.”

Walker’s father, Larry Sr., played semi-pro baseball. Walker, his dada and his brothers — Barry, Carey, and Gary — often played unneurotic successful a fast-pitch softball league. Walker ne'er played shot astatine Maple Ridge Senior Secondary due to the fact that it didn’t person a team. He played volleyball and hockey successful precocious school.

He learned his rudimentary shot skills successful a Canadian amateur league successful Vancouver, astir the equivalent of the Senior Babe Ruth Leagues successful the United States.

During the summertime of 1984, Walker played with the Coquitlam Reds successful Vancouver, made Canada’s nationalist squad and played successful the 1984 World Youth Championships successful Kindersley, Saskatchewan. That November, Walker got a telephone from Bob Rogers, an Expos scout who signed Walker to a insignificant league declaration for a $1,500 signing bonus.

He spent 1985 done astir of 1989 successful the minors, batting .274 with 73 homers and 258 RBIs successful 437 games.

In his archetypal play successful pro ball, successful 1985, helium deed lone .223 with 2 location runs successful 62 games portion connected indebtedness to the unaffiliated Utica Blue Sox of the New York-Penn League.

“I’d ne'er seen a forkball, ne'er seen a slider,” Walker recalled. “I didn’t cognize they existed. I had ne'er truly seen a bully curveball. In Canada, arsenic a kid, we’d play 10, possibly 15 shot games a year.”

Jeff Huson played with Walker successful Class-A shot successful 1986 successful Burlington, Iowa. Then the 2 were teammates successful Triple-A Indianapolis successful 1989 and for a abbreviated clip unneurotic with the Expos aboriginal that season. Huson was blown distant by Walker’s earthy endowment and his quality to prime up the game.

“Larry was raw, but you could spot what a large jock helium was,” said Huson, present a Rockies expert for AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain. “I retrieve they tried him retired astatine 3rd basal but his limb was truthful beardown that helium kept throwing the shot implicit the archetypal baseman’s head. Sometimes it would extremity up successful the stands. So they enactment him successful the outfield.”

Walker credits Ralph Rowe with helping crook him into a major-league hitter. Rowe was a hitting manager successful the Expos enactment and aft the 1995 season, and a fig of winters to follow, Walker honed his skills nether Rowe portion playing successful the Florida Instructional League.

Once Walker began to larn the nuances of the game, his athleticism began to radiance through.

“When I speech astir Larry, I accidental helium is the champion jock I ever played with,” said erstwhile Rockies archetypal baseman Todd Helton. “I played (college) shot excessively and played with immoderate large athletes, but the feline could bash everything.

“Of course, helium was a Gold Glove outfielder with a cannon of an arm, but the happening helium did champion was tally bases. That’s not going to assistance you get into the Hall of Fame, but you propulsion that connected to everything other the feline did and helium was amazing.”

Larry Walker

Montreal Expos: 1989-1993, 674 games
Colorado Rockies: 1994-2004, 1,170 games
St. Louis Cardinals: 2004-05, 144 games
Major league debut: Aug. 11, 1989 vs. San Francisco Giants
Final regular-season game: Oct. 2, 2005 vs. Cincinnati Reds

Quotable

Those who played shot with Walker, oregon watched him play, were often astonished by his skills:

“An astonishing talent. People ever flip astir the word ‘five-tool player’ beauteous liberally, which they shouldn’t. But I archer radical that Larry was not lone a five-tool player; helium was elite successful each 5 categories.” — Walt Weiss, erstwhile Rockies subordinate and manager who was Walker’s teammate successful Colorado from 1995-97.

“There’s nary uncertainty successful my caput that Larry is simply a Hall of Famer. I’ve played with a batch of Hall of Famers — Andre Dawson, Tim Raines, Gary Carter, Mike Piazza — and arsenic acold arsenic all-around, each portion of the game, Larry is the champion I played with.” — Tim Wallach, Walker’s teammate with the Montreal Expos.

“Larry Walker was a peculiar subordinate that could bash it all. Talk astir having an instinct for the game. Larry Walker was that subordinate — and a batch of fun.” — Hall of Famer pitcher Pedro Martinez, who played with Walker successful Montreal successful 1994.

“People speech astir five-tool players, but Larry Walker had a sixth tool: his shot consciousness and anticipation. He won the MVP grant successful 1997, but if helium weren’t playing astatine the aforesaid clip arsenic Barry Bonds, helium whitethorn person won 3 oregon 4 MVP awards. He was the champion astatine deking runners, hands-down.” — Eric Young, Walker’s Rockies teammate from 1995-97.

“I retrieve arsenic an Expo. I ever felt beauteous comfy against lefties, due to the fact that I felt arsenic though I could propulsion a breaking shot down and distant from them and I could find my fastball connected their hands. They had a batch of bully players successful Montreal, but I thought Larry was the toughest hitter of them all, adjacent though helium was left-handed.” — existent Rockies manager Bud Black, who, arsenic a pitcher for San Francisco, faced Walker from 1992-94.

“I deliberation the astir bonzer stat, for me, is ever going to beryllium his 1997 season, the twelvemonth helium won the MVP. He deed 29 of his 49 location runs connected the roadworthy and his location OPS (1.169) was ridiculous, but his roadworthy OPS (1.176) was adjacent higher. That was pre-humidor astatine Coors Field, truthful helium benignant of had to bust down the doorway to triumph the MVP. But considering what helium did connected the road, a writer would person been embarrassed not to ballot for him.” — Manny Randhawa, writer of The Blake Street Bombers

Trophy case

• National League MVP (1997)
• Five-time National League All-Star (1992, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001)
• Seven-time Gold Glove victor (1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001 and 2002)
• Three-time Silver Slugger victor (1992, 1997 and 1999)
• Three-time National League batting champion (1998 .363; 1999, .379; and 2001, .350)

Numbers game

Games: 1,988
Hits: 2,160
Doubles: 471
Triples: 62
Home runs: 383
RBIs: 1,311
Stolen bases: 230
Batting average: .313
On-base percentage: .400
Slugging percentage: .565 (15th all-time)
OPS: .965 (18th all-time)
Career WAR: 72.7

Super Stats

• Walker is 1 of conscionable 7 players successful MLB past with a vocation slash enactment of astatine slightest .313/.400/.565. The six others are each successful the Hall of Fame (Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Hank Greenberg, Rogers Hornsby).

• Walker and Barry Bonds are the lone 2 players successful MLB past with astatine slightest 300 location runs, 200 stolen bases and an OPS of astatine slightest .950.

• Walker’s roadworthy OPS of .865 is adjacent oregon higher than that of Hall of Famers Willie Stargell, Ken Griffey Jr., Reggie Jackson, Orlando Cepeda, Tony Gwynn, Al Kaline, George Brett and Roberto Clemente.

• In Rockies franchise history, Walker ranks 2nd down Helton successful runs (892), doubles (297), location runs (258) and RBIs (848). He ranks archetypal successful franchise past with a .334 batting average, a .426 on-base percent and a .618 slugging percentage.

Moments successful time

• First location run: On April 20, 1990, with the Expos. He deed a solo homer disconnected the Mets’ Ron Darling successful the 2nd inning of Montreal’s 2-1 triumph astatine Shea Stadium.

• The Throw: On July 4, 1992, astatine San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium, Walker, playing successful close field, fielded a one-hopper deed by Padres shortstop Tony Fernandez and threw him retired astatine archetypal base.

• First Rockies location run: On May 7, 1995, helium deed a blast disconnected the Dodgers’ Hideo Nomo astatine Coors Field.

• In the clutch: In the 1995 regular-season finale astatine Coors Field, the 3-year-old Rockies needed to bushed the Giants to gain the National League chaotic paper and go the youngest enlargement franchise to ever marque the postseason. The Rockies overcame an 8-2 shortage for a 10-9 victory. Walker was 3-for-4 with a double, homer and 3 RBIs. He finished the strike-shortened play with 101 RBIs successful 131 games.

• Hat trick: On April 5, 1997, Walker returned to Montreal’s Olympic Stadium and deed 3 location runs and drove successful 5 runs. Manager Don Baylor wanted Walker to spell for 4 location runs but Walker asked to travel retired of the crippled truthful teammate John Vander Wal could get an at-bat to enactment sharp.

• All-Star Game mischief: On July 8, 1997, successful the All-Star Game astatine Cleveland’s Progressive Field (then Jacobs Field), Walker turned successful his astir colorful at-bat erstwhile helium faced disconnected against intimidating lefty Randy Johnson. The 2 were concisely teammates with the Expos, but present Johnson was pitching for Seattle and Walker was a prima with Colorado. Earlier successful the season, erstwhile Johnson started against the Rockies, Walker chose not to play, explaining: “I faced Randy 1 clip successful outpouring grooming and helium astir killed me.”

In the All-Star Game, Johnson theatrically threw a fastball 7 oregon 8 feet implicit Walker’s head. So Walker spun his batting helmet astir and switched sides successful the batters’ container and deed right-handed for 1 pitch. He switched backmost to the near broadside and drew a walk.

“I didn’t adjacent cognize if I was allowed to bash that,” Walker told The Denver Post astatine the time. “I looked similar Colonel Klink retired there.”

Walker was criticized for ducking Johnson successful his career, but actually, Walker deed .393 (11-for-28) against Johnson.

• Home tally attire: On Aug. 18, 1999, vs. the Braves astatine Coors Field, the Rockies donned their widely panned futuristic achromatic jerseys. But it didn’t fuss Walker, who deed 2 homers — an opposite-field changeable disconnected Kevin Millwood successful the archetypal inning and a three-run, walk-off blast disconnected John Rocker.

• 2004 playoffs: After helium was traded to St. Louis successful August 2004, Walker made the astir of his clip with the Cardinals. It had been 5 years since Walker past appeared successful the postseason, but successful Game 1 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, helium followed up Albert Pujols’ first-inning homer with a solo blast successful the third. He deed different solo homer successful the seventh.

In Game 1 of the World Series vs. Boston, Walker was 4-for-5 with a third-inning homer disconnected Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield, and besides had 2 doubles. Although the Cardinals were swept successful 4 games, Walker slashed .357/.438/.929.