Like his Montréal Expos teammate Tim Raines, Larry Walker reaches the Baseball Hall of Fame on his 10th and final try. Walker was on 76.6% of the ballots, making the Hall by a 6-vote margin.
Walker is the second Canadian and first position player from Canada to reach the Baseball Hall of Fame. Ferguson Jenkins was the first Canadian player to reach the honour in 1991.
Although I believe I’m going to come up a little short today I still wanna thank all you that have been pulling for me and showing your support. I’m grateful for all of you! It’s been fun leading up to today reading everyone’s thoughts. Cheers 🍻 LW
— Larry Walker (@Cdnmooselips33) January 21, 2020
Walker, the pride of Maple Ridge, BC, showed Canadian modesty earlier in the day. Walker did thank all those for their support.
Walker had a lifetime .313 batting average with 383 HR and 230 SB with an OBP of .400. He won a MVP in 1997 and 3 batting titles.
The outfielder won 7 Gold Gloves, 2 with Montréal. Walker turned 40 double plays as an outfielder in his career, ranking him 10th in MLB history. His .565 slugging percentage was 12th best all time. Walker is one of 20 players since 1900 (minimum 5000 plate appearances) with at least a .300 average .400 OBP, and a .500 slugging percentage.
Walker started his career with the Montréal Expos from 1989-1994. He left for Colorado as a free agent, playing for the Rockies from 1995-2004. Walker finished 2004 with St. Louis before retiring after the 2005 season.
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The road to the Baseball Hall of Fame was rough for Walker. His lowest point was 10.2% in 2014 (75% is the threshold needed). The highest total in the first 6 years was 22.9% in 2012.
In 2017, Walker was at 21.9%. The outfielder moved up to 34.1% in 2018 and 54.6% in 2019.
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Ryan Dempster on the MLB Network Monday night pointed out the impact of Walker was a "Hall of Famer for a lot of different reasons."
"(Walker) influenced an entire country and changed the dynamic of which we play baseball up there." Dempster talked about Canadians who would be on the fence as to whether to play hockey or baseball.
Seeing Walker succeed made them "believe now that they could play in the major leagues and be successful major leaguers because of him. And to me, that influence he had on an entire country and a generation of baseball players coming from there should put him in the Hall of Fame alone."
When Walker started his professional baseball career, Canadians weren't eligible for the MLB draft.
Walker made a significant impact on Canadian baseball. He noted that his high school didn't even have a baseball team. MLB has a lot more Canadian players: Joey Votto, Justin Morneau, and Russell Martin will get some potential HOF mention and who knows about Mike Soroka and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.
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#Retire33 Weekend will be April 17-19 at Coors Field, culminating with the number retirement ceremony on Sunday, April 19. pic.twitter.com/TtGoo2STg5
— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) January 17, 2020
Walker has a sense of humour. The best example of that came in the 1997 All-Star Game in Cleveland. Walker was facing Seattle's Randy Johnson, lefty against lefty. A Johnson pitch sails over Walker's head. Walker has fun in the moment putting his batting helmet on backwards and hitting right-handed.
Walker described himself after being accepted into the hall that he thought of himself as the B-side of a 45 record with Derek Jeter also getting the honour.
He also found out last week that the Colorado Rockies will retire Larry Walker's #33 on Sunday, April 19.
As wonderful as Walker would look in a Montréal Expos cap, the outfielder will almost certainly be in a Rockies cap. The effects of the 1994 Montréal Expos team and the unceremonious breakup of the team thanks to the strike meant that Walker would find fame in a different uniform.
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Walker will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY on July 26. There will be plenty of Montréal Expos fans at the ceremony.
photo credit: MLB Network
Twitter captures: @cdnmooselips33; @Rockies
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