Larry Kenneth Robert Walker (born December 1, 1966) is a Canadian former professional baseball right fielder. During his 17-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, he played with the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies, and St. Louis Cardinals. In 1997, he became the only player in major league history to register both a .700 slugging percentage (SLG) and 30 stolen bases in the same season, on his way to winning the National League (NL) Most Valuable Player Award (MVP). The first player in more than 60 years to record a batting average of .360 in three consecutive seasons from 1997 to 1999, Walker also won three NL batting championships. He was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2007, and the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in the Class of 2009, and was named the 13th-greatest sporting figure from Canada by Sports Illustrated in 1999. In 2020, Walker was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Widely considered a five-tool player of prodigious athleticism and instincts, Walker hit for both average and power, combined with well-above-average speed, defense and throwing strength and accuracy. He was recognized as the top Canadian athlete in 1998 with the Lou Marsh Trophy. Other honors include five MLB All-Star selections, seven Gold Glove Awards, three Silver Slugger Awards, and nine Tip O'Neill Awards. His career SLG of .565 ranks 12th all time. Walker is one of only 19 hitters in history to accomplish a .300 batting average, .400 on-base percentage (OBP), and .500 SLG with at least 5,000 plate appearances, and one of six whose career began after 1960. Considering advanced metrics, he is one of only three players in history to rank within the top 100 of each of batting runs, base-running runs, and defensive runs saved; the others are Barry Bonds and Willie Mays.
Raised in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Walker spent his youth playing street hockey with consuming NHL goaltender aspirations. That dream never materialized; however, the Expos saw his baseball potential and signed him in 1984. By 1990, Walker became their starting right fielder, propelling them to the majors' best record in 1994 when that year's strike stopped their first serious World Series run. He signed with the Rockies as a free agent following the season, and, during a six-year period starting in 1997, was the major league batting leader three times while finishing second in the NL twice. In 1997, he also led the league in home runs, OBP, and SLG, while joining the 30–30 club, registering 12 outfield assists and leading his position with four double plays turned; he won the NL MVP Award that year. Desiring a trade to a contending team, Walker was sent by the Rockies to St. Louis in the middle of their 105-win season of 2004 where he made his first World Series appearance while tying or setting three Cardinals postseason records. He announced his retirement from playing baseball after Game 6 of the 2005 NL Championship Series.
Following his playing career, Walker has served as a guest instructor for the Cardinals, and, since 2009, has coached the Canadian national team. In that time, Team Canada has competed in three World Baseball Classic (WBC) tournaments, and twice at the Pan American Games, winning consecutive gold medals in 2011 and 2015.
Early life and amateur career
Walker was born on December 1, 1966, in Maple Ridge, a suburb of Greater Vancouver in British Columbia, to Larry Sr., and Mary Walker, both of Scottish descent. Walker had three older brothers. The five men often played together in a fastpitch softball league, frequently all in the same starting lineup. Walker grew up passing much of his free time playing street hockey, especially as part of a group of boys in the backyard and driveway of another boy. In that group was future Hockey Hall of Famer Cam Neely, who became one of Walker's close friends. Walker dreamed of a career in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a goaltender, only casually playing an occasional baseball game during the summer.
Walker played hockey and volleyball at Maple Ridge Secondary School; baseball was not offered. One of his boyhood idols was NHL goalie Billy Smith, who won four consecutive Stanley Cups from 1980−83, during Walker's teenage years. Walker sharpened his skills by blocking shots against Neely. Walker's brother Carey, also a goaltender, was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens
Junior hockey
At the age of 16, Walker was offered tryouts with Junior A teams in Regina, Saskatchewan, and Kelowna, British Columbia, however, he was cut from both teams, while Herbert made the Regina Pats. Previously, Canadian baseball luminaries included Tip O'Neill, the first Canadian to win a Triple Crown in 1887, and Ferguson Jenkins, Canada's first selectee to the American Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991. Walker would help dramatically increase the profile of the sport in a hockey-mad nation. Part of the factor are Canada's short summers, which make it more challenging to play outdoors than in the United States. Walker later said regarding his youth career, "I'd never seen a forkball, never seen a slider. I didn't know they existed. I had never really seen a good curveball. In Canada, as a kid, we'd play 10 baseball games a year. Fifteen, tops. Some pitchers had a thing they'd call a spinner, but nothing like this. Baseball just wasn't big. The weather was against it. Nobody ever played baseball thinking about making the major leagues." He was also unaware of many of the rules, attesting to his lack of experience playing when he turned a professional. At that time, Canadians were not eligible to be selected through the Major League Baseball draft. While the Expos perceived Walker to be very athletic, they decided that he was very raw, and that he did not initially warrant rating as a top prospect. Walker caught the eye of his fellow Canadians, and, as a 19-year-old minor leaguer, had acquired an entourage of Canadian reporters. "I know now I can hit the ball. I have a lot of confidence even though I still strike out a lot. I swing at too many bad pitches," he contemplated. Asserted West Palm Beach manager Felipe Alou, "If he keeps improving the way he has the last 12 months, there's no telling what he could do. You have a kid with his kind of potential, they don't last long in the minor leagues." Meanwhile, the club clinched the Florida State League South division, winning by two games over the Fort Lauderdale Yankees.
After promotion to Jacksonville Expos of the Southern League in 1987, Walker totaled a .287 average, .383 OBP, .534 SLG, 91 runs, 26 home runs, 24 stolen bases and three times caught stealing. He won his first Tip O'Neill Award that year as the top Canadian baseball player. He missed the 1988 season after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery for an injury while playing in the Mexican Pacific League. The Expos moved him up to Indianapolis Indians of the Triple-A International League in 1989. There, he played in 114 games and batted .270 with 68 runs scored, 12 home runs, 36 stolen bases and six times caught stealing. He struggled in his debut, batting .170 with a .264 OBP and .170 SLG in 56 plate appearances.
Early major league career (1990−1992)
thumb|left|160px|1989−1991 [[Montreal Expos #33 Larry Walker home jersey]] Ranked No. 42 on Baseball Americas list of top prospects in advance of the 1990 season, Walker became the Expos' regular right fielder following Hubie Brooks' departure via free agency, patrolling an outfield which featured Tim Raines and Marquis Grissom, both accomplished base stealers and hitters. Walker batted .241/.326 /.434 for a 112 OPS+ in his first full season. He also hit 19 home runs with 21 stolen bases and produced 3.4 Wins Above Replacement (WAR). As the top native Canadian to ever play for the Expos, Walker became a role model for young Canadian baseball players.
Over the next four seasons, Walker hit a combined .293/.366/.501 for a 134 OPS+, with an average of 20 home runs, 19 stolen bases, excellent defense (+10 runs per year) and 4.2 WAR. He became another in the succession of Montreal's great outfielders. He appeared in 133 to 143 games per season, spending significant time on the disabled list (DL) in 1991 and 1993 while playing on Olympic Stadium's notorious artificial turf, a product perceived to create excessive stress on knees, accelerating injuries to players like former Expos star outfielder Andre Dawson. In that game, Walker hit the only RBI, driving in Dave Martinez on a triple, and scored the second run on an error. He was involved in 17 of 27 outs: 16 putouts and one assist.
In late May 1992, the Expos made Alou manager at the major league level, touching off a period of heightened success lasting the rest of Walker's time in Montreal. On July 4 against the San Diego Padres, he fielded a ground ball to right field and threw out speedy shortstop Tony Fernández at first base. Walker was also selected to his first Home Run Derby, hitting four home runs. In 1992, Walker batted .301/.353/.506 and rated 10 runs above average while fielding,
1993−94 seasons
The 1993 Expos reached a rare watermark, winning 94 games. A core of young talent propelled the club, including Grissom and a rising Moisés Alou (son of manager Felipe) complementing Walker in the outfield, starters Ken Hill and Jeff Fassero, and relievers John Wetteland and Mel Rojas. An improbable finish to the regular season including a record of 30−9 catapulted Montreal to a second-place standing with a 94−68 record, just shy of the club-record 95 wins set in 1979. Excitement in Canada began to crescendo over the prospect of the first-ever all-Canadian World Series, as the Toronto Blue Jays were defending champions in 1993, and repeated that October. Walker batted .265 with 22 home runs and 86 RBI, setting then-career highs with 80 walks, 20 intentional walks, 29 stolen bases, and .371 OBP. He won his second Gold Glove Award. Embarrassed, Walker admitted that he "told the little kid that maybe next time I'll give him a ball when there are three outs instead of two. Everybody around him was laughing." Where Offerman was stationed made little difference, as Tim Wallach homered on the next pitch from Martínez for two runs. True to his word, when the Expos assumed the field in the bottom half of the fourth inning, Walker gave Napier a signed ball, inducing a standing ovation. He paced for new levels production in spite of a shoulder injury in late June that confined him to first base for the remainder of the season. He easily accelerated past his previous career highs set in 1992 with a .322 batting average, .394 OBP, and .587 SLG, including what could have been his first 100-RBI year. He finished with 86 RBI, 151 OPS+, and a league-leading 44 doubles; the latter two figures were also new career-highs. He placed 11th in the NL MVP voting.
Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the Expos' transcendent season was that they did so with the second-lowest payroll in baseball. However, as the team lost millions of dollars in revenue from 29 canceled home games and playoffs, general manager Kevin Malone was given orders to drastically reduce payroll. The club dealt away their young stars and did not offer Walker salary arbitration. As such, he was granted free agency.
Colorado Rockies
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Walker signed a four-year contract with the Colorado Rockies worth nearly $22.5 million USD (), the largest agreement since the strike. The average annual value equated to more than $5.6 million ($ million today), up from the $4 million ($ million today) the Expos had paid him the year prior. From Olympic Stadium to Coors Field, Walker transitioned into the most benevolent hitting environment since World War II. Nonetheless, even after mathematically adjusting for stadium and altitude advantages, his production during his Rockies years consistently rivaled other hitters whose accomplishments came in settings of greater difficulty. and as the average club scored 5.4 runs per game, his OPS+ fell about 20 percent from the year before to 131. He placed seventh in the NL MVP voting, his second time in the top ten.
One of a quartet of Rockies players who became known as The Blake Street Bombers, Walker, Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla and former Expos teammate Andrés Galarraga each contributed at least 30 home runs in 1995. The Rockies simultaneously won the first-ever NL wild card berth under the new postseason format and first playoff appearance in franchise history in just their third season of play. Walker collected three hits in 14 at bats in the NL Division Series (NLDS) versus the Atlanta Braves. He hit his first career postseason home run off Tom Glavine in the sixth inning of a 7−4 Game 2 loss. The Braves defeated the Rockies in four games. The next day, also against the Pirates, he set an MLB record with six consecutive extra base hits. On May 26, he won his first MLB Player of the Week Award. He missed more than two months of the 1996 season due to a fractured clavicle that occurred in a collision with an outfield fence. He hit .393 at Coors Field and .142 on the road.
Most Valuable Player Award (1997)
The Rockies commenced the 1997 season on the road, and thus Walker started a reversal of his poor fortunes away from Coors. He hit two home runs in the season-opening series against the Reds in Cincinnati, He set major league records for March–April for both OPS (later surpassed by Barry Bonds in 2004) and runs scored (later surpassed by Bryce Harper in 2017). Walker won his first NL Player of the Month award.
Walker sat out an interleague game on June 12 versus the Seattle Mariners. Former Expos teammate Randy Johnson, a left-handed pitcher standing and one of the most intimidating players in sports history, was scheduled as the starter. "I faced Randy one time in spring training and he almost killed me," Walker explained of the rationale. He collected his 1,000th career hit and 108th of the season on June 20 against Andy Ashby of San Diego. The incident momentarily drew mirth and laughter from players in both dugouts, fans and announcers, and comparisons to Johnson pitching against John Kruk in the 1993 All-Star Game, in which he also threw over his head. In spite of garnering a reputation of avoiding Johnson, Walker batted .393 (11 hits in 28 at bats) against him in his career, nearly double the rate of all left-handed batters at .199.
During the All-Star break, Walker participated in the Home Run Derby, placing second with 19 home runs. Both he and Tony Gwynn of the Padres, also a selectee that year's All-Star Game, were batting near .400, and right fielders for teams in the NL West division. They were jointly interviewed, as batting .400 is one of the most difficult achievements in all of sports. Asked just how challenging it is, Gwynn, known to be a very studious hitter, elaborated with what he later termed a "complete dissertation." Walker responded, "I don't know anything about that stuff. I just hit the ball." While neither player wound up achieving the statistic over any full season, Gwynn won that year's NL batting championship and Walker finished second. Walker was batting .402 as late as July 17. On September 12, Walker was batting a league-leading .371 with 43 home runs; no NL player had ever simultaneously marshaled those totals. He then experienced another power surge, hitting home runs in four consecutive games – a total of five in that span – including the 199th and 200th of his career in San Diego on September 17. He injured his right elbow while swinging at the pitch that was thrown just prior to his 49th home run during the Rockies' 160th game, forcing him out of the final two games. In spite of Walker's magnificent season, the Rockies were unable to capitalize, missing the playoffs with an 83–79 record. the second with at least 45 home runs and 30 stolen bases, and the fifth with 40−30. The 9.8 WAR produced is tied for the 67th-highest single-season total among position players in MLB history, per Baseball Reference. Walker's production slotted within four hits and 10 RBI of winning the first batting Triple Crown in 60 years. and the NL in on-base percentage (.452), and at bats per home run (11.6).
Also, Walker's 409 total bases were the most in an NL season since Stan Musial gained 429 in 1948, and is tied with Lou Gehrig and Rogers Hornsby for the 18th-highest in MLB history. Walker's season marked the 23rd occasion in MLB history a batter reached 400 total bases and the first time in the NL since Hank Aaron's 400 in 1959. Combined with 12 outfield assists, and a league-leading of both a .992 fielding percentage and four double plays turned, the Baseball Digest Player of the Year Award, his seventh Tip O'Neill Award, In honor of Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation on July 1, 2017, The Sports Network named Walker's achievement of the MVP award among the nation's most iconic sports moments.
The 49 home runs set a single-season club record for Colorado. Walker's production held up well on the road, including nine more home runs than at Coors Field: .346 average, 29 home runs and 62 RBI in 75 games.
First batting title (1998)
Although he rested the right elbow in the off-season, Walker aggravated the injury while playing golf the following January.