111 Facts About Larry Walker

Larry Walker 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.

Widely considered a five-tool talent of prodigious athleticism and instincts, Larry Walker hit for both average and power, combined with well-above-average speed, defense and throwing strength and accuracy.

Larry Walker was recognized as the top Canadian athlete in 1998 with the Lou Marsh Trophy.

Larry Walker 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.

Larry Walker announced his retirement from playing baseball after Game 6 of the 2005 National League Championship Series.

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Larry 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 named Rick Herbert.

Larry Walker dreamed of a career in the National Hockey League as a goaltender, only casually playing an occasional baseball game during the summer.

Larry Walker played hockey and volleyball at Maple Ridge Secondary School; baseball was not offered.

At the age of 16, Larry Walker was offered tryouts with Junior A teams in Regina, Saskatchewan, and Kelowna, British Columbia he was cut from both teams.

Popularity of baseball in Canada during Larry Walker's youth was minuscule in contrast to the following he would help spawn related to his later success with the Montreal Expos.

In 1984, Larry Walker played for the Coquitlam Reds of the British Columbia Premier Baseball League.

Larry Walker was selected to join the Canadian team at the 1984 World Youth Championships in Kindersley, Saskatchewan.

Larry Walker attended Expos minor league spring training camp in 1985 and it was clear from the outset that pitching was a complete mystery to him.

Larry Walker swung indiscriminately, expecting every pitch to be a fastball, including at ones that bounced 10 feet in front of, or on, home plate.

Larry Walker joined a fast-pitch softball team sponsored by a bowling alley, but this brought little relief.

Manager Ken Brett, who was less preoccupied with fielding a winning team than giving the athletic players the opportunity to experiment, allowed Larry Walker to stay in the lineup as a regular in part because of his willingness to learn.

Larry Walker heard that he would be released, but Brett recalled that "he was just so tough, " and marveled at his "outstanding athleticism, freakish hand-eye coordination and mental approach;" he had 12 stolen bases.

Larry Walker continued to make annual off-season returns to FIL in West Palm Beach to calibrate and refine his approach, and eventually made his home there.

Larry Walker caught the eye of his fellow Canadians, and, as a 19-year-old minor leaguer, had acquired an entourage of Canadian reporters.

Larry Walker won his first Tip O'Neill Award that year as the top Canadian baseball player.

Larry Walker missed the 1988 season after undergoing reconstructive knee surgery for an injury while playing in the Mexican Pacific League.

Larry Walker walked twice in the game while recording a single in his first official at bat, off Mike LaCoss of the San Francisco Giants.

Larry Walker hit 19 home runs with 21 stolen bases and produced 3.

Larry Walker placed seventh in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting.

One of the few native Canadians to ever play for the Expos, Larry Walker became a role model for thousands of young Canadian baseball players.

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Larry Walker became another in the succession of Montreal's great outfielders.

Larry Walker never appeared in more than 143 games, spending significant time on the disabled list 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 Expo Andre Dawson.

In 1991, Larry Walker appeared in 39 games at first base, including Dennis Martinez's perfect game on July 28, a 2-0 victory versus the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In that contest, Larry Walker hit the only RBI, driving in Dave Martinez on a triple, and scored the second run on an error.

Larry Walker was involved in 17 of 27 outs: 16 putouts and one assist.

Larry Walker was named to his first All-Star Game, debuting as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning for Greg Maddux and producing a single.

Larry Walker was selected to his first Home Run Derby, hitting four home runs.

Larry Walker won his first both of a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award, and became the first and only Canadian to win the Expos Player of the Year award.

Larry Walker received consideration for the Most Valuable Player Award for the first time in 1992, finishing fifth in the National League.

Larry Walker managed to retrieve the ball from Napier and held Offerman to third base.

True to his word, when the Expos assumed the field in the bottom half of the fourth inning, Larry Walker gave Napier a signed ball, inducing a standing ovation.

Larry Walker finished with 86 RBI, 151 OPS+, and a league-leading 44 doubles; the latter two figures were new career-highs.

Larry Walker signed a four-year contract with the Colorado Rockies worth nearly $22.

From Olympic Stadium to Coors Field, Larry Walker transitioned into the most benevolent hitting environment since World War II.

Larry Walker attained new career-highs with 36 home runs and 101 RBI - reaching both 30 home runs and 100 RBI for the first time in his career - in spite of missing 13 games of a season shortened by the strike that had begun the year before.

Larry Walker placed seventh in the NL MVP voting, his second time in the top ten.

Larry Walker collected three hits in 14 at bats in the National League Division Series versus the Atlanta Braves.

Larry Walker hit his first career postseason home run off Tom Glavine in the sixth inning of a 7-4 Game 2 loss.

Larry Walker primarily played center field in 1996—54 of 83 total games—in a season cut short by injury.

Larry Walker missed more than two months of the 1996 season due to a fractured clavicle that occurred in a collision with an outfield fence.

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Rockies commenced the 1997 season on the road, and thus Larry Walker started a reversal of his poor fortunes away from Coors.

Larry Walker set major league records for March–April for both OPS—until surpassed by Barry Bonds in 2004—and runs scored—until surpassed by Bryce Harper in 2017.

Larry Walker was named NL Player of the Month for the first time.

Ever adaptable, Larry Walker placed his batting helmet backwards and switched sides in the batters' box to stand right-handed for one pitch.

Larry Walker injured the right elbow while swinging at the pitch that was pre-flight to his 49th home run in the Rockies' 160th game, forcing him out of the last two games.

Larry Walker won the NL MVP Award, thus becoming the first Canadian player to win the MVP in Major League Baseball.

Larry Walker's production slotted within four hits and 10 RBI of winning the first batting Triple Crown in 60 years.

Larry Walker's season marked the 23rd occasion in MLB history a batter reached 400 total bases and the first time in the National League since Hank Aaron's 400 in 1959.

Larry Walker's production held up well on the road, including nine more home runs than at Coors Field:.

Larry Walker started in the All-Star Game for the second consecutive season, playing center field and batting seventh.

One of the most amazing things I've seen Larry Walker accomplish, was during those two seasons after '97, when, hurt as he was, he hit for a high average.

Larry Walker had to take daily inventory of what was going good and come up with a stroke that would work within the parameters of his health.

Larry Walker surged from tenth to second place for the batting crown.

Larry Walker endured back spasms toward the end of the season, starting in nine of the team's final 17 games.

Larry Walker missed the first week of the 1999 season with a strained rib cage.

Larry Walker hit safely in 21 consecutive games from April 25-May 19, making that the second occasion since 1987 a reigning batting champion had achieved a hit streak of at least 20 games.

The following day, Larry Walker tied another club record, held by Galarraga, with his sixth consecutive multi-hit game.

Larry Walker was one of the strikeout victims of former Expos teammate Pedro Martinez, who became the first to strike out the first three batters in an All-Star Game.

Larry Walker closed his season by hitting safely in 12 consecutive starts, including multiple hits in the final six.

Larry Walker hit 37 home runs and 115 RBI in just 438 at bats, stole 11 bases in 15 attempts, and registered 12 outfield assists.

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Larry Walker won his fifth Gold Glove and was selected as Rockies Player of the Year for the second time.

Larry Walker signed a six-year, $75 million contract extension after the 1999 season.

Larry Walker was named as the ninth top male athlete of Canada's Athletes of the 20th Century list compiled in 1999, trailing only Ferguson Jenkins among baseball players.

Larry Walker led the club with 10 outfield assists, eight from right field and two from left field.

Larry Walker ended the season as Canada's all-time leader in hits, doubles, home runs, RBI, and runs scored in the major leagues.

Prior the 2001 season, Larry Walker committed to a new fitness regimen, including enlisting a personal trainer.

Larry Walker displayed restored health in his right arm on Opening Day, throwing out Fernando Vina of the Cardinals at home plate .

Larry Walker was selected to play in the 2001 All-Star Game, starting as the designated hitter and batting fifth.

Larry Walker did not reach his personal goal of 150 games, but did play in 142 and managed 601 plate appearances, his highest totals since 1997.

Larry Walker became the first player since Paul O'Neill in April and May of 1994 to hit at least.

Larry Walker won his seventh Gold Glove Award and was 20th in the MVP voting.

In spite of all the injuries, Larry Walker never missed more than three consecutive games and made 143 appearances.

Larry Walker was fifth in the NL in OBP, sixth in IBB, eighth in BB, and ninth in HBP .

Larry Walker totaled four hits and five RBI on the day, and it was his third career three-home run game.

Larry Walker hit behind a speedy Tony Womack and in front of the 3-4-5 hitters of Jim Edmonds, Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen, who combined for 122 home runs and 358 RBI that year.

Larry Walker drew a walk from Mike Stanton in the ninth inning and scored the game-winning run on a Yadier Molina single.

Larry Walker appeared in 44 games for the Cardinal powerhouse that won a major league-best 105 games, batting.

Larry Walker made his playoff debut with the Cardinals in Game 1 of the NLDS versus the Dodgers, homering twice and scoring four runs in an 8-3 Cardinals win.

Larry Walker became the first Cardinal with a multi-home run game in LDS play.

Larry Walker contributed to the 2005 NL Central division champions, winners of 100 games.

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Larry Walker doubled in the sixth inning in elimination Game 6 versus Roy Oswalt for his final major league hit, but struck out in the ninth inning versus Dan Wheeler, his final at bat.

Larry Walker ended his career 50th on Major League Baseball's all-time home run list with 383.

Larry Walker produced 420 runs above average in batting, or batting runs, 94 fielding runs, 40 baserunning runs, and 10 runs above average avoiding grounding into double plays .

Larry Walker observed that, in addition to his obvious athletic gifts, Walker approaches the game very cerebrally and is always thinking ahead, unearthing a wide array of advantages that he applied to the game.

On defense, Larry Walker combined uncanny awareness and competence with the aplomb of an expert actor.

Larry Walker understood how to read the path and angle of the ball and anticipate how it would ricochet off the wall.

Larry Walker was that unreachable dream for kids who let you know it was reachable, that a Canadian could go do it.

Larry Walker was offered a full-time position but chose to remain in his part-time position.

Since 2009, Larry Walker has served as a hitting coach and first base coach for the Canadian national team.

Larry Walker reprised his coaching role at the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto.

Larry Walker became eligible for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011.

Three of the next four after Larry Walker, including Gwynn, have been elected to the Hall of Fame.

John Brattain noted for Baseball Prospectus in 2002 that Larry Walker had "Hall of Fame talent" and named him "among the elite National League outfielders, Coors Field or not, " but without Hall of Fame credentials, due to a lack of longevity from injury.

Larry Walker plays in a great hitter's park, and I think it's unfortunate that some of their players don't get the credit they deserve because of that.

Larry Walker became only the second Canadian elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame after Ferguson Jenkins was elected in 1991.

Larry Walker is the first Hall of Fame player to wear a Rockies cap on his plaque.

Larry Walker created a sensation by wearing a NASCAR-style SpongeBob SquarePants shirt during the video interviews to commemorate the announcement of his election, citing that he was not optimistic he would be elected to the Hall of Fame.

The SpongeBob shirt that Larry Walker wore on the day he was elected was itself put in the Hall of Fame as part of an exhibit in 2021.

Per Baseball-Reference's advanced metrics, Larry Walker produced 420 runs above average in batting, or batting runs, 94 fielding runs, and 40 base-running runs .

Larry Walker is one of twenty players to win at least three batting titles.

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Remarkably, Larry Walker maintained superior longevity in right field in spite of persistent injuries over the course of his career.

Over his general peak seasons covering 1992-2002, Larry Walker ranked sixth among all MLB position players in WAR with 53.

Larry Walker is the Rockies' single-season record holder for numerous categories, many of them set during his MVP season of 1997.

Since Larry Walker won the MVP Award in 1997, Justin Morneau and Joey Votto became the second and third Canadians win the MVP award of MLB.

Larry Walker is married and has three daughters, including one from a previous marriage.

Donor to the Rockies Youth Field of Dreams program, Larry Walker opened five facilities in Colorado - Aurora, Denver, Fort Collins, Northglenn and Thornton.