Baseball profile - Larry Kenneth Robert Walker - Brief Article

Baseball Digest, July, 2002 by Rick Sorci

LARY WALKER

COLORADO ROCKIES

FULL NAME: Larry Kenneth Robert Walker

AGE, HT., WT.: 35, 6-3, 245

Born: December 1, 1966

HOME: Evergreen, Colorado

STATUS/FAMILY: Married with three daughters

Nickname: Booger

BASEBALL BACKGROUND: Signed as non-drafted free agent the Montreal Expos on November 14, 1984. Signed by the Colorado Rockies as a free agent on April 8, 1995. Won N.L. batting title in 1998, 1999, 2001. Led N.L. in homers in 1997. Won Gold Glove in 1992, 1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2001. N.L. Most Valuable Player in 1997

LIFE OUTSIDE BASEBALL: Usually it's family-oriented stuff. I like going to hockey games.

SPORTS HERO WHEN I WAS YOUNG: Mike Bossy (Hall of Fame hockey player who played for New York Islanders)

PEOPLE WHO INFLUENCED ME THE MOST: Besides my parents, teammates and coaches I've had coming up through the minor league ranks

PLAYERS, PAST AND PRESENT, I'D PAY TO WATCH PLAY: Roberto Clemente and Mark McGwire.

BEST ADVICE ANYONE EVER GAVE ME: Never give up. I heard that somewhere along the line.

HOBBIES: Fishing

TYPE OF CAR: Chevy Silverado

FAVORITE ACTOR: Ray Liotta

FAVORITE MOVIE: Sixth Sense

FAVORITE TV SHOW: Everybody Loves Raymond

FAVORITE FOOD: Sushi

FAVORITE BALLPARK: Coors Field for hitting and Wrigley Field for the history of it.

FAVORITE PROFESSIONAL SPORTS TEAM OUTSIDE OF BASEBALL: It's a tie between the Colorado Avalanche and the Vancouver Canucks

TRUEST SIGN OF SUCCESS: Probably when you're the guy that teammates come up to and ask, "How do you do this?" or "How did you do that?"

CHARACTERISTIC I ADMIRE MOST IN A PERSON: Honesty seems to be the correct thing to say. When I think of all the work I have done at my house, I look for honesty. You can never find it in the construction world.

BEST TIME OF MY LIFE/WHY? The most exciting and most amazing miracle was watching the birth of my three daughters. Watching something that I made come into this world is amazing.

PLAYER I LEARNED THE MOST FROM: Tim Wallach when I was in Montreal.

IF I COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT BASEBALL IT WOULD BE: There's many things you could change about baseball. Everybody wants to speed the game up. But if I could change one thing, I'd move the fences in at all the ballparks.

IF NOT A BASEBALL PLAYER I WOULD HAVE BEEN: A hockey player.

THE MOST IMPORTANT ATTRIBUTE A BASEBALL PLAYER NEEDS: TO be able to go 0-for-4 a couple of games in a row and not fall in a hole. You have to realize it's a long season and there's time to make it up.

MY MOST MEMORABLE GAME: YOU don't ever forget your first game in the big leagues. I got a hit off Giants' Mike LaCoss and walked three times. I walked over to first base after my third walk and Will Clark says to me, "It's your first game in the big leagues and they're pitching you like you're Babe Ruth."

MY MOST EMBARRASSING BASEBALL EXPERIENCE: It was probably in 1994 during the ESPN Sunday Night Game of the Week in Los Angeles. A ball was hit to me with one out. I thought there were two outs. I caught the ball and handed it to some kid in the stands, not realizing it was only the second out of the inning. There was a runner on first base, and he started running after I gave the fan the ball--I reached in and took the ball away from the kid and threw it into the infield. But the umpires awarded the runner two bases since the ball was out of play when I handed it to the fan.

LARRY WALKER'S MAJOR LEAGUE BATTING STATISTICS

Regular Season
Year   Team                 G     AB       H     2B   3B   HR

1989   Montreal Expos      20     47       8      0    0    0
1990   Montreal Expos     133    419     101     18    3   19
1991   Montreal Expos     137    487     141     30    2   16
1992   Montreal Expos     143    528     159     31    4   23
1993   Montreal Expos     138    490     130     24    5   22
1994   Montreal Expos     103    395     127     44    2   19
1995   Colorado Rockies   131    494     151     31    5   36
1996   Colorado Rockies    83    272      75     18    4   18
1997   Colorado Rockies   153    568     208     46    4   49
1998   Colorado Rockies   130    454     165     46    3   23
1999   Colorado Rockies   127    438     166     26    4   37
2000   Colorado Rockies    87    314      97     21    7    9
2001   Colorado Rockies   142    497     174     35    3   38

Regular Season
Year   Team                 R    RBI      BA     BB   SB

1989   Montreal Expos       4      4    .170      5    1
1990   Montreal Expos      59     51    .241     49   21
1991   Montreal Expos      59     64    .290     42   14
1992   Montreal Expos      85     93    .301     41   18
1993   Montreal Expos      85     86    .265     80   29
1994   Montreal Expos      76     86    .322     47   15
1995   Colorado Rockies    96    101    .306     49   16
1996   Colorado Rockies    58     58    .276     20   18
1997   Colorado Rockies   143    130    .366     78   33
1998   Colorado Rockies   113     67    .363     64   14
1999   Colorado Rockies   108    115    .379     57   11
2000   Colorado Rockies    64     51    .309     46    5
2001   Colorado Rockies   107    123    .350     82   14

Boldface type indicates league leader

Also led N.L. in total bases in 1997 (409); in On-base percentage in
1997 (.455) and 1999 (.464)

Division Series
Year   Team                G     AB      H      2B    3B   HR

1995   Colorado Rockies    4     14      3       0     0    1

Division Series
Year   Team                R     RBI      BA     BB    SB

1995   Colorado Rockies    3       3    .214      3     1

All-Star Game
Year   Team                       AB     H     2B   3B   HR

1992   National League             1     1      0    0    0
1997   National League             1     0      0    0    0
1998   National League             1     0      0    0    0
1999   National League             2     0      0    0    0
2001   National League             2     0      0    0    0

All-Star Game
Year   Team                        R     RBI      BA   BB   SB

1992   National League             0       0   1.000    0    0
1997   National League             0       0    .000    1    0
1998   National League             1       0    .000    1    0
1999   National League             0       0    .000    0    0
2001   National League             0       0    .000    0    0
PLAYERS WITH MOST CAREER LEAGUE BATTING TITLES, SINCE 1900

Player           Titles   Years

Ty Cobb            12     1907-1915, 1917-19
Honus Wagner        8     1900, 1903-04, 1906-09, 1911
Tony Gwynn          8     1984, 1987-89, 1994-97
Rogers Hornsby      7     1920-25, 1928
Stan Musial         7     1943, 1946, 1948, 1950-52, 1957
Rod Carew           7     1969, 1972-75, 1977-78
Ted Williams        6     1941-42, 1947-48, 1957-58
Wade Boggs          5     1983, 1985-88
Harry Heilmann      4     1921, 1923, 1925, 1927
Roberto Clemente    4     1961, 1964-65, 1967
Bill Madlock        4     1975-76, 1981, 1983
Nap Lajoie          3     1901, 1903-04
Paul Waner          3     1927, 1934, 1936
Carl Yastrzemski    3     1963, 1967, 1968
Tony Oliva          3     1964, 1965, 1971
Pete Rose           3     1968-69, 1973
George Brett        3     1976, 1980, 1990
Larry Walker        3     1998-99, 2001