Healthy cuisine helps Walker put bite back in his game

Sporting News, The, May 21, 2001 by Ken Rosenthal

His name is Patrice Boudou. You've never heard of him, but by this time next year, he could be the hottest free agent in major league baseball. Boudou, 30, is Larry Walker's personal chef. His contract expires next April.

And if Walker continues his early pace, Boudou might not just become a household name but also a household necessity for every comeback-minded slugger.

A personal chef, a personal trainer, a highly regimented offseason conditioning program--Walker, 34, did everything possible to recover from right elbow surgery and get his oft-injured body into shape to play in 150 or more games.

The last time Walker, the Rockies' right fielder, appeared in that many, he batted .366 with 49 homers and 130 RBIs and was chosen the 1997 National League MVP.

Walker says he'll never be that healthy again and that his arm still bothers him. Still, the 2001 Walker has been doing a pretty fair imitation of the '97 version.

Our compliments to a two-time batting champion who rededicated himself to the sport in the second year of a six-year, $75 million contract.

Our compliments to the chef.

Boudou, who's from Bordeaux, France, had never heard of Walker before he began cooking for him last winter. But, suddenly, he's talking like a free agent, saying, "I'm looking to take my career to another level," while maintaining that he's "proud" to work for Walker.

How long before agent Scott Boras raids the cooking world, produces a 75-page tome entitled Patrice Boudou: Historical Perspective and invites players to sample the chef's ovenbaked pork chop stuffed with goat cheese and rosemary?

Boras can start by quoting Walker, who was so impressed by Boudou's offseason work that he hired him fulltime and invited him to move into his guest house in Evergreen, Colo.

"Mondays, he'd turn in a schedule of what we were getting," Walker says. "We'd pick up the menu and go, `Look what we've having for lunch Wednesday! Can't wait!'"

Walker says that his wife, Angela, loves having someone else to cook, especially now that she is pregnant with their second child. Heck, who wouldn't want Boudou in their kitchen five days a week?

Consider one of Boudou's daily menus from the offseason:

Breakfast: Oatmeal pancakes, turkey bacon, cantaloupe.

Lunch: Green salad with vinaigrette; fresh angel hair pasta with grilled paprika chicken; baby vegetables medley in cilantro-tomato broth.

Dinner: Mix of lettuces with carrot and radish, light Italian dressing; lemon pepper pan-seared salmon steak with brown rice and braised cabbage with sprout and curry.

Babe Ruth might have hit 1,000 homers feasting on such fare rather than his daily supply of hot dogs.

Walker could snack: a fruit smoothie, a nutrition bar, a glass of orange juice. He even ate dessert, everything from fresh blueberry pie to chocolate marble cheesecake with raspberry coulis.

Yet, Walker, who's 6-3 and weighs 233, reduced his body fat from 17-18 percent to 11-12 percent by sticking to Boudou's menus and working out daily with strength and speed specialist Rick Lademan.

Put me in, chef; I'm ready to play....

"Being French, being around food all my life, having a different lifestyle than people in the U.S., I don't believe in diets," Boudou says. "Diets are something that only exist here, where it's a billion-dollar industry.

"I don't cook Larry low-fat yogurt and bananas for breakfast. I like to use fresh fruit and waffles and whatever he needs. The key is eating healthy and the right amounts at the right times."

Or, as Walker says, "I ate normal food, but it was just all cooked different. I didn't eat anything fried all winter."

He didn't relent in his workouts, either. "You looked at him," Lademan says, "and you knew he was ready to go."

Lademan designed Walker's program specifically to enhance his baseball skills. The difference in Walker was evident from the start of spring training.

"We have these drills called `runners,' where the outfielders get caught in a rundown," Rockies coach Rich Donnelly says. "Last year, (Walker) couldn't participate (coming off knee surgery). This year, he not only participated, they couldn't tag him out."

Boudou cooked for Walker all spring in Tucson, Ariz. During the season, he feeds Walker a substantial lunch before night games, a hearty dinner after day games. But he does not accompany Walker on the road.

"I was in a lot better shape before camp started. It has been downhill since," Walker says. "The toughest part is on the road after games. You see the stuff we've got to eat (in the clubhouse). And you've got to eat it at 10:30 at night, not the best time."

Boudou frets that Walker is cheating on the road, but cooking, too, is a game of adjustments. Boudou tries to compensate for any of Walker's culinary indiscretions once the Rockies return home.

It's only May, but Walker is again a five-tool terror, and he's lifting weights after games regularly for the first time. Rockies G.M. Dan O'Dowd and manager Buddy Bell rarely saw him healthy after they joined the club last season. Now, O'Dowd calls Walker "a joy to watch." Bell calls him "the best player I've ever seen."