Derek Jeter may be the most popular name on a global scale to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York this week. However, from a Canadian perspective, Larry Walker has simply made national sports headlines. Here are five fascinating statistics about outfielder Larry Walker of Maple Ridge, British Columbia.
5) Walker becomes second Canadian inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame–The first was Ferguson Jenkins of Chatham, Ontario. The three-time all-star won the 1971 Cy Young Award with the Chicago Cubs. A remarkable right handed pitcher who also starred for the Texas Rangers, Jenkins was inducted into Cooperstown in 1991.
4) Walker was cut in the Western Hockey League–Walker almost did not play professional baseball. That is because his first love and passion was ice hockey, where he was a goaltender. It was only after he was cut by the Regina Pats of the WHL, that he took baseball seriously.
3) Walker has won the Tip O’Neill Award nine times–Walker has the record for being the best Canadian player in Major League Baseball on an annual basis nine times. He won in 1987, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2001 and 2002. The first four times came with the Montreal Expos and the last five times came with the Colorado Rockies. Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto of Toronto, Ontario is second on the list with seven.
2) Walker’s great OPS–Walker’s on base plus slugging percentage (.965) is the 15th best in Major League Baseball history. The MLB all-time leader is Babe Ruth, who was at 1.16.
1)Machine over Man–In a controversial decision, Walker was not the Lou Marsh Award winner for the top Canadian athlete of the year in 1997 despite being the National League Most Valuable Player Award winner. The winner went to Jacques Villeneuve of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, who won the Formula One championship that year. Walker did win the Lou Marsh Award in 1998 after leading Major League Baseball in batting average with the Colorado Rockies at .363, but the 1997 decision led to a popular Canadian sports documentary titled “Man vs. Machine”.
