It seems that often today sports news, at least at the professional level, is about bad things, or at the very least disappointing ones.
We have the disappointment of Kawhi Leonard taking his NBA championship ring and leaving TO for California climates and the scandal ripping through baseball regarding the stealing of pitcher signs as recent examples.
It’s no wonder I like off-the-beaten-path sports more and more, since big money isn’t quite the lure to get into shady areas to succeed for the money.
But, it’s hard to divest one’s long-held interest in the big sports, so when there is some good news around one of them it is time to truly celebrate as basketball fans did last spring with the Raptor championship, and as they should be now with the announcement Canadian baseball player Larry Walker is headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Walker had a great career, one that included a career batting average of .313, to go along with 383 home runs, 1311 RBIs, and 230 steals.
Some will note Walker’s home run totals may have been aided by the thin air of Colorado, but his on-road numbers were actually better in his time with the Rockies.
An NL MVP in 1997, five all-stars appearances, seven gold gloves and three Silver Slugger awards also speak to a highly successful career on both sides of the playing field.
When you look at the numbers the question that should be asked is why it took until Walker’s final year of voting eligibility to sneak into the HoF by the narrowest of margins?
No doubt he would have been aided by spending time in bigger markets. Derek Jeter, as an example, was also voted into the hall of fame this year, but in his first year on the ballot, and only one vote short of it being unanimous. There is no doubt his perceived greatness as a player was aided by a career with the New York Yankees. Had Jeter toiled with say San Diego, he would not have come so close to a unanimous selection.
Like many things, common sense, often eludes baseball HoF voters.
But, while last ditch, and by the proverbial skin of their teeth, voters at least got it right in the end with Walker. He was as an active player, and remains so years after retirement, the second best player to ever come out of this country, bettered only by the great pitcher Ferguson Jenkins. When it comes to position players, Walker sits alone in Canadian baseball.
Locally, we may look fondly to outfielder Terry Puhl, and catcher Russell Martin has had a fine career, but Walker is HoF material, and that has finally been recognized, and as Canadian baseball fans we should be both pleased and proud.
