Hall of Fame: The Case For Larry Walker
Larry Walker has an interesting case to make the Hall of Fame. Will he get in?
With the announcement of the 2017 National Baseball Hall of Fame inductees coming in the next few weeks, there is one player who gets lost in the shuffle of the polarizing names on the ballot. Larry Walker, the former All Star outfielder and National League MVP, has not garnered the same publicity of some other candidates on the ballot. That does not mean he is not worthy of consideration from voters. Here is his case for enshrinement with the rest of baseball’s all-time elite.
He was productive throughout his career on offense and defense
Walker played 17 season in the majors with the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals. Throughout his career, he was quite productive in all aspects at the plate and in the field. He was a career .313 hitter, with stellar power numbers of 383 home runs and 1,311 runs batted in. He was a seven-time Gold Glove Award winner for his accomplishments in the field.
His resume also includes five All Star appearances, three batting titles, three Silver Slugger awards, a .987 career fielding percentage, and he batted over .350 in four seasons. He owns the 77th best career batting average, putting him ahead of Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and George Brett.
His 72.6 career Wins Above Replacement is 56th all time and better than Hall of Famers who played in the same era, such as Roberto Alomar, Craig Biggio, Tony Gwynn and Barry Larkin. Comparing him to Hall of Fame hopefuls on this year’s ballot, he is sixth best in WAR, only being beaten out by Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling and Jeff Bagwell. All of those players are worthy of the Hall of Fame, as is Walker.
At the height of his career, his bat couldn’t be stopped. From 1997 to 2002, Walker had a .353 batting average, 182 home runs, and 590 runs batted in. One season in that time span, the 2000 season, Walker only played 87 games. His production is still incredible in that span, even with him missing half a season in the middle of it.
He helped grow the game in Canada
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Walker is from a place where baseball takes a backseat, in Canada. He is the greatest player to come from the country north of the United States, besides Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins, and helped pave the way for Canadians such has Joey Votto, Justin Morneau and Russell Martin. With how prevalent hockey is in Canada, Walker was someone to look up to in the game of baseball.
He started his career with the Montreal Expos and was a part of their best season in franchise history, the strike shortened 1994 campaign. That season the Expos were expected to make a serious World Series run, but the the strike ended the season prematurely. In his time with Montreal, Walker was an all star, a two-time Gold Glover and won a Silver Slugger. Canada has noticed, enshrining him in both the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame and Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
He hold his own on the ballot
Hall of Fame voters can vote for up to ten players on their ballots each year. He is top 10 among 2017 candidates in every statistical category for hitters except games, at bats, hits, and walks. His Jaffe Wins Above Replacement (a statistic to see how worthy someone is of making the Hall of Fame) is ten points higher than the average for a right fielder. Being top ten in every statistical category for a hitter is a sign he is top ten on the ballot. He should get recognition as such.
If you want to stack him up against pitchers, he has the 6th best WAR of anyone on the ballot, has a score of 58 on Bill James’ Hall of Fame Standards scale that measures from 0-100, with 50 being an average Hall of Famer. In another Bill James Hall of Fame measurement, Hall of Fame Monitor, he has a score of 148. A score of 100 indicates a player is more than likely to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Walker was a five tool player, and just because he played at Coors Field should not hurt his chances. In fact, he hit just as well on the road and was one of the best hitters when hitting away from home.
Voters need to recognize his on-field accomplishments
Larry Walker is Hall of Fame material. His production goes beyond just normal stats like batting average and home runs. He does make a case on offense, though, as his stats have shown Hall of Fame worthiness. Statistics determining his value to his team and how worthy of enshrinement a player is are in Walker’s favor and that should not be taken lightly.
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While he has never gotten even close to the needed 75% to get inducted (his best was 22.9% in 2012) and he probably won’t get in this year, that doesn’t mean he isn’t a Hall of Fame talent. It is time for Hall of Fame voters to recognize his accomplishments. He has credentials, he just needs the help of the voters.