When St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina flew out to right field for the final out of the National League Championship Series, it marked the final game for Larry Kenneth Robert Walker.
The date was October 19, 2005.
Walker waited the requisite five years after his retirement from baseball before reaching the 2011 Hall of Fame ballot. He waited another nine before members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America elected him with 75% of the vote in January of 2020. And he waited one more year – with another six-and-a-half weeks beyond that, for good measure – due to the postponement of the 2020 ceremony because of the ongoing pandemic.
The wait is finally over.
On Wednesday, Walker will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame with Derek Jeter, Ted Simmons and Marvin Miller. Broadcast live on MLB Network, available via live stream on MLB.com and heard on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM starting at 11:30am MST, the rest of the baseball world will know what Rockies fans have known for decades.
Larry Walker is a Hall of Famer.
“They don’t come any better than Larry,” shared interim President of the Baseball Hall of Fame Jeff Idelson. “This is a guy who could hit with the best of them. The multiple batting titles, the home runs. But there’s also nobody that’s got the character, integrity and sportsmanship that he does, which are all hallmarks of Hall of Fame caliber players.”
After nearly two decades in MLB, Walker’s resume is full of accomplishments: seven Gold Glove Awards, five All-Star Games, three Silver Slugger Awards, three NL batting titles and the 1997 NL MVP Award. His .565 career slugging percentage ranks 12th all-time and a career OPS of .965 is 15th all-time. He’s just one of four retired players in history – along with Hank Aaron, George Brett and Willie Mays – with at least a .300 batting average, 300 home runs and 200 stolen bases.
And despite being only the second Canadian-born player to be elected to the Hall of Fame after establishing himself as a big leaguer with the Montreál Expos, Walker chose the Rockies logo to adorn the cap on his plaque.
The induction ceremony on the grounds of the Clark Sports Center brings a return to normalcy after the cancellation of the 2020 festivities.
“It’ll be big for the fans that are able to make this a public outdoor event now that the state has lifted all the restrictions and make it a true celebration for our four inductees,” Idelson said about Wednesday’s event. “It’s a big boost for the community to see tourism come back and to bring these baseball fans back and have the opportunity to experience all that Cooperstown has to offer.”
Empire State fans will be clamoring for the induction of Jeter, a player who provided fans of the New York Yankees with countless memories and five World Series Championships. His wait was more of a formality and came just one vote shy of 100%.
At the end of the day, his plaque will be in the same marbled hall beside Walker’s and steps away from the likes of Ruth, Mays and Paige.
For those unable to make the pilgrimage to upstate New York, a ticket to the September 25 contest against the San Francisco Giants will do just fine. As part of the No.33 retirement ceremony at Coors Field before the game, fans will have a rare opportunity to view Walker’s plaque in person.
The man in charge of the game’s greatest relics and it’s most hallowed spirits is ready for fans to return to 25 Main Street in Cooperstown.
“Now we can finally celebrate,” Idelson said, speaking of the entire baseball-loving world. “It’s going to be a madhouse in Cooperstown.”
