Larry Walker for President
Jan 21st is a very big day this year. For those who don’t know what is on January 21st, that is the day that the MLB will announce who will be in the Baseball Hall Of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. There are many players that you can vote for, such as Edgar Martinez, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Curt Schilling, Manny Ramirez, Sammy Sosa, and more. But the one name that rises above them all, is Larry Walker. The public says it. History says it. Science says it. I say it. And after you finish this article, you’ll say it too.
1: The Canadian Clubber
Larry Walker is an absolute hitting machine. According to FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference, Larry Walker’s career stats go as follows: .313 BA, 383 HR, 2160 H, 1311 RBI, .400 OBP, .965 OPS, 565 SLG, and 141 OPS+. He also participated in 3 home run derbies, was in 5 All-Star Games, won 3 Silver Sluggers, and led the 1997 season in home runs. I also compared Larry Walker to one of the greatest baseball players ever, Ken Griffey Jr. Walker beats Griffey in the following: Batting Average, On Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, On-base plus slugging, and On-base plus slugging plus. Now you’re probably thinking, “Well, he also played at Coors Field, which has a huge outfield. I say two things: first, he only played 30% of his career games at Coors Field. Secondly if you take a look at his road stats, they are just as good as his home stats. Some of them are also better than some of Griffey’s road stats.
2: Crazy good defender
Walker was also a very good defender. Both FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference state that he won 7 career Gold Gloves. He also posted a 3.5 DEF, has roughly a 7 DRS, and never in his career had a fielding percentage below .973. If we compare Ken Griffey Jr’s again, his lowest fielding percentage was .967.
3: The Complete Package
The Canadian Clubber also was a prolific base stealer. He averaged roughly 15-20 stolen bases a year. His best season when it came to stolen bases came in 1997 when he had 33. 1997 was also the year he won MVP. Wanna take a guess at who won the American League MVP? Ken Griffey Jr, conveniently enough.
