January 6, 2020

By Danny Gallagher

Canadian Baseball Network

Larry Walker went 1-for-1 in his big-league debut with the Expos Aug. 16, 1989 and went on to hit a very impressive .313 over the course of his fine career.

He collected 2,160 hits, hit 383 homers, drove in 1,311 runs, played outstanding defence, won seven Gold Glove awards and was a five-tool player. He threw out several runners at first base from his right-field post, taking singles away from them.

Walker is close to being elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. in what is shaping up to be a close call in this his 10th and final time on this ballot. I'm actually concerned about what will happen Jan. 21 when Hall of Fame president Tim Mead makes the announcement of who will be inducted this year along with Derek Jeter on the regular-ballot system administered by the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Walker is trending beautifully in many ways in the early public votes being tabulated by tracker Ryan Thibodeau of Oakland, Calif., whose Twitter handle is notmrtibbs, but in the end, it may not go Walker's way. So far, only about 30% of eligible voters have made their ballots public and in the end, about 50 percent of the voters will likely make their ballots public.

That leaves as many as 50 percent will not make their ballot known. And some of those 50% may be hardliners, who may not like Walker enough that he will attain the 75% vote needed to get a plaque on Main St. in Cooperstown.

Discouraging so far have been the number of voters who have selected only Jeter on their ballots. And there are some who only checked off the names of three or four candidates. Just this morning, Jan. 6, highly regarded MLB scoop insider Jon Heyman made his ballot known and he didn't check off Walker. Not good.

There are a number of voters on the fence about Walker because they look down at his mile-high offensive figures fashioned in the Mile High thin air of Denver. There are some voters who are looking at the fact Walker only played more than 143 games per season on one occasion. The skeptics also look down at his lifetime hit total.

But what is a positive note is that many voters are seriously looking at Walker's outstanding WAR figures and the input of analytics. Some who didn't vote for Walker in the past are voting for him this time. But are there enough to get him to the 75% plateau? Wouldn't it be a bummer if Walker got so close with only 74%?

Hanging in the balance with two weeks to go before Mead's announcement is the Canadian fan base of Expos voters and even U.S. residents who love Walker and may go to the induction ceremony. Will Exposfest founder Perry Giannias set up an autograph table in Cooperstown if Walker isn't elected? Not likely. But he will be there if Walker is elected. Ditto for the Expos Nation group. Like he has done sometimes in the past, Expos Nation organizer Matthew Ross will likely arrange for a bus or two to bring fans to Cooperstown, if Walker gets his plaque. But he won't, if Walker doesn't reach the 75% plateau.

If Walker is elected, it would mean thousands of Canadians will make the trek to Cooperstown.

And me? I intend to be in Cooperstown if Walker is elected, not just to see him inducted but to promote my upcoming Expos book Always Remembered. If Walker doesn't make it, I will see. I might still go.

If Walker doesn't get elected Jan. 21, the next chance for him would be through a veterans committee in late 2021 with induction in 2022.