Can Larry Walker Get Any Momentum For Hall Of Fame Votes?

Former Colorado Rockies’ outfielder and league MVP Larry Walker is on the Hall of Fame ballot, but will he be able to generate any momentum for his case for Cooperstown in 2015?

Loaded. The word to describe professional sports owners, delicious baked potatoes, and the 2015 Hall of Fame ballot.

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Loaded. That is the word you hear most frequently to describe a ballot that includes first-ballot sure things like Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson to go along with a long list of players who are certainly deserving.

Hall of Fame voters are tasked with a difficult decision as they try to narrow their ballot down to 10 choices. That does not bode well for fringe candidates like our man Larry Walker.

Before you even get to the Coors Field conversation, Walker’s lack of longevity posed a problem for his case for the Hall. When he was great, he was Hall of Fame great, playing every aspect of baseball as well as anybody in all of baseball. For the Rockies, Walker was their better power hitter, their best hitter for average, their best defender, had the strongest arm, and was the best base runner when he was right.

Injuries prevented Walker from sustaining that success. If he had enjoyed better injury luck, he could have put more pressure on voters to justify the Coors Field penalty. Voters have more arguments than just the altitude to leave Walker off their ballots.

For his part, Walker believes that the anit-Coors Field bias hurts him. John Schlegel of MLB.com passes along these quotes from Walker this past March:

"“I played in the big leagues for 17 years, and almost 10 of them were in a Rockies uniform,” Walker said while visiting Rockies camp last March. “I feel like I’m getting penalized for that, and in my eyes, I played in the big leagues. The Colorado Rockies are a Major League team, and I’m content with that. Staying on the ballot all 15 years is a success. Obviously, I’d rather be in. But I have no qualms about it.“There are some things that I did that other players didn’t do, and they’re getting more votes than me. I played defense and won games with my arm and my legs. I brought a lot more to the table than some guys that got more votes than me.”"

Couldn’t have said it better myself, Larry. Unfortunately the lack of votes this year will be for a combination of reasons. The loaded ballot, his lack of sustained greatness over a number of seasons, and yes, Coors Field will all contribute to what promises to be a poor showing on the ballot for Larry Walker.

I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t think this is the year Walker generates momentum for his Hall of Fame case. Hopefully he gets enough to continue his goal of staying on the ballot.

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