Colorado Rockies: The Hall of Fame case for Larry Walker

15 Apr 1999: Larry Walker #33 of the Colorado Rockies swings at the ball during the game against the San Diego Padres at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies defeated the Padres 6-4.

The biggest knock against Walker is that he was injury prone…and it is a valid argument. In the 17 seasons he spent in the majors, he only played more than 150 games once (1997) and he only played between 140 and 150 games in a season three other times (1992, 2001, and 2003).

Be that as it may, offensively, he still posted five 25 home run, 100+ RBI seasons plus another season with 93 RBI and two more seasons with 23 home runs. He also posted an OPS+ of 141 for his career and six seasons with an OPS+ of 150 or above (minimum of 100 games played per season).

If you’re looking for “bold-faced type,” (aka league leading categories), he led the league in doubles once with 44 (1994), homers once with 49 (1997), he led the NL in batting average three times (1998-99, 2001), on-base percentage twice (1997, 1999), slugging percentage twice (’97 and ’99), OPS twice (’97, ’99), and total bases once (’97).

Looking at his accolades, he was a 7x winner of the NL Gold Glove Award, a 5x All-Star, 3x Silver Slugger Award winner, and a 3x winner of the NL batting title. He also won the NL MVP award in 1997. He also ranked in MVP voting 8 times.

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