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Colorado Rockies: The Hall of Fame case for Larry Walker

By Noah Yingling

DENVER - JULY 9: Right fielder Larry Walker #33 of the Colorado Rockies hits a two-run double against the San Francisco Giants during the MLB game at Coors Field on July 9, 2003 in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies won 11-7. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images)
DENVER - JULY 9: Right fielder Larry Walker #33 of the Colorado Rockies hits a two-run double against the San Francisco Giants during the MLB game at Coors Field on July 9, 2003 in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies won 11-7. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /
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Larry Walker of the Colorado Rockies
DENVER – APRIL 5: Right fielder Larry Walker #33 of the Colorado Rockies runs to first base during the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field on April 5, 2003 in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies defeated the Diamondbacks 4-3. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

He spent 10 of his 17 career with the Rockies so not all of his road games were out of Denver (as it is with the case of Todd Helton) so we will just compare Walker’s stats at Coors Field compared to everywhere else.

In 597 games at Coors Field, Walker hit .381/.462/.710 with 154 home runs and 521 RBI. The most important stat is his tOPS+, which compares his numbers compared to his career numbers. His tOPS+ at 141, which means he was 41 percent better at Coors Field than his career averages. Overall, on the road for his career, he was 20 percent worse than his career average by tOPS+.

But neither of them really means much because he put up other worldly numbers at Coors Field.

In looking at Walker’s career with the Rockies from 1995 through 2003 (I excluded 2004 because he only played 38 games with the Rockies before being traded to St. Louis), he still posted great road numbers. Between those seasons, his average road OPS was .8608 (compared to 1.185 at Coors Field).

If that number at Coors Field was his career average, that would be the best OPS in the history of baseball (Babe Ruth is #1 and his career is 1.164). The road split for OPS would still have him in decent company but nowhere near as high. That number would be 133rd all-time, between Norm Cash, Darryl Strawberry, and Jesse Burkett (who’s a Hall of Famer) above him and Kevin Youkilis, Nelson Cruz, and Roy Campanella (Hall of Famer) just below him.

It should be noted, though, that for his full career, his OPS was .9654, which is 15th best all-time. The five players directly above are Mark McGwire, Mickey Mantle (HOF), Joe DiMaggio (HOF), Stan Musial (HOF), and Frank Thomas (HOF). The five directly below are Johnny Mize (HOF), Joey Votto (still playing), Jim Thome (HOF), Todd Helton (on the ballot, as you well know), and Jeff Bagwell (HOF).

He also stole 230 bases in his career, which is an average of 19 per 162 games.

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