A Very Coors-y Christmas: Presents, Stocking Stuffers and Coal

The Rockies and Walker’s Hall of Fame Bid: Present

It’s Walker’s 10th year on the ballot. He needs a big push to get over the 75% hump and things are projecting positively for him so far.

As of this writing, 32 ballots have been publicly submitted and tracked by Ryan Thibodaux and his Hall of Fame Tracker Team and Walker is on 81.25% of the ballots. Last year at this time Walker was on 68.8% of ballots, so that near 13% increase early on is going to be beneficial to him.

And other writers are starting to take notice. Maybe it’s because it’s Walker’s 10th and final year on the ballot and they’re starting to recognize how great of a player he actually was. A giant shift in understanding and accepting sabermetrics has certainly led to many realizing that even by Park

Adjusted numbers Walker is an above average Hall of Fame right fielder.

You’ve already seen my flawless case for Walker (which caused no uproars whatsoever and people took the comparisons completely level-headed). He’s got the 4th highest bWAR of any player on this year’s ballot and that’s been pushed consistently. He’s changing the opinions of 45% of BBWAA voters so far and flipping them from excluding them on their previous ballots to including them this year. Per Tangotiger on Twitter, that 45% is the exact percentage of votes he needs to flip to be elected this year.

This year is his best shot. The stars are aligning and those who were previously bearish on his career are starting to see the light (a light that shows only a third of his total plate appearances took place at Coors Field, to be frank). This has to be the year and this will be the year.