Jim Leyland Calls Larry Walker Best Player He's Ever Seen Despite Managing Barry Bonds

To say that we will be on the edge of our seats to see if Larry Walker will be inducted into baseball's 2020 Hall of Fame class would be a massive understatement.

After all, it will stand as Walker's 10th and final inclusion on the ballot. To think that his name has yet to be called is nothing short of a travesty when you consider that he has the backing of virtually everybody BUT the voters.

Well, Walker's former Rockies manager, Jim Leyland, recently gave him a monstrous vote of confidence, claiming that Walker was the best player he's ever laid eyes on as an MLB skipper.

To put that acclaim into perspective, Leyland served as Barry Bonds' manager in Pittsburgh for SEVEN seasons, meaning that he witnessed (first-hand) Bonds feature in 1,010 games and step into the batters box a whopping 4,255 times.

What makes Leyland's commendation of Walker all the more bizarre is the fact that he spent just one year (1999) as manager of the Rockies. To compare the numbers, Walker appeared in 127 games that year and accounted for 513 plate appearances.

Don't be quick to dismiss Leyland's assessment either. We're talking about a World Series champ and three-time Manager of the Year, who has 22 years of experience in the MLB under his belt.

If this doesn't say everything about Walker's case to be enshrined in Cooperstown, we don't know what does. As Leyland notes, the eye test is every bit as valuable as his stats, which we could ramble on for hours about.