Larry Walker Releases Statement Acknowledging Likely Defeat Before Hall of Fame Results Announcement
By Scott Rogust
The Baseball Hall of Fame 2020 class will be revealed on Tuesday evening. The overwhelming belief is that former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter will be inducted on his first year on the ballot.
Yet one player in flux is former Colorado Rockies outfielder Larry Walker, as he's in his final year of eligibility, and the vote totals could genuinely go either way.
Ahead of the results, Walker released a statement on his Twitter account, stressing his belief that he will fall short of the 75% threshold for induction, accepting the worst-case scenario (and the way things are trending).
Although I believe I’m going to come up a little short today I still wanna thank all you that have been pulling for me and showing your support. I’m grateful for all of you! It’s been fun leading up to today reading everyone’s thoughts. Cheers ? LW
— Larry Walker (@Cdnmooselips33) January 21, 2020
It would be a true shame if Walker narrowly misses out on being enshrined in Cooperstown. Even so, the former right fielder expressed his gratitude for all who supported his candidacy throughout the process.
Walker was a true star in the 1990s, spanning from the Montreal Expos to the Rockies. In fact, he won the 1997 NL MVP Award after accumulating a league-high in home runs (49), on-base percentage (.452), and slugging percentage (.720).
In his career, Walker recorded a ridiculous career OPS of .965, alongside 383 homers and 230 stolen bases. And he did plenty of damage on the road, too.
A week from today, we'll learn who makes up the 2020 Class of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) January 14, 2020
Here's the case for Larry Walker. pic.twitter.com/pXQkN9lXTv
While he may or may not make it into Cooperstown, the Rockies will honor Walker this upcoming season by his retiring his number at Coors Field.
In Walker's case, let's hope he's wrong in his statement, and etches his spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame. BBWAA, put aside your agendas and get this right. If not, there's always the Veterans Committee, we guess.