Larry Walker
‧ Position: Outfielder.
‧ Height: 6-foot-2.
‧ Weight: 235 pounds.
‧ Bats: Left.
‧ Throws: Right.
‧ Age: 37.
‧ Acquired: Signed as a free agent from Montreal in spring 1995.
‧ Status: He is the Rockies' starting right fielder and will bat fifth in the
order.
‧ Career highlights: Won the National League batting title in 1998 (.363),
1999 (.379) and 2001 (.350) and led the NL with 49 home
runs in 1997 . . . Was chosen league MVP in 1997, when he
also recorded a .366 average, 130 RBI and 33 stolen bases
Holds virtually every Rockies offensive record and is
looking to extend his franchise record for Opening Day
starts to nine.
‧ Personal: Signed by Montreal in November 1984 after playing for the Canadian
National Junior Team . . . Played goalie for his high school
hockey team, where he was a teammate of former Boston Bruins
All-Star Cam Neely . . . Nine-time winner of the James "Tip"
O'Neill award, presented annually by the Canadian Baseball Hall
of Fame to the top Canadian player . . . He and wife Angela have
two daughters, Canaan Rose-Lynn, 3, and Shayna Kaitlin, 1. Walker
has another daughter, Brittany Marie, 9.
‧ Who had the biggest impact on your career?
"I would never say one person, because there have been numerous
coaches and players who influenced me. It would be like winning
a Grammy and saying I want to thank all these people and then you
think about someone you forget. The fairest way would be for me
to pick coaches I had in my first year or two of pro ball. The
two names that jump out are J.R. Minor, who managed me in my
second pro season, and Ralph Rowe, who was a roving hitting
instructor with Montreal. They showed me the basis that I built
off."