Jacksonville alum Walker elected to Southern League Hall of Fame
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Former Jacksonville Expos outfielder Larry Walker will be inducted into the Southern League Hall of Fame in June, the Southern League of Professional Baseball clubs announced Monday.
A member of the 1987 Jacksonville Expos, Walker batted .287/.383/.534 with a team-leading 25 doubles, seven triples and 26 home runs, respectively, en route to Southern League All-Star honors. The 20-year-old helped Jacksonville secure a playoff berth by registering 91 runs scored, 83 RBIs and 24 stolen bases.
A native of British Columbia, Walker earned seven Gold Glove awards, five All-Star nods and three Silver Slugger honors while winning three batting titles during a 17-year major league career with the Montreal Expos, Colorado Rockies and St. Louis Cardinals. He was named the National League's Most Valuable Player with Colorado in 1997, when he batted .366 and led the league in homers (49), on-base percentage (.452) and slugging percentage (.720).
From his debut in 1989 through his final big league season in 2005, Walker accumulated 68.7 WAR, a total that trails only Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Jeff Bagwell and Alex Rodriguez among position players during that time frame. Walker concluded his career with a .313/.400/.565 batting line, 2,160 hits, 383 home runs and 230 stolen bases.
A panel of 34 voters chose the Southern League Hall of Fame's sixth induction class, which will also include Knoxville/Tennessee right-hander Roy Halladay, Chattanooga infielder and manager Sal Rende and former Chattanooga president Joe Engel. Each of the inductees to this year's class will be recognized by the Southern League prior to the 2019 All-Star Game in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Jacksonville is the only franchise with at least one representative in each of the first six Southern League Hall of Fame classes. Peter Bragan, Sr. (owner, 1984-2012) was inducted in the inaugural class in 2014, followed by Randy Johnson (left-handed pitcher, 1987) in 2015, Peter Bragan, Jr. (owner, 1984-2015), John Shoemaker (manager, 2001, 2005-07) and Larry Ward (broadcaster, 1981-84) in 2016, Gabe Kapler (outfielder, 1998) in 2017 and Andrés Galarraga (first baseman, 1984) last year.
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