Moments in time
• First home run: On April 20, 1990, with the Expos. He hit a solo homer off the Mets’ Ron Darling in the second inning of Montreal’s 2-1 win at Shea Stadium.
• The Throw: On July 4, 1992, at San Diego’s Jack Murphy Stadium, Walker, playing in right field, fielded a one-hopper hit by Padres shortstop Tony Fernandez and threw him out at first base.
• First Rockies home run: On May 7, 1995, he hit a blast off the Dodgers’ Hideo Nomo at Coors Field.
• In the clutch: In the 1995 regular-season finale at Coors Field, the 3-year-old Rockies needed to beat the Giants to earn the National League wild card and become the youngest expansion franchise to ever make the postseason. The Rockies overcame an 8-2 deficit for a 10-9 victory. Walker was 3-for-4 with a double, homer and three RBIS. He finished the strike-shortened season with 101 RBIS in 131 games.
• Hat trick: On April 5, 1997, Walker returned to Montreal’s Olympic Stadium and hit three home runs and drove in five runs. Manager Don Baylor wanted Walker to go for four home runs but Walker asked to come out of the game so teammate John Vander Wal could get an at-bat to stay sharp.
• All-star Game mischief: On July 8, 1997, in the All-star Game at Cleveland’s Progressive Field (then Jacobs Field), Walker turned in his most colorful at-bat when he faced off against intimidating lefty Randy Johnson. The two were briefly teammates with the Expos, but now Johnson was pitching for Seattle and Walker was a star with Colorado.
Earlier in the season, when Johnson started against the Rockies, Walker chose not to play, explaining: “I faced
Randy one time in spring training and he almost killed me.”
In the All-star Game, Johnson theatrically threw a fastball 7 or 8 feet over Walker’s head. So Walker spun his batting helmet around and switched sides in the batters’ box and hit right-handed for one pitch. He switched back to the left side and drew a walk.
“I didn’t even know if I was allowed to do that,” Walker told The Denver Post at the time. “I looked like Colonel Klink out there.”
Walker was criticized for ducking Johnson in his career, but actually, Walker hit .393 (11-for-28) against Johnson.
• Home run attire: On Aug. 18, 1999, vs. the Braves at Coors Field, the Rockies donned their widely panned futuristic black jerseys. But it didn’t bother
Walker, who hit two homers — an opposite-field shot off Kevin Millwood in the first inning and a three-run, walk-off blast off John Rocker.
• 2004 playoffs: After he was traded to St. Louis in August 2004, Walker made the most of his time with the Cardinals. It had been five years since Walker last appeared in the postseason, but in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers, he followed up Albert Pujols’ first-inning homer with a solo blast in the third. He hit another solo homer in the seventh.
In Game 1 of the World Series vs. Boston, Walker was 4-for-5 with a third-inning homer off Red Sox starter Tim Wakefield, and also had two doubles. Although the Cardinals were swept in four games, Walker slashed .357/.438/.929.