Love Of The Game
Walker’s love of baseball offers valuable, versatile commodity
PHILADELPHIA » Neil Walker will make $100,000 to play for the Phillies this season, less after taxes. If he has to, he’ll be the designated hitter, or the second baseman, or a pinch-hitter, or just patrol the outfield.
If required, he’ll even wear a mask.
“I’m willing to be a third catcher,” he said. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to help this team. Obviously, it’s a very, very talented group.”
The Phillies are talented, from the top of the roster, down to the last spot, the one Walker basically won in an extended training camp. He’s talented, too. How talented? Three years ago, the Mets paid him $17.2 million. The son of a major-league player, with two brothers who played at a high level, Walker often seemed born to take his cuts, in the box if not necessarily on payday. The Phillies are pleased he will do both at age 34.
“The versatility of where he can play, and also the versatility of him being a switch-hitter made him a good fit,” Joe Girardi said. “I think the dynamics changed a lot, going to the American League rules, and also only playing 60 games. That’s why we went with Neil.”
Walker made the Opening Day roster over veteran Logan Forsythe, winning the final spot just before the Phils visited Washington for a Saturday exhibition, then exhaling before a Sunday night visit from the Baltimore Orioles. Had his tryout with the Phillies failed, he figured he’d move on, to continue to find big-league work. At his price, given his career achievements, it’s a bargain. He hit 23 home runs for the 2014 Pirates and 23 for the 2016 Mets. His .261 batting average last season for the Marlins was in range of his .269 career average.
In an instant-pennant-race season when there will be no time for a manager to develop projects or trust hunches, Walker will be low on surprises, with baseball professionalism in his blood as the son of former Expos pitcher Tom Walker.
‘’My value really is in my versatility,’’ he said. ‘’My value is, at this point, being a really good insurance policy for this team. I’ve played in so many different scenarios in my career. I’ve been an everyday first baseman, second baseman for a long time, went to the Yankees and bounced around quite a bit playing in the American League, went back to the National League last year and played a
lot of first base and third base. More than that, I’ve learned over the last several years how to play off the bench, how to play somewhat sparingly. And that’s not an easy thing to do, going from an everyday player to a non-everyday player.
‘’It’s definitely a transition and I feel like I’ve finally got a pretty good grasp of what’s being asked of me and how to stay as sharp as possible whether I’m playing once a week or whether I find myself playing four or five times a week.’’
With health protocols in place, including sequestering players who fail virus tests, there is the possibility that any team can lose a key player for a couple of weeks. In Walker, the Phillies have insurance against that at many positions, particularly with his ability to switch-hit.
“First and foremost, this was probably the longest spring training that I’ve ever been a part of, and one that I wasn’t on a roster or had necessarily a spot on the team right from the get-go,’’ he said. ‘’I knew I was going to have to come in and show my versatility, but also perform in spring training. I felt like I started to play a lot better later on in the first spring training, but I was also able to bounce around; first, second, third, some left field. So I knew that was going to be important. And then when the second one kicked off I had done enough, and I just knew that if I was healthy and I was given the opportunity that I was going to have a good opportunity to make this team and that’s what happened.’’
It’s that appreciation for the game that defines Walker, who has made more than $51 million in his career. How else to explain why he would still be playing for sixfigures, not eight, and subject himself to regular virus tests and clubhouse restrictions?
‘’It’s no secret that the last several years have not been kind to freeagent-type players like myself that aren’t exactly considered elite,’’ he said. ‘’But at the same token, I feel very fortunate about being able to play and have my really good years at the time that I did because the landscape of baseball is a lot different than it was even five years ago. I have said it many times: I kind of feel like I’m playing with house money now. That is a freeing feeling.’’
He’s playing with that house money and for a team that believes it can win something. He’s also playing for one more reason.
‘’On a personal note, having made this team, I needed six days to get to a full pension, 10 years of service time,’’ said Walker, who played some at third base in a Sunday night exhibition game against Baltimore. ‘’So that was something that’s very prideful for somebody in this game of baseball to play for that long. Not many guys can get to that eight, nine, 10-year mark.
‘’I love this game. When I was coming up, I had a brother (Matt) who was playing in the minor leagues with the Tigers. I had another brother (Sean) who was playing at George Mason University. My brother-in-law (Don Kelly) is the bench coach for the Pirates now. My dad played for several years. My uncle played for several years. So it’s been ingrained in me since I was really young.
‘’I’m going to play until that passion’s gone. I’m nowhere near that.’’
Anywhere. Any time. For any price.