Todd Walker

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For other people named Todd Walker, see Todd Walker (disambiguation).
Todd Walker
Runs batted in
545
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Todd Arthur Walker (born May 25, 1973) is an American former professional baseball infielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1996 to 2007. Listed at 6 feet 0 inches (1.83 m) and 180 pounds (82 kg), he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Walker played college baseball at Louisiana State University (LSU) and is an inductee of the National College Baseball Hall of Fame.

Collegiate career

Walker played college baseball for the

1993 College World Series championship squad, and was named the College World Series Most Outstanding Player.[3]

In 2006, Walker was elected to the

uniform number 12 was retired by LSU at Alex Box Stadium, Skip Bertman Field.[6]

Professional career

In 1994, the

RBIs
, and a career best 19 stolen bases.

Over the next season and a half, Walker's offensive performance began to decline, and the Twins traded Walker to the Colorado Rockies. He responded by hitting .316 through the rest of 2000 and .297 through the first half of 2001. Walker hit 12 home runs as a member of the Rockies that year.

The Cincinnati Reds, in need of a better performance from its second base position, traded for Walker in July 2001. Walker rewarded the Reds by providing consistent offense, hitting .295 through the end of the season. In 2002, Walker enjoyed another fine year, hitting .299 with 11 HR and 64 RBIs and setting career highs with 42 doubles and 155 games played.

Following the season, the

Oakland A's, and .370 with two more homers and hits in every game against the New York Yankees in the ALCS. The Red Sox were eliminated in 7 games. Walker's five postseason homers are still a Red Sox record. Despite his performance, Walker was allowed to leave, signing with the Chicago Cubs
via free agency.

Over the next three seasons, Walker attempted to maintain his offensive performance with the Cubs, but found himself playing less and platooning with younger players. Walker hit .274 (2004), .305 (2005), and .277 (through July 2006). However, he began to share time at second base with other players like

first base and in the outfield
.

At the end of July 2006, the San Diego Padres were attempting to make the playoffs while the Cubs were already out of the race. Before the non-waiver trade deadline, the Padres traded low-A pitching prospect José Ceda to the Cubs for Walker, who became the new starting third baseman. He hit .282 down the stretch and the Padres made the playoffs, but were eliminated in the first round by the St. Louis Cardinals.

In 2007, Walker attended spring training with the Padres. However, during the offseason, the Padres had restocked the team with more infielders and left-handed hitters and, after a poor performance during the exhibition season, Walker was released on March 27. On March 30, he signed with the Oakland Athletics. On May 12, Walker was designated for assignment to make room for Dallas Braden, and subsequently released.

Career statistics

In 1288 games over 12 seasons, Walker posted a .289

bases on balls, .348 on-base percentage and .435 slugging percentage. He finished his career with a .981 fielding percentage
playing at second, third and first base. In 15 postseason games, he batted .288 (15-for-52) with 9 runs, 5 home runs and 6 RBI.

Post-playing career

From 2013 to 2015, Walker coached baseball at Calvary Baptist Academy in Shreveport, Louisiana.[8]

In 2017, Walker worked with

New England Sports Network (NESN) as a studio analyst and occasional color commentator; he rejoined NESN in July 2019 to work in the same capacity.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  2. ^ Naylor, Kevin (July 23, 1992). "Hyannis Pitcher Quietly Earns All-Star Spot". Yarmouth Register. Yarmouth, MA. p. 12.
  3. ^ "Most Outstanding Player Award in College World Series". Baseball Almanac. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  4. ^ "LSU Athletics Hall of Fame Members, Statues & Retired Jerseys". lsusports.net. July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  5. ^ "College Baseball Foundation - Fourth Class of College Baseball Hall of Fame Announced". Archived from the original on 2009-03-28. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  6. ^ Johnson, Luke (January 26, 2017). "Former LSU great Todd Walker to have his No. 12 uniform retired April 14; LSU picks up another top-five ranking". theadvocate.com. Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  7. ^ "September 23, 2003 Baltimore Orioles at Boston Red Sox Box Score and Play by Play - Baseball-Reference.com". Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  8. ^ Anderson, Alex. "Todd Walker resigns as Calvary head coach". Retrieved 26 August 2016.
  9. NESN
    . July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 25, 2019.

External links

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