Pastor Rich Zawadzki is a frequent submitter of Monster Cards for this column and today is no exception. He came through for me today with this original 1997 Larry Walker card.
Walker was a five tool player who could hit for average, power and could contribute with speed and his glove. In 1997, he hit .366 which was higher than two years he won the batting title. That year, he lost it to Tony Gwynn who hit .372. But his numbers in 1997 were over the top! Walker did lead the NL with 49 homers and a .720 slugging percentage. He surpassed the sacred 400 mark in total bases with a total of 409.
Walker did well for himself as represented of the Colorado Rockies in 1997. He made the All-Star team, won the NL MVP award and to top it off, was awarded a Gold Glove for his fine work in right field.
| G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 153 | 148 | 664 | 568 | 143 | 208 | 46 | 4 | 49 | 130 | 33 | 78 | 90 | .366 | .452 | .720 |
You can’t get much better with a Fielding One player with five full power numbers. Larry Walker comes with power numbers 1-1-4-5-6 and a defensive rating of OF-3.
Calculating the batting average on Walker’s APBA card hitting is a little difficult. Many will look at his 55-8 and think he was cheated. Two things will help this card though:
- Walker has a 11 and two 10s
- he also has four 14s and a 42
Using my Quick and Dirty method of estimating what an APBA card will hit, it comes out to about .354. Still low but not as low as some with a 55-7
One note: despite having the 11-10-10 combination, Walker is not fast.
As I look over Larry Walker’s stats over his career, I am convinced that his induction last year was the right thing to do.
Thanks Rich!
That is a monster card! Always fun to play with that card.
Good post, always loved Larry Walker. For years on my blog, I have been calling for Larry and those like him such as Edgar Martinez to get their call to the Hall — Glad both are in! Thank goodness for sabermetrics and more advanced stats to get these guys in, although I believe it should never have come to that… Their talent is pretty obvious.
I also agree Tom on the 55-7.