Published: March 24, 2008 05:29 pm            

Taking the plunge

Walker Ends 51-year career in Big Leagues

Published on page 1A and sports section Feb. 3, 2008



ADA — It’s been a long, wonderful ride, but the baseball merry-go-round is about to stop and Jerry Walker is getting off.

For more than a half century, Walker has lived and breathed Major League Baseball — from an 18-year-old phenom out of Byng High School to the Vice President of Player Personnel for the St. Louis Cardinals. But this February, Walker won’t return to Spring Training in Florida for the first time in 51 years.

“It will be odd, and I’m sure there will be times when I miss it, but it’s time,” Walker said earlier this week after announcing he would retire from baseball. “It’s been a great ride, but it’s time for me to get off and let someone else take over. I’ve got a lot of things to catch up on.”

Walker’s career on the field lasted just six years because of an arm injury. He spent time with the Baltimore Orioles, Kansas City Athletics and the Cleveland Indians. After that, he coached and managed his way through several organizations and became one of the most respected “front office” faces in the game. After 17 years in the New York Yankees organization, Walker worked two more years as the President of the Detroit Tigers and spent the past 13 seasons in the Cardinals front office.

During those management years, he earned three World Series rings – two with the Yankees and his last one two years ago with the Cardinals. He’s walking away from the game he loves this winter after 51 years, and the move did not come easily.

“It’s something you don’t just decide overnight,” Walker said earlier this week from his home in Ada. “Baseball has been my life for over 50 years. It’s given me so much, and I’ve loved it. But I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of years, and I just contacted the Cardinals this winter and told them I won’t be coming back.

“It’s time to let go and spend a little time at home catching up,” he said.

That ‘catching up’ might take a lot of effort. Walker said he’s already carrying around an extensive “to do” list that has grown through the years because of the amount of time he spends away from home.

“Every winter, I found myself scrambling around, trying to fix all the broken things, making the repairs around the house that just kind of sneak up on you,” he said. “Especially the first week or two in February, right before I left for Spring Training, that was always a hectic time. This year, though, it’s going to be a little different,” he said.

A legend among area baseball fans, Walker began his Major League career with the Baltimore Orioles in 1957, six weeks after graduating from Byng. He made his debut July 6 of that year, facing two batters in a game against the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park. He walked the only two batters he faced that day, kicking off a career that would span more than five decades.

Two years later, Walker was the starting pitcher for the American League in the second of two All-Star games played that season. He still holds the record as the youngest player to ever start and win an All-Star game — he was 20 that August day in 1959.

The list of historic names on the roster in that All-Star game is mind boggling. The National League lineup was made up of Ken Boyer, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, Eddie Mathews, Bill Mazeroski and others — including starting pitcher Don Drysdale. Walker’s teammates that day on the American League squad included Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Yogi Bera, Nellie Fox, Harmon Killebrew, Whitey Ford, Frank Robinson, and Luis Aparicio.

That’s pretty prestigious company for a 20-year-old out of southern Oklahoma. Walker pitched three innings, giving up one run and striking out one — Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews. The American League won the game, 5-3, behind Walker’s pitching and home runs from Bera and Rocky Colavito.

“It was a day I’ll never forget. That’s for sure,” Walker said. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was an amazing day to even be there around those guys. And then to start and win the game — it was just something you never forget.”

Walker signed with the Orioles on June 28, 1957 and made his debut against the Red Sox less than two weeks later. He never played in the minor leagues, but spent several years coaching and managing in the minors after an arm injury cut his career short in 1962.

“I was with Kansas City (Athletics) that year and something happened to my shoulder,” Walker said. “I could pitch one day with no pain, but the next time I could barely lift my arm. From that point on, I pretty much pitched only in relief.”

Over the past 50 years, Walker has cemented some great friendships — many of them with some of baseball’s most revered names. One of those close friendships is with Baltimore Hall of Fame third baseman Brooks Robinson, who was a young infielder when Walker was pitching for the Orioles.

“Brooks is a super guy, and always has been,” Walker said. “He’s a great example of a man who is the same now as he was before he ever became famous. He’s just Brooks, and he always will be.

“We were roommates on the road and at home, and he still calls me ‘Rookie’ like he did when I first came up,” Walker said. “That’s one of those friendships you make on the field, but you keep that friendship alive the rest of your life.”

Now that he’s finally made “the plunge” into retirement, Walker realizes he’s lived a life many people could only dream about.

Even though he’s looking forward to more time at home and more time spent with his grandchildren, Walker said baseball will never be far from his heart.

“After spending 51 years in the game with some of the most prestigious organizations in the game, surely I could get a couple of tickets to a game now and then,” Walker said.

        

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