Todd Walker

Todd Walker Hit Baseball Running

Todd Walker found stardom early. A 1991 graduate of Airline High School, he was named Louisiana’s High School Player of the year in baseball and was an all-state selection in soccer.

He followed baseball to Louisiana State University, where he earned a degree in business in the classroom and fame on the diamond.

Two of baseball’s leading publications, Baseball America and College Baseball, named him Freshman of the Year after Walker became the first Tiger player ever to bat .400 for a season. Baseball America later named him the best collegiate second baseman in the modern era. Walker was a two-time All America selection for LSU and was the first Tiger to hit 50 career homers (52) and drive in 200 career runs (246). His career .396 batting average remains as a school mark.

In 1993, he was named the outstanding player in the College World Series, when he led LSU to the National Championship. That same year Walker was chosen for Team USA to compete in the World Championship.

The eighth player chosen in the 1994 Major League Baseball draft by Minnesota, Walker played four full seasons for the Twins. He played with the Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres before closing his career with Oakland early in 2007. While with the Red Sox, he hit five home runs in 12 playoff games, most playoff HRs ever by a Boston player.

Walker batted .316 in 1998 with Minnesota and again in 2000 with Colorado. He hit .305 in 2005 with the Cubs and wound up with a .289 lifetime batting average, 1,316 hits, 107 home runs and 545 RBI in 12 seasons in the major leagues.