Robert Thomas Walker (born November 7, 1948) is a former

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. Walker pitched all or part of six seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB), from 1972 until 1977, for the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

Career

After graduating from Chamberlain High School in Tampa, Florida in 1966, Walker was drafted by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

in the 1968 January amateur draft. On August 4, 1971, while playing for the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs in the Double-A

Dixie Association The Dixie Association was an interleague partnership between the Texas League (TL) and the Southern League (SL) Double-A leagues of Minor League Baseball in 1971. The two leagues played an interlocking schedule.(January 20, 1971)Texas, Southe ...

, Walker threw a 15-inning

no-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher wh ...

to beat the

Albuquerque Dodgers Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...

1–0. He threw 193 pitches to win the game. In 1972, Walker was selected by the

in the Rule 5 draft and made his major league debut that season. He was traded along with

Terry Humphrey Terryal Gene Humphrey (born August 4, 1949) is an American former professional baseball player. A catcher, he appeared in 415 games played over all or parts of nine Major League Baseball seasons for the Montreal Expos (1971–1974), Detroit Tig ...

from the Expos to the Tigers for

Woodie Fryman Woodrow Thompson Fryman (April 12, 1940 – February 4, 2011), was an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for six teams, across 18 seasons (–). A two-time National League (NL) All-Star, he helped th ...

on December 4, . The last batter he faced in the majors,

Lyman Bostock Lyman Wesley Bostock Jr. (November 22, 1950 – September 23, 1978) was an American professional baseball player. He played Major League Baseball for four seasons, as an outfielder for the Minnesota Twins and California Angels (1978), with a li ...

, lined into a

triple play In baseball, a triple play (denoted as TP in baseball statistics) is the act of making three outs during the same play. There have only been 733 triple plays in Major League Baseball (MLB) since 1876, an average of just over five per season. Th ...

. Walker posted an 18–23 record in 191 major league appearances over six seasons.

Brush with death

In 1972, while playing winter ball in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, Walker along with several other players helped

Roberto Clemente Roberto Enrique Clemente Walker (; August 18, 1934 – December 31, 1972) was a Puerto Rican professional baseball right fielder who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After his early death, he was pos ...

load a plane carrying relief supplies to survivors of the Nicaragua earthquake after

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

. He offered to accompany Clemente on the trip to the Central American nation, but the plane was full and Clemente told him to stay behind and enjoy his

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve, also known as Old Year's Day or Saint Sylvester's Day in many countries, is the evening or the entire day of the last day of the year, on 31 December. The last day of the year is commonly referred to ...

. A few hours later, Walker returned to his condo and saw the news reports that Clemente's plane had crashed off the coast of

Isla Verde, Puerto Rico Isla Verde (Spanish for ''green island'') is an area of Carolina located east of Santurce (southwestern front of Piñones) next to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport above the Teodoro Moscoso Bridge. The area lies just outside the easter ...

Personal life

Tom's son,

Neil Walker Neil Martin Andrew Walker (born September 10, 1985) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates (2009–2015), New York Mets (2016–17), Milwaukee Brewers ( ...

, is a former MLB player who retired in 2021. "Pittsburgh Pirates' Second Baseman on the Gift of Life"
/ref> Another son, Matt, played in the minor leagues as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

in the Detroit Tigers and

systems, while another son, Sean, pitched for

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

. Tom is also the brother-in-law of former Montreal Expos pitcher,

Chip Lang Robert David "Chip" Lang (born August 21, 1952) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. Lang played for the Montreal Expos in and . External links

1952 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseb ...

. Meanwhile, Don Kelly, a player for the

, married his daughter Carrie, a former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player, in 2007. In July 2015, Walker was elected to the

Texas League Hall of Fame The Texas League Hall of Fame is an American baseball hall of fame which honors players, managers, and executives of the Double-A Texas League of Minor League Baseball for their accomplishments or contributions to the league in playing, administ ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Tom 1948 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Tampa, Florida California Angels players Columbus Clippers players Dallas–Fort Worth Spurs players Denver Bears players Detroit Tigers players Major League Baseball pitchers Memphis Blues players Miami Marlins (FSL) players Montreal Expos players Salt Lake City Gulls players St. Louis Cardinals players Stockton Ports players Tulsa Oilers (baseball) players

Career

Brush with death

Personal life

See also

References

External links