Michael Aaron Walker (born June 23, 1965) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. A pitcher, Walker played

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) in with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

Career

Walker, who prefers to go by Mike, was raised in Splendora/Cleveland, Texas by his parents Barbara and L.G. In High School, Mike aka "The Walk" was an All-Star athlete who lettered in basketball and baseball. He went to the

University of Houston The University of Houston (; ) is a Public university, public research university in Houston, Texas, United States. It was established in 1927 as Houston Junior College, a coeducational institution and one of multiple junior colleges formed in ...

on a scholarship and, as a pitcher, enjoyed many successes as a

Cougar The cougar (''Puma concolor'') (, ''Help:Pronunciation respelling key, KOO-gər''), also called puma, mountain lion, catamount and panther is a large small cat native to the Americas. It inhabits North America, North, Central America, Cent ...

. On June 2, 1986 Mike was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

in the 2nd round of the

1986 MLB draft The 1986 Major League Baseball draft was the 22nd MLB draft that took place in 1986. During this draft 21 future all-stars were drafted: Greg Swindell, Matt Williams, Kevin Brown, Gary Sheffield, Roberto Hernández, Jack Armstrong, Dean Palm ...

. Mike began his minor league career with the Watertown Pirates, then moved up to play for the Single-A

Salem Buccaneers Salem may refer to: Places Canada * Salem, Ontario, various places Germany * Salem, Baden-Württemberg, a municipality in the Bodensee district ** Salem Abbey (Reichskloster Salem), a monastery * Salem, Schleswig-Holstein Israel * Salem (B ...

in , where he had a very successful season. He was named Most Valuable Player on numerous occasions and recognized as one of the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

's most prestigious players during 1987, leading Salem to the league championship. Briefly, he spent time in the AA club in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...

. Mike's talent brought him to the AAA club in

Buffalo Buffalo most commonly refers to: * True buffalo or Bubalina, a subtribe of wild cattle, including most "Old World" buffalo, such as water buffalo * Bison, a genus of wild cattle, including the American buffalo * Buffalo, New York, a city in the n ...

by the end of . In , Mike married Dina (Becker) and had headed back to Buffalo, New York to once again play for the Pirates' AAA club. However, on April 21, along with minor leaguer

Mark Merchant Mark Alan Merchant (born January 23, 1969) is an American former professional baseball player whose career spanned ten seasons in minor league baseball, parts of one season in the Northern League, and one season in the Atlantic League of Professi ...

, Walker was traded to the Seattle Mariners for

Rey Quiñones Rey Francisco Quiñones (born November 11, 1963) is a Puerto Rican former baseball infielder who had a short career in Major League Baseball, primarily as a shortstop. He played for the Boston Red Sox, the Seattle Mariners, and the Pittsburgh ...

and Bill Wilkinson. Mike played for Seattle's Triple A farm team, the

Calgary Cannons The Calgary Cannons were a minor league baseball team located in Calgary, Alberta, for 18 seasons, from 1985 until 2002. They were a member of the Triple-A (baseball), AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL) and played at Foothills Stadium. The Cannons ...

for the next few seasons. The Mariners and Walker joined forces for the next 5 years. In , after a short recovery from shoulder surgery, Mike was called to the major leagues. He made his MLB debut on June 16, 1992. Walker played for Seattle for just shy of one month and never spent another day in the MLB. Over the following years, Mike played for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

and the Texas Rangers organizations.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Mike 1965 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Baseball players from Houston Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Calgary Cannons players Diablos Rojos del México players Harrisburg Senators players Houston Cougars baseball players Jacksonville Suns players Major League Baseball pitchers Mexican League baseball pitchers Oklahoma City 89ers players Phoenix Firebirds players Salem Buccaneers players Seattle Mariners players Watertown Pirates players