COOPERSTOWN, New York – As the first Canadian position player at the Hall of Fame — and second overall after Ferguson Jenkins (1991) —Larry Walker did not forget his roots in his exaltation speech in the Hall of Fame Wednesday at Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown.
After recognizing Jenkins, who was sitting next to him, Walker honored the team that signed him and developed him as a player: The Montreal Expos.
The history of the Expos is well known, owners of the best record in the big leagues when the day ended on August 11, 1994, just when the strike began that ended that season and caused the cancellation Playoffs and the World Series.
“I will always be grateful that the Montreal Expos took risks with me and gave me the opportunity to play baseball on a professional level,” said Walker, who after playing little baseball in his childhood had to learn the basic in the minor league system of this organization.
With Dominican Felipe Rojas Alou, his son Moisés, Walker and other young players, the Expos may have come a long way. But after that 1994, Walker and other stars left. A decade later, the Expos left Montreal to become the Washington Nationals.
“To all the Expos fans and the people of Montreal, it was a great honor to put on my Expos uniform and represent my country,” Walker said. “I enjoyed many years in Montreal, no better than with this 1994 team. We all lost this year due to unemployment and no one knows what would have happened. But either way, I’m still trying to imagine what it would have been like to bring a World Series to Quebec.
“To the fans who are waiting for their team to return to Montreal, I join you in the hope that Major League Baseball will return to their beautiful city.”