James Luke Walker (born September 2, 1943 in
DeKalb, Texas) is a former
pitcher in
Major
League Baseball who played between and for the
Pittsburgh Pirates (1965-66, 1968-73) and
Detroit Tigers (1974). He batted and
threw left-handed.
Walker did almost everything a pitcher is asked to do. He
started and filled various
relief roles coming out from the
bullpen as a
closer,
middle reliever, and
set-up man as well. His most productive season
came in 1970 with Pittsburgh, when he finished 15-6 (3-1, three
saves in relief), while his 3.04
ERA, .714
winning percentage, and 7.1
hits per nine innings all ranked him
third among
National League
pitchers. He also fired a pair of two-hit
shutouts. That year, the Pirates won the
National League East title for their
first post-season birth since winning the
1960 World Series. However, they were
swept by the
Cincinnati Reds in the
NLCS.
Walker was the losing pitcher in Game Two, giving up two runs (one
unearned) in seven innings in a 3-1 Reds victory.
Bobby Tolan scored all three Reds runs,
including a home run off Walker in the fifth inning.
In 1971, Walker went 10-8 with a 3.54 ERA for the
1971 World Champion Pirates.
On July 18 of that year, in the second game of a
doubleheader against the
Los Angeles Dodgers at Three Rivers
Stadium
, he had a no-hitter broken
up by a Joe Ferguson home
run with one out in the ninth. The hit was the only one he
would allow in a 7-1 Pittsburgh victory. In Game Four of that
year's World Series, which the Pirates won in seven games over the
Baltimore Orioles, Walker threw
the very first pitch in
night game World
Series history. His outing did not go well:
Paul Blair,
Mark Belanger and
Merv Rettenmund began the game with
consecutive singles off Walker to load the bases. After Blair
scored on a
passed ball, Walker
intentionally walked
Frank Robinson
to re-load the bases. He was then pulled after giving up
consecutive sacrifice flies to
Brooks
Robinson and
Boog Powell for a 3-0
Baltimore lead. The Pirates got Walker off the hook with 1) two
runs in the bottom of the first, the tying run in the third, and
the go-ahead run (the game ended by that 4-3 score) in the seventh,
and 2)
Bruce Kison's 6 1/3 scoreless
innings in relief of Walker. The Orioles got only one hit after
Walker's departure, a Blair double off Kison in the second.
In a nine-season career, Walker posted a 45-47 record with a 3.65
ERA and 558
strikeouts in 243 appearances,
including 100 starts, 16
complete
games, seven shutouts, nine saves, and 824 ⅔
innings pitched. He was also a weak batsman,
garnering only 11 hits in 188 at-bats for an .059
batting average.
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