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James Luke Walker
Pittsburgh Pirates
Pitcher
Born: September 2, 1943, DeKalb, TX
Signed: Signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent
Major League Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates 1965-1966, 1968-1973; Detroit Tigers 1974
World Series Appearances: Pittsburgh Pirates 1971
Luke Walker pitched in parts of nine seasons in the major leagues, with all but his final season spent with the Pirates. Walker was a classic swingman for the Pirates, appearing in 91 games overall and making 42 starts. He was a key component of a Pirates pitching staff that would help lead the team to National League pennants in 1970, 1971 and 1972. His finest season came in 1970 when Walker was 15-6 with a 3.04 ERA in a career-high 42 games pitched. He threw five complete games that season, including three shutouts and had three saves, while striking out a career best 124. Walker would win a World Series ring with the Pirates in 1971, but his sole World Series start didn't go as planned. Tasked to start Game 4, Walker was pulled after 2/3 of an inning, having allowed three runs. But the Pirates would come back to win that game, and ultimately defeat the Orioles in seven games. His name is still in the history books, as he's the first pitcher to throw a pitch in a World Series night game.
Luke Walker pitched in parts of nine seasons in the major leagues, with all but his final season spent with the Pirates. Walker was a classic swingman for the Pirates, appearing in 91 games overall and making 42 starts. He was a key component of a Pirates pitching staff that would help lead the team to National League pennants in 1970, 1971 and 1972. His finest season came in 1970 when Walker was 15-6 with a 3.04 ERA in a career-high 42 games pitched. He threw five complete games that season, including three shutouts and had three saves, while striking out a career best 124. Walker would win a World Series ring with the Pirates in 1971, but his sole World Series start didn't go as planned. Tasked to start Game 4, Walker was pulled after 2/3 of an inning, having allowed three runs. But the Pirates would come back to win that game, and ultimately defeat the Orioles in seven games. His name is still in the history books, as he's the first pitcher to throw a pitch in a World Series night game.
Walker spent his final year in the majors with the Tigers, and pitched for the Astros' top farm team in 1975 before retiring. He earned a lifetime record of 45-47 with a 3.64 ERA in 243 games pitched.
March 12, 2023 from The Philly Show (Uncle Dick's Cards)
In mid-March, Doug and I attended the Philadelphia Sports Collectors Show, held within the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania. My main focus for this show was accumulating as many 1969 Topps commons as possible, which I did by adding a grand total of 193 cards to our set. That's almost 30% of the entire set added in one enjoyable afternoon. I wrote a full summary of the show in a post over at The Phillies Room, found here.
This is the 17th of the 193 commons and semi-stars purchased, pulled and stacked from the first two neon green binders housing 1969 Topps cards at the multi-table spread of Uncle Dick's Cards from Babylon, New York. My method was simple - I pulled up a chair, found a card I needed, picked the best of the group from the binder page and set it aside. After each 100 cards, I'd ask the dealer to tell me how much damage I had done so far. With a budget in mind, I kept going twice, continuing after card #100 and card #200, and stopping at card #298. The final amount due was 17% off the sticker price for the pile of 193 cards, with this card costing me less than a dollar. If I stick to composing posts five times a week, and I'm already slipping off that pace a little, I should go through the stack and be caught up by the week of January 22, 2024!
The Card / Pirates Team Set / Accuracy Index +5
This photo could easily date back to 1965, as it matches up with photos used for Walker's 1966, 1967 and 1968 Topps cards. Walker shared Rookie Stars cards with Woody Fryman (#51), Jim Price (#472) and Carl Taylor (#357) for those three Topps sets, before finally getting his own solo card in the 1969 Topps sets. The back of the card flashes back to 1965, when Walker struck out 197 batters with the Double-A Asheville Tourists, and led the Southern League with a 2.26 ERA.
Accuracy Index: Walker's card scores a five for using a not previously seen photo of the pitcher in a Pirates uniform.
1969 Season
In his second full season in the majors, Walker was again shuttled between a bullpen and starting role, appearing in 31 games overall and making 15 starts. He was 4-6 with a 3.64 ERA in 118 2/3 innings pitched as the Pirates finished in third place in the N.L. East. Walker threw a complete game shutout against the Mets on September 19th.
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First Mainstream Card: 1966 Topps #498
Topps Flagship Set Appearances (10): 1966-1975
Most Recent Mainstream Card: 1975 Topps #474
Total Non-Parallel Baseball Cards: 45 in the Beckett online database as of 5/16/23.
Sources:
Baseball Reference / Wikipedia
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