Larry Walker was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the 2020 class and was emotional upon receiving the good news on Tuesday.
Walker, who was in his final year of eligibility on the ballot, received 76.6 percent of the vote to make the 75 percent threshold. He was emotional upon learning the news. Here is video of him receiving the phone call:
Larry gets the call to the Hall. #HOF2020 pic.twitter.com/qDNSipAQsF
— MLB (@MLB) January 21, 2020
Walker received just 20.3 percent of the vote in his first year on the ballot in 2011 and received just 10.2 percent in 2014. But he began gaining more votes in the years since and made a huge jump from 2018 (34.1 percent) to 2019 (54.6 percent) to now.
Walker said on MLB Network that he wasn’t expecting to make it in but was breathless after hearing the news.
Today was an emotional roller coaster for Larry Walker.@Cdnmooselips33 l #HOF2020 pic.twitter.com/k5SGeMyrV4
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) January 21, 2020
“I was prepared for no call and then the opposite happens and the call comes, and all of a sudden you can’t breathe,” Walker said. “The day flew by pretty quick, but when the phone rang and I saw the number, heart skips a beat.”
People also appreciated the NASCAR-looking Spongebob shirt Walker wore.
In my deepest imagination I could not dream up the nascar Spongebob shirt that Larry Walker chose to wear for his HoF acceptance interview pic.twitter.com/qJUqSYTMF5
— J.J. Flash (@Garydotcom) January 22, 2020
Walker, 53, made five All-Stars teams, was a three-time NL batting champ, and won the 1997 NL MVP award. He batted .313 with a .965 OPS for his career.
