Larry Walker was a five-time all-star and the 1997 National League MVP. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)Larry Walker and Ernie Whitt lead this year's class of inductees for the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
Bernie Soulliere and the late Roy [Doc] Miller will also be inducted June 20.
"We haven't honoured a career of the calibre of Larry Walker's since Fergie Jenkins was inducted in 1987," Hall president and CEO Tom Valcke said in a statement.
Walker, a native of Maple Ridge, B.C., is a five-time all-star and 1997 National League MVP. He won seven Gold Glove awards and three batting titles while compiling a career .313 batting average.
Beyond his stats, Walker also opened the door to more comprehensive scouting of players up north as teams reasoned that if the Canadian baseball system could produce one player like him, there were surely others to be uncovered, too.
That line of thinking has certainly been proven true, as Canadian players now regularly compete in all-star games and for league awards.
His career numbers might not be good enough to get him into the U.S. National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., with Jenkins — his hard-nosed style of play meant injuries were a fact of life in his career — but his broader impact on the sport in Canada is immeasurable.
Whitt ranks fourth all-time in the MLB in games played, including 1,218 with the Toronto Blue Jays. He hit 131 home runs during his Jays career.
He's also become a type of father figure in Canadian baseball as manager of the national team. Whitt first took the helm of the national team at the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg and subsequently led the squad to the 2004 Olympics and 2006 World Baseball Classic.
He'll manage Canada again at the second edition of the Classic this spring.
Soulliere, from Windsor, Ont., has been working behind the scenes for more than 40 years in amateur baseball circles. The 71-year-old was vice-president of Baseball Canada in the 1990s and president of Baseball Ontario from 1993 to 1995.
All three will be involved with Canada at the World Baseball Classic. Whitt will serve as manager while Walker will be an assistant coach and Soulliere business manager.
Miller, whose pro career began in 1903, played for the Chicago Cubs, Boston, Philadelphia and Cincinnati during his five-year stint in the majors. His .295 career batting average is fourth all-time for Canadians.
