As a youngster growing up on the east coast of Canada in the golden years of baseball in the 1950s, I fell into the Vin Scully trap on radio and became a lifer with the Dodgers even when they abandoned me for the far west coast in California.
The memories of Duke, Pee Wee, Jackie, Campy and so many other stars still remain fresh in my mind. At the same time, I was very aware of the other Dodgers who were not considered to be stars but played significant roles with the Dodgers – Billy Loes, Shotgun Shuba, Jim Hughes, Joe Black, Andy Pafko, Ben Wade, Billy Cox, Russ Meyer, and so many others. One that for some reason sticks out in my mind was Campy’s back up catcher from 1951 through 1957. I am not quite sure why Rube Walker has continued to stick with me. Perhaps it is because I can recall that much was said about his speed on the base paths, or more so his lack of speed. He was at times described, in a good-natured way even by Vin Scully, as the slowest runner in the game.
“That guy, ‘ said a Dodger coach, “isn’t as slow on the bases as he looks. He’s slower.”
I can recall his stolen base during the last game of the regular season during the 1955 championship year against the Pirates. Once again, I cannot recall why that would implant in my mind except following a single, Walker stole second base and did not draw a throw. I can only imagine the ribbing he took in the clubhouse following his 90-foot sprint which perhaps was a marathon for him.
Who knew that a slow-footed, back up catcher would go on to have such a profound effect on Major League Baseball?
He would play 11 years at the MLB level, eight in a Dodger uniform and did not earn his well-deserved reputation in MLB solely as a catcher. In 608 games he hit .227 with an OBP of .294.
Rube Walker was born in Lenoir, North Carolina in 1926. He attended high school in Lenoir and was signed by the Chicago Cubs as an amateur free agent in 1944.
He played three years in the Cubs farm system culminating in a tremendous campaign with the Nashville Volunteers of the Southern Association in 1947. Along with 22 home runs, he drove in 105 runs and posted a hefty .331 batting average.
Walker was called up to the Cubs in 1948 and in his rookie season, he appeared in 79 games and hit .275 – both career-highs for the 22-year-old rookie backstop. He was then destined to be a backup catcher for the rest of his career.
He was traded to the Dodgers on June 15, 1951, in a trade that also brought left fielder Andy Pafko to Ebbets Field. Pafko was the main object of the trade as the Dodgers needed a left fielder. Walker was behind the plate – subbing for the injured Roy Campanella – for the infamous Bobby Thompson home run on October 3rd that eliminated the Dodgers in a three-game playoff with the crosstown rival New York Giants. Campy was injured so did not play in that game. Perhaps Walker, unfortunately, is most remembered as the catcher behind the plate for that home run.
There has been much conjecture about that pitch and accusations of sign stealing by the Giants. That may well be correct but years later Walker said that pitch was supposed to be a brushback, but “Branca didn’t get the ball far enough inside.”
Walker remained with the Dodgers through the 1958 season – they are first in Los Angeles. After only 44 at-bats and hitting .114 he was waived.
Although his playing career did not make a big impression on the baseball world, Rube Walker made a definite impression on his teammates with whom he forged some lifetime friendships and with whom he shared a mutual respect. He named his first child after Pee Wee Reese’s daughter while his special relationship with Gil Hodges would come home to roost later in his career.
His release by the Dodgers was upsetting to his teammates, especially for the young pitchers who appreciated his catching skills. Walker had earned a deserved reputation for his pitch calling and for throwing out 46% of would-be base stealers during his 11-year MLB career.
Upon learning of Walker’s release from the team, Hall of Famer Don Drysdale moaned, “Why does it have to be Rube?” And 1955 World Series MVP Johnny Podres added “I love to pitch to him. When it comes to setting up the hitter, there were none better.”
For the next five years, Walker managed at the minor league level, including stops with AA teams for the Dodgers and Yankees.
He was ready to start the 1965 season as a manager in the Mets organization when his coaching career took a sharp turn. His good friend, Gil Hodges, contacted Walker and asked him to become the pitching coach of the Washington Senators. Hodges had been traded to the Washington Senators in late May of 1963 for outfielder Jimmy Piersall so that he could replace Mickey Vernon as Washington’s manager.
Hodges next became the New York Met’s manager in 1968 and brought Rube Walker with him to New York as his pitching coach. Together they were to change the nature of starting rotations in baseball and were also fortunate to have inherited some fine young arms on the major league roster and in the farm system.
With the Mets, Rube Walker made a change in the game that still is the process used in scheduling pitching rotations to this day. He revolutionized baseball by implementing a five-man pitching rotation moving away from the long traditional four-man rotation.
Walker was a firm believer that there were only so many pitches in an arm. He watched over his young staff somewhat like a mother hen and it is said that he even instituted “Walker’s Law” that no pitcher was allowed to throw without him knowing about it. He was criticized a bit for babying his pitchers but he saw that as a write-off compared to protecting those young arms. Based on his experience as a catcher and looking at the long haul he believed he had found a way that would keep his pitchers stronger and healthier over the grind of a long 162 game season.
There had been instances of five-man rotations prior to Walker’s mandated rotation but those were for short periods of time in response to injuries or schedules including doubleheaders bunched up to complete schedules. Walker’s five-man rotation, along with the approval of manager Gil Hodges, is seen to be the first as a philosophical change. His first such rotation included Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Gary Gentry, Don Cardwell and Jim McAndrew.
The Miracle Mets went on to win the 1969 and although there were undoubtedly many factors at play in the unexpected success, the five-man rotation may have been one of the prime factors, as well as helping Seaver (20 years), Koosman (19 years), Cardwell (14 years) and Nolan Ryan (27 years) enjoy lengthy major league careers.
Following the untimely death of Gil Hodges in 1972, Walker continued on as the pitching coach with the Mets under managers Yogi Berra, Roy McMillan, Joe Frazier, and Joe Torre.
He followed Torre to Atlanta in 1982 and remained with the Braves until Torre was fired in 1984. There he helped groom another famous pitcher and a future Hall of Famer, Phil Niekro when he served as Atlanta’s pitching coach.
Following his stint with Joe Torre’s Braves, he went on to become a scout for the St. Louis Cardinals where he remained employed until his death on December 12, 1992. Rube Walker had a 40-year career in uniform.
Walker was not only interested in winning ball games, he was most interested in protecting the arms of the pitchers on his watch. He had a great sense of humor and gained the trust of his young stable of pitchers in every stop he made. He also gained the respect of all those in the baseball world.
“He takes care of those pitchers like they were his sons,” Yogi Berra said, “and those pitchers love him.”
His players loved him once they bought into the 5-man rotation – Seaver was a bit tough initially – because they knew he was thinking of and guarding their careers, not looking to promote his own.
Tom Seaver came around and became one of Rube Walker’s greatest and most appreciative converts.
“You can work with three days when you have to,” Seaver says. “Our staff is as solid going into the World Series as a staff can be after a long season. Working on a five‐day rotation, your arm has to be stronger at this stage of the year than it would be on a four‐day rotation. Over the season, you’re also much more consistent, you’re able to hit spots better. It limits the possibility of arm damage and it adds a few years to your career at your peak earning power.”
Seaver continued: “Every so often, Rube will get some pressure from upstairs to use me with three days rest,” Seaver says, meaning the Mets front office. “But he won’t back down. He believes in his five‐day rotation and he goes with it. And look where it’s got us.”
The Dodgers and Cardinals quickly followed Walker’s lead and the rest of major league baseball soon followed with five-man rotations patterned after Walker’s model.
“It’s helped Bob Gibson, he’ll be 38 next season, he can’t go with three days rest anymore,” Seaver says. “And when the Dodgers started using it, Claude Osteen told me he didn’t like it, but now he loves it. If you’re a pitcher, you’ve got to love it.”
Rube Walker was a student of the game and as a catcher was very much in tune with what went on with pitchers and their arms. He would not name names but it is suspected that etched in his memory is a pitcher or pitchers whose career(s) became shortened by overwork. Perhaps it was Denny McLain or even Sandy Koufax.
Albert “Rube” Walker, the “Father of the Five-Man Rotation”, died from lung cancer on December 12, 1992 in Morganton, North Carolina. He was 66 years of age.
Upon learning of Walker’s death, Seaver who had invited his ailing coach to his HOF induction, said this about his close friend and coach: “He was a pitcher’s pitching coach.”
Discussion (55)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Oh, you’re hot tonight Peter. I’m taking the ones about the change and the track windows and saving them for future use.
Although I absolutely can’t believe Friedman would do a Joc/Santana/May trade for one year of Mookie, I think he might actually consider subbing Gonsolin for May. I have no facts to back that up……………..just a feeling. That said, I really don’t know how much Santana’s trade value is at this point.
How about Joc/Jeter Downs/Maeda? Anyone up for that?
So Theo says Madden didn’t push his players as he did the first 4 years of his 5 year managerial contract…What a freaking joke!!! You can’t fire the players can you now??? $203,079,488 25 man payroll payroll…
Every time Joe looks down the bench at Albert Pujols he’ll get acid reflux…
I said yesterday I’d love Betts roaming CF in the Ravine, but for May… No cigar!!!
Dustin and Tony Gonsolin IMO are future SP for the Blue and for a few years hopefully…
I don’t needs the BumG pitching on my club… Don’t need a SP following a player down the line yelling “don’t look at me!” Someone will take him up on it and he’ll end up gone for the year on the IL…
Go get me Cole (his potential salary/length of contract makes me spit up a lil in the back of my throat) and Bryant and I’ll be good…
RP?? I’m not sure…
Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine…
P.S. 2D2My father parked cars at Hollywood Park Race Track (the only place where windows clean people) and when Brooks was in town he would visit the ponies… My Dad would get him as close to the gate as possible so he could bail easily… This gesture got my Dad and I a few primo seats at the Big A and a autographed post card with picture in action…
You know folks, a guy named Boyer wasn’t bad either
Bleacher Report presented a trade that gave me pause today.
Betts for May, Joc and Santana.
It really have me pause as previously stated. I didn’t accept it or reject it immediately. So, it’s probably fair and would really make sense for the Sox. Joc would probably hit a million home runs in that park. May and Santana would give them a starter and a reliever who could potentially become a starter again some day. And both would come with a ton of control.
But, May is a lot to give up for 1 year of control. On top of that, he sure looks like he has Ace potential.
Comments? Would you pull the trigger on that trade?
Joe Maddon to Angels !
I know that nobody is going to like this idea, but why not, instead of trying to sign Ryu, do they go after Bumgarner? He is a playoff pitcher, it is just what we need, no matter the hatred that some feel for him, he is the type of players that this team needs.
Also a right handed batter like Castellanos or Abreu, and obviously Cole, without him, I don’t see any sense trying to sign someone else, better to continue with rookies waiting for them to develop and end up being the difference to win the world series.
But this is just my personal opinion ….
This is BellingerBuehler. I decided to change my screen name to my real name Eric. It’s a more appropriate name than using Dodger player names.
I would have much rather seen the Dodgers get to the world series and lose there instead of losing in the first round. I know the Buffalo Bills of baseball was brought up but I don’t look at it that way. I’m looking at Wikipedia right now and it has the Dodgers and Giants tied for 2nd most world series appearances (20) behind the Yankees (40). It has the Dodgers listed as the team with the 2nd most post season appearances (32) behind yet again the Yankees (54) but it hasn’t been updated to include 2019 post season, so add 1 to both the Dodgers (33) and Yankees (55).
I’ve witnessed 19 Dodger post seasons and 6 world series appearances. Interesting.
Well I wanted to let everyone know that I changed my name to a permanent name, which is my real name Eric.
I’ve always been a big Honeycutt fan but I must say I’m pleased that Prior will be in that spot next year. We’ll probably never know but I’m wondering if some of Doc’s miserable bullpen management wasn’t coming from Honey. Prior seems to be more analytically oriented than Honeycutt and we’ll soon enough find out if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but I do feel the time was ripe for a changing of the guard.
Maybe the next time Doc tries to do something stupid with his bullpen, Prior will stick his nose in and talk him out of it.
In case you missed it, Ice Cube said something to the effect that the Dodgers need some black players to win a World Series yesterday. Thoughts?
I’m rooting for the Nats all the way. I’m not as disappointed as the last two years for some reason. There’s so many reasons we should have beat them in the series. All of Doc’s moves. Pederson’s foul ball by inches with the bases loaded. The homers by Muncy and Seager that were knocked down when the storm came in DC. Smith’s almost walk off. It just seems like we didn’t get a little luck and then Doc burned down the house in the end. I still can’t believe that Doc’s coming back. But, hard to fire a guy with 106 wins and the biggest blunder probably wasn’t exclusively his idea.
Who knows, maybe Honeycutt was the one who pressed for Kershaw to pitch, or go out there in the 8th. Maybe Friedman had a big voice in the plan. Maybe Roberts was 100% responsible. Maybe Geren whispered in his ear.
We’ll never know. Now, it’s just hope that he learns with more experience, like last year and the year before that.
I remember Rube Walker, a little, at least. I remember Joe Pignatano, as well, who replaced Walker as backup catcher. When the Dodgers came to Los Angeles, I was a young boy, and I was fascinated to learn about all the players, with Vin Scully being the perfect person to introduce them all to the new LA fans. I am pretty sure I have a baseball card of Walker. One thing about the Dodgers players in those days, they mostly were very smart players, having learned “The Dodgers’ way to play baseball” from the minor league managers in the system. I certainly remember the Mets of ’69. Gil Hodges seemed like a great manager in his all-too-brief career.
I believe the Nats will win it all, the same way the Dodgers beat the Yankees in 1963, with unhitable pitching. I am not saying they have a Sandy Koufax, but their staff is built the same. Two aces that can shut down any offense and quality second tier starters. That’s how they beat us, how they beat the Cards and likly how they will win the World Series. They have time to rest and set up the starters for the series. They have their centerfielder back and have the Momentum.
I wanted them eliminated after they beat us, but in retrospect I have accepted that it was our (Doc’s) fault that we lost and I am moving on to this off season and next year. Andrew has improved the team each year and I am excited to see what he does this year.
Nothing takes the sting out of the Dodgers losing for me. And I don’t take it for granted that the Dodgers would have done the same to the Cards as the Nats did. Different circumstances and different matchups are also a factor. For the most part I didn’t watch the games. However, the first two games were very close, and likely could have gone either way. A pitch here and a pitch there, and either outcome may have been different. And even in games where the outcome is by a wider margin, the final result can turn on a pivotal play or two.
Meanwhile, scoring early and then shutting it down is not something unique to the Dodgers. The Nats did there best to make it interesting after scoring 7 in the first inning last night.
As a natural born Yankee hater, I just have one rooting interest left. Hoping that the Astros take care of business against the Yanks, and if that happens, who wins the WS will be meaningless to me. But if the Yankees get to the WS, then it will be “go Nats”.
Yes, 59, I agree, Nettles and Cey along with Arenado and others were and are great 3rd basemen. But as a young tom-boy girl, I was so entranced by Brooks so naturally followed his career and cheered for him but NOT against my Dodgers, ever.
Another great story, DC. I remember the amazing Mets WS victory and still can hear the “ya gotta believe” from Tug McGraw. I did not know about the contributions of Rube Walker but it seems like he was an intregal part of many pitchers successes. Thank you.
And AC. You and I share something in common, Brooks Robinson. He
is my favorite 3rd baseman. I called him “the vacuum cleaner at third”! I was fortunate to see him play as a minor league player with the Mounties in BC. I followed his career with Baltimore along with being an avid Dodger fan and loved the antics of Earl Weaver.
Thank you for the informative post DC!! Nice to take a break from the ongoing “it’s all Doc’s fault and let’s trade them all” discussion.
I too graduated from HS in 1969. Because of the Gil Hodges connection I followed the Mets, but was not aware of Rube Walker’s input into that team.
Congratulations to the Nats for taking care of business against the Cards. They’re World Series bound without any Home Field Advantage.
Does it take a little sting out that the team that beat us moves on to the World Series?
Good article DC. Campanella was always my favotie. I did know Walker was his backup. The rest I did not know. Those Dodger players were all pretty darn good.
Thank you DC, another enjoyable article.
DC, thanks for the article on Rube Walker. He predated me along with many of the Brooklyn teammates that you mentioned. But his story is fun to read. I was not aware that Walker was the “inventor” of the 5 man rotation. But I do remember the ’69 Miracle Mets rotation, or at least the big boys Seaver/Koosman/Ryan/Gentry. I graduated high school in 1969 so it was a good year for me anyway. Moon landing, Woodstock, and the Miracle Mets. I was already a Seaver fan because he was a Trojan, but that is when I became a lifetime fan of Nolan Ryan. The ’69 WS was one of my favorites because it involved the upstart NYM, Gil Hodges, and that rotation, and my at the time favorite AL team, Baltimore Orioles. I was a huge Brooks Robinson fan growing up.
I do enjoy these look back expose’s. It takes me back to when baseball was more a game than a business.
Sign Cole and lefty reliever Will Smith and it will be a successful off season. AF will have money from Freese retiring, letting Hill and Ryu go and trying to sign Martin at a discount. Also I would trade Peterson ,Stripling, Barnes, and Kiki for a right handed bat. Maybe Texas will take Kershaw if we eat some of the salary now that they’re opening the new ball park and Kershaw is from Texas. Maybe AF can work his magic. Hopefully Kenley opts out but that’s wishful thinking.