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Thursday, June 3, 2010
About two hours removed from his first major-league home run, the one that beat the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night, Neil Walker took a call from his father.
"Neil, mom and I have a bottle of champagne ready," Tom Walker said.
"I'll be right home," Neil said.
PITTSBURGH - JUNE 01: Neil Walker #18 of the Pittsburgh Pirates is congratulated by teammate Garrett Jones #46 after hitting a two-run homerun, the first of his major league career, against the Chicago Cubs on June 1, 2010 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)With that, the Pirates' new second baseman said good night to his girlfriend and drove home, to the same Pine Township house in which he'd grown up rooting for the Pirates.
Neil carried with him the scoresheet from the game — presented to him by broadcaster and ex-Pirates pitcher Steve Blass — and the ball he'd smacked over the left-field fence for a two-run home run with one out in the eighth inning. (Pirates pitchers in the bullpen gave the Cubs fan who caught the ball three autographed balls in exchange for it.)
The rousing post-game celebration had included teammate Joel Hanrahan rubbing shaving cream in Neil's face.
Back home, the scene was much quieter around midnight, as Tom and Carolyn Walker popped a bottle of champagne with their baby boy.
Tom Walker, who pitched in the big leagues for six years, spoke up.
"I said: 'There's some things you just don't forget, and I'm sure you'll never forget this,' " Tom said Wednesday. "Neil said: 'Do you remember your first win, dad?' "
How could he not? It happened in 1972, when Tom was pitching for the Montreal Expos in San Diego. Most notable was the plane ride afterward, when manager Gene Mauch broke tradition and actually got up from his bridge game to wade back into the players' section. He tapped 23-year-old Tom Walker on the shoulder and said: "Son, there's going to be a lot more of those."
"I thought: 'I hope you're right, boss,' " Tom recalled.
As it turned out, there were only 17 more of those. Tom, 61, finished his career with a record of 18-23. So he knows that one good week, like the one his son has enjoyed since being recalled from Triple-A, guarantees nothing.
But he also knows that the events of June 1, 2010, will live forever in the Walker family.
Tom and Carolyn were sitting in their seats with friends behind home plate when Neil turned on Ted Lilly's 87-mph fastball. The instant it cleared the fence, Tom thought of all the sweat his son had poured into the moment.
That hit was six-plus years in the making, from the moment the Pirates drafted Neil to all the position changes - from catcher to third base to second - to his offensive struggles at Triple-A to a brief and unproductive call-up last September to a recent scolding from Pirates management for a minor on-field indiscretion.
Nobody thought Neil would break into the big leagues as a second baseman, but here he is, a novice at the position.
A specific scene came to Tom's mind. It was the day, several years ago, when Neil came home from junior nationals. Tom was working in the yard.
"I said: 'Neil, how hard do you really want to work to play in the big leagues?' " Tom recalled. "He said: 'Dad, more than anything.' Well, he put on his working shoes, and he got it done."
Neil had barely finished rounding the bases Tuesday night when Tom was answering text messages from his two other sons, Matt and Sean, and his daughter, Carrie.Matt, 32, played five years in the minors before injuries forced an early retirement in 2004. He was watching Tuesday night on the MLB's Extra-Innings package from his home in Richmond, Va., when he fired off the following message to his dad:
"Boy, is that awesome!"
Sean, 30, was watching the FSN Pittsburgh broadcast at home in Cranberry, and Carrie, 28, was sitting at Comerica Park in Detroit. She was watching her husband, Tigers outfielder and Butler native Don Kelly, play against the Cleveland Indians.
A few hours later, after the champagne was gone, Neil Walker, the Pirates' new second baseman, retired to the same bedroom he'd slept in as a child. It doesn't look like a child's room anymore, but there is an interesting photograph on the wall, one that was taken a few years ago at spring training.
It is a shot of Neil and Bill Mazeroski hanging out at second base.
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