Walker won't forget home opener

By Kevin Gorman, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/
Friday, April 8, 2011

PITTSBURGH - APRIL 07: General view of PNC Park during the Opening Day ceremonies before the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Colorado Rockies on April 7, 2011 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Neil Walker told himself before Thursday's game against the Colorado Rockies that he needed to "calm down" his emotions and realize it was just another game with the Pirates.

Even though he knew it really wasn't.

Walker wears not only No. 18 for the Pirates but the tag as a Pittsburgh kid who realized one childhood dream when he was drafted by his hometown team out of Pine-Richland in 2004 and another when he started his first home opener at PNC Park yesterday.

"It was really, really fun to have my name announced," Walker said. "It's something you dream about as a kid in the backyard. You say, 'Now batting ...' and they call your name and the crowd goes wild. That was something special for me, certainly something I won't forget."

What was forgettable was the routine double-play ball hit by Carlos Gonzalez that Walker turned into an adventure in the first inning. His throw skipped in the dirt past shortstop Ronny Cedeno and into foul territory along the left-field line. The two-base error -- Walker's first throwing error at second base for the Pirates -- allowed Dexter Fowler to score from first for a 1-0 Colorado lead. Gonzalez advanced to third and scored on Troy Tulowitzki's sacrifice fly for a 2-0 lead before everyone was seated in what proved to be a deflating 7-1 defeat.

Walker's error set a somber tone.

"I feel like I single-handedly took the air out of the entire building in the first inning," Walker said, "and made (starting pitcher Paul Maholm's) job a whole lot harder for him."

That Walker provided a spark by singling to left to put Jose Tabata in position to score from third on Andrew McCutchen's groundout in the bottom of the first was small consolation. He wanted so badly to duplicate his heroics of six days earlier, when he delivered one of the most dramatic moments in the Pirates' Opening Day history with a grand slam against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Roberto Clemente is the only other Pirate to hit an Opening Day slam.

Walker graciously granted every pregame interview request, talking about how humbling it was to be mentioned in the same sentence as Clemente and how he hadn't quite grasped how special it was for a Pittsburgher to start for the Pirates in a home opener.

"Probably won't until somewhere down the road, where I look back and say, 'Wow, there's maybe a handful of guys that have ever gotten the opportunity to play in their hometown on Opening Day.' It's a special, special feeling," said Walker, preceded by 1962 starting shortstop Dick Groat of Swissvale. "I think you have to trick yourself, to make yourself believe that it's just another game. It is, but at the same time, obviously it's going to be a little more exciting."

You wouldn't know it by the reaction of the announced crowd of 39,392 -- an inflated attendance total if there ever was one -- which mentally checked out when the Pirates went six consecutive innings without a hit, including five straight of three-up, three-down. Fans headed for the exits after Tabata grounded into a double play to end the eighth.

Their biggest cheers of the day were for neither Walker nor Clint Hurdle, making his managerial debut at PNC Park, but rather for a guy who ran across the field in the top of the ninth. Pittsburgh's lack of passion for these Pirates makes you wonder whether Walker will be the last hometown kid to play for them. At 25, he's old enough to remember the teams of the early 1990s. Today's kids come to Pirates games to collect bobbleheads.

Walker, McCutchen and third baseman Pedro Alvarez, three first-round picks, are trying to restore some pride to the organization. They are bound to make mistakes but promise to play with passion.

Walker plays for something more: his hometown.

"He obviously is tied to this organization and this ball team a little differently, and I think he takes pride in that," Hurdle said of Walker, who went 1 for 3 with a walk and is batting .345 with two home runs and eight RBI. "I think he embraces that."

That's reason enough to cheer for Walker.

What would be a shame is if the only thing Walker remembers about his first home opener with the Pirates is that throw in the first inning. On a day when he did something special, that would be his biggest error.

Read more: Gorman: Walker won't forget home opener - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/columnists/s_731240.html#ixzz1IwgiQafq

PITTSBURGH - APRIL 07: A statue stands out in front of at PNC Park prior to the Opening Day game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Colorado Rockies on April 7, 2011 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH - APRIL 07: Former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Chuck Tanner is remembered by former World Series players during Opening Day ceremonies prior to the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Colorado Rockies on April 7, 2011 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Tanner passed away earlier this year and the Pirates will wear a #7 patch in rememberance. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

PITTSBURGH - APRIL 07: Former Pittsburgh Pirates manager Chuck Tanner is remembered with the unveiling of a banner in center field by former World Series players during Opening Day ceremonies prior to the game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Colorado Rockies on April 7, 2011 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Tanner passed away earlier this year and the Pirates will wear a #7 patch in rememberance. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)