For the past year, we have seen the magic that can happen when a player plays for the team he rooted for throughout his entire life. Steven Matz is an astounding 11-1 as a Met. Not only has he become a beloved Met, but his grandfather has become a beloved figure as well. It doesn’t get any better than that.
However, what happens after that? What happens when the team you love decides they are better off without you?
Twenty years ago, that was what happened to Bernard Gilkey. Gilkey was born and raised in St. Louis. In 1984, Gilkey was signed as amateur free agent. Six years later, Gilkey made his major league debut for his hometown team. In six years, Gilkey played very well for the Cardinals. He hit .284/.354/.431. In his four seasons as a starter, he had a 117 OPS+. Then, after the 1995 season, the Cardinals decided they could do better than him as they had Ron Gant, Ray Lankford, and Brian Jordan. This facilitated a trade to the Mets.
Gilkey responded by going 2-for-4 with a homerun and two RBI on opening day against those same St. Louis Cardinals. It was the first step in what turned out to be a career year for Gilkey. Gilkey hit .317/.393/.562 with 30 homers and 117 RBI.
He set a still standing Mets record of 44 doubles. He had a 155 OPS+. It stands out as the greatest season a Mets left fielder has ever had and it’s also among the Top 10 seasons ever for a Mets position Player, maybe even Top 5.. Gilkey responded to the heartbreak of leaving his hometown team, the team that drafted him with a career year.
This year Neil Walker finds himself in the same situation that Gilkey did twenty years ago. And he is responding in a very similar fashion with aplomb.
Moreso than Gilkey was to St. Louis, Walker was to Pittsburgh as far as their emotional and personal connections. Neil’s father was even good friends with legendary Pittsburgh icon and baseball hero Roberto Clemente.
Neil Walker walks this earth because Clemente urged his father not to get on that plane that fateful night. Walker was born in Pittsburgh, and he grew up in their suburbs. He was the Pirates first round pick in 2004, and he made his debut with the team in 2009.
Walker was an important part of the make-over of the Pirates from a team that had a record 20 consecutive losing seasons to a team that had made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons. Despite all of this, the Pirates decided Walker was too expensive, and they traded him to the Mets.
Like Gilkey, Walker is responding with a career. year. Walker has already hit 13 home runs this season. That’s a 38 homerun pace, which would shatter his career high of 23. He is hitting .279/.348/.505. The OBP stands to be his second highest ever, and his slugging percentage would be a new career high. His 131 OPS+ would also be a career high. Perhaps more important than any of this is the fact that Walker is now a true switch hitter.
Before coming to the Mets, Walker only hit .261/.306/.338 with only six homeruns against lefties. This year, he’s hitting .341/.396/.727 with five home runs. He’s nearly doubled his career home run total. He’s gone from being meek against lefties to being a force in the lineup against lefties.
Like Gilkey before him, being traded from your hometown team and coming to the Mets has been the best thing ever to happen for Walker as a player, and the timing couldn’t be better as he gets set to test free agency after this season.
