Robert Vernon Walk (born November 26, 1956), nicknamed "The Whirly Bird", is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

, who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL) ...

(MLB) for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citize ...

(),

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...

(–), and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

(–). During his rookie season in Philadelphia, Walk recorded 11 regular season wins and a victory in Game One of the

1980 World Series The 1980 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) season. The 77th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion 1980 Philadelphia Phill ...

, his Phillies defeating the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expa ...

in six games. Traded to the Braves, he bounced between the main club and Triple-A, until being released in March 1984.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Walk was signed to a minor league contract by the Pirates and led the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Bas ...

(PCL) in

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

(ERA) and wins in , earning a trip back to the majors. He was named to the All-Star team in when he won 12 games and posted a 2.71 ERA. In his waning years, Walk served as a spot starter and swingman for the Pirates' teams that won three straight NL East titles from –. His most memorable outing being when manager

Jim Leyland James Richard Leyland (born December 15, 1944) is an American former professional baseball player, coach and manager. He serves as a special assistant to the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Leyland led the Florida Marlins to the ...

removed him from the bullpen and named him a surprise starter in Game Five of the

1992 NLCS The 1992 National League Championship Series was played between the Atlanta Braves (98–64) and the Pittsburgh Pirates (96–66) from October 6 to 14. A rematch of the 1991 NLCS, Atlanta won the 1992 NLCS in seven games to advance to their seco ...

against Atlanta. Walk tossed a complete game three-hitter to stave off elimination in a series which the Pirates would eventually lose in seven games. He was also the pitcher who was warming up in the bullpen when Francisco Cabrera hit the two-run, game-winning single against Stan Belinda, which won the series for Atlanta. Despite both Walk and Cabrera being right-handers, Leyland opted to keep Belinda (despite having walked Damon Berryhill to load the bases and giving up a deep fly ball to

Ron Gant Ronald Edwin Gant (born March 2, 1965) is an American television news anchor and former professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves (1987–1993), Cincinnati Reds (1995), St. Louis Cardinals ...

) to pitch to Cabrera. In 1993, Walk recorded an NL-worst 5.68 ERA and retired after the season.

Post-career

Walk is currently an announcer for the Pittsburgh Pirates on

AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh is an American regional sports network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit as part of the AT&T SportsNet brand of networks and is an affiliate of Bally Sports. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, the chann ...

and radio. He is also a fill-in game analyst for '' MLB on FOX'' as well as a game analyst for Peacock’s '' MLB Sunday Leadoff'' during Pirates games.

Personal

Walk is the father of three children, Tommy, Johnny, and Ronnie.

References

External links

Bob Walk
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Walk, Bob 1956 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Baseball players from California Carolina Mudcats players College of the Canyons Cougars baseball players Hawaii Islanders players Major League Baseball broadcasters Major League Baseball pitchers National League All-Stars Oklahoma City 89ers players Peninsula Pilots players People from Greater Los Angeles People from Van Nuys, Los Angeles Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates announcers Pittsburgh Pirates players Reading Phillies players Richmond Braves players Spartanburg Phillies players