Todd Walker

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Todd Walker (right) is welcomed into the LSU Hall of Fame by Skip Bertman

Todd Arthur Walker (born May 25, 1973 in Bakersfield, California) is a Oakland Athletics's infielder in Major League Baseball. He has previously played for the Minnesota Twins, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, and San Diego Padres.

[edit] College

Walker attended LSU where he led the Tigers to the 1993 national championship. He also earned the 1993 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award. In 2006, Walker was elected to the LSU Hall of Fame.

[edit] Professional career

In 1994, the Minnesota Twins drafted Walker with the 8th pick in the 1st Round of the amateur draft. On August 30, 1996, Walker made his major league debut with the Twins. In 1998, Walker became the starting second baseman for the Twins, hitting .316 with 12 HR, 62 RBI, and a career best 19 stolen bases.

Over the next season and a half, Walker's offensive performance began to decline, and the Twins traded Walker to the Colorado Rockies. He responded by hitting .316 through the rest of 2000 and .297 through the first half of 2001.

The Cincinnati Reds, in need of a better performance from its second base position, traded for Walker in July 2001. Walker rewarded the Reds by providing consistant offense, hitting .295 through the end of the season. In 2002, Walker enjoyed another fine year, hitting .299 with 11 HR, 64 RBI, and setting career highs with 42 doubles and 155 games played.

Following the season, the Boston Red Sox hired Theo Epstein as their new General Manager. One of his first moves was trading for Walker. During 2003, Walker continued to provide consistant offense, hitting .283 with 13 HR and setting a career high with 85 RBI. The Red Sox made the playoffs and Walker stepped up his performance again; he hit .313 with 3 HR in the Division Series against the Oakland A's, and .370 with 2 HR and hits in every game against the New York Yankees in the ALCS. The Red Sox were eliminated in 7 games. Despite his performance, Walker was allowed to leave, signing with the Chicago Cubs via free agency.

Over the next three seasons, Walker attempted to maintain his offensive performance with the Cubs, but found himself playing less, platooning with younger players. Walker hit .274 (in 2004), .305 (2005), and .277 (through July 2006). However, he began to share time at second base with younger players like Neifi Perez, and started to make appearances at first base and in the outfield.

At the end of July 2006, the San Diego Padres were attempting to make the playoffs while the Cubs were already out of the race. Before the trading deadline, the Padres acquired Walker, who became the new starting third baseman. He hit .282 down the stretch, and the Padres made the playoffs, but were eliminated in the first round by the St. Louis Cardinals.

In 2007, Walker attended Spring Training with the Padres. However, during the offseason, the Padres had restocked the team with more infielders and left-handed hitters, and after a poor performance during the exhibition season, the Padres released Walker on March 27. On March 30, 2007 he signed with the Oakland A's.