MLB Broadcaster Bob Walk Celebrates 31st Season With Club

There isn't much Bob Walk doesn't know about the Pittsburgh Pirates.

When spring training began this past February in Bradenton, Florida for the Pirates, Walk,67, began prepping at home in Pennsylvania's Allegheny County for his 31st season as one of the eyes and ears for fans listening to games on the radio or watching on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh.

Along with his partners Greg Brown and Joe Block, the play-by-play voices, and he is a color analyst, Walk connected decades back with Pirates Nation. There's no hype in his explaining in what he and the cameras are picking up.  No need. Walk has earned their respect.  There's no blathering going on.  There's no self-promotion. Walk is a baseball guy, and has been for a very long and celebrated time.

During his 14-year MLB career as a pitcher, of which came to his being selected to the 1988 National League all-star squad, and as a rookie in 1980 with the Philadelphia Phillies a World Series championship, 10 of those seasons were with the Pirates.

When his meritorious playing career came to an end, Walk hadn't planned on jumping into the broadcast booth.  But, with the Pirates, longevity calling ball games remains the norm.  Walk's partner Brown has also begun his 31st season as a voice of the National League Central club.  The late Bob Prince, who in 1986 was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as a broadcaster, was behind Pirates' microphones for 28 years.

Pittsburgh World Series hero Steve Blass, when he hung up his spikes, for 34 seasons was a voice of reason for fans tuned into home and away games.

Shortly before Walk and Block were to be seen on TV to give the call of one of the last remaining Grapefruit League exhibitions this past March, I made my way into the Pirates' broadcast booth.  So little time, so many questions, and a slight case of nerves being an arms length from a bonified baseball legend, it's times like this you only get one shot to get the answers you're looking for.

Walk delivers as expected. Not only was he relaxed, the former Pirates' pitcher who was part of the teams that won three consecutive National League East titles (1990-1992), made this reporter feel at ease, and most importantly, welcomed.

Having thrown his last MLB pitch on September 29, 1993 with the Pirates, it didn't take the native Californian to transition to the next phase of life in using his baseball expertise.  Amazingly, Walk isn't the only MLB alumni to have come out of Hart High School in Newhall (CA).  Pitchers Trevor Bauer, Tyler Glasnow, and James Shileds, along with former catcher/infielder Todd Zeile all began gaining pro scouts' attention while part of the baseball program at Hart High.

What jumps out most about Walk's playing days that I wanted to concentrate on during the limited amount of time allotted were the Hall of Fame managers he took direction from.

My first query about his past skippers was on Jim Leyland.  Elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame this past December, Leyland managed the Pirates for 11 seasons (1986-1996).  Known during his managing days as a straight-forward speaking, often gruff tempered man of the dugout, Walk remembers his seasons with Leyland as a "great guy to play for."

"I was let go by the Atlanta Braves (March 26, 1984). As a free agent, that was a good time to be in Pittsburgh" said Walk, who earned a 105-81 career win-loss record, and during the 1991 season hit his lone home run of his big league career.  "The club had really good pitching, with Doug Drabek and John Smiley. We were a young club, and Jim was the right guy to be managing us."

Walk remembers playing for Leyland as a man who would look you straight in the eye, tell you what his plans were for you, and you knew he meant every word.  Labeling Leyland a "fantastic leader", Walk tells of his former skipper being able to spot talent, and put that player in the right spot on the lineup that would make the club better.

Bobby Cox is another resident of 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York (Class of 2014) who Walk was privileged to have played for.  During the 1981 season, Walk appeared in 12 games for Atlanta, for a total of 43.1 innings. This was MLB's split season; when the game experienced a 50-day strike.  But, Cox has left a positive influence in Walk's life.

"You always knew where you stood with Bobby," explains Walk.  "You would want to run through a wall for him."

For Walk's final two seasons with the Braves before coming over to the Pirates, Joe Torre (Hall of Fame Class of 2014) ran the Atlanta clubhouse.  This was a time where Walk believes his new manager was"finding his way" as a manager, and figuring out what works, with the roster he inherited.

"We (Braves) needed a different voice in the clubhouse. What a talented team we had in 1982.  Our team started the season with a 13-game winning streak," says Walk of a club that included Dale Murphy, Bob Horner and future hall of famer Phil Niekro on its roster.

Two other managers who Walk took direction from, although aren't enshrined in the Cooperstown museum, offer special memories to him.

As a rookie on the Phillies' World Series winning club, Dallas Green called the shots from the dugout.

"Dallas was a hard-nose, old school, get-in-your-face, big man," Walk recalls that magical season of 44 seasons ago.  "At that time I had been in the Phillies' system for three seasons. I was a teenager when I signed in 1976."

With a smile, and a noticeable short pause thinking back to his early years in the game, Walk remembers Green as a man he and others grew to fear. His deep barrel voice always had the attention of his players in the clubhouses and dugouts.

"I think the Phillies thought the clubhouse was becoming a country club , with Danny Ozark as manager in 1979.  The team was underachieving is what was being said. Dallas was brought in, the players adjusted to his style. He didn't treat us like kids."

The first two seasons Walk pitched for Pittsburgh (1984 - 1985), it was Chuck Tanner who was his manager.

"Chuck is the reason I became a Pirate," offers Walk, one of eight Pirates' broadcasters seen and heard throughout the season at different schedules on radio and TV game telecasts. "The Braves released me. Hank Aaron (at the time overseeing player development and the Braves' farm system) wanted to send me to Triple-A.  Johnny Sain was the Braves' Triple-A pitching coach at Richmond, Virginia then. He called Chuck, and the next day (Tanner) calls me."

As Walk remembers his initial association Tanner, who would go on to manage Pittsburgh for 9 seasons (1977-1985), he was informed that the good word that Sain put in for him was "gold", and something would be worked out that would make him a Pirate.

With time approaching to go live from Bradenton to the Pirates faithful in Western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and the surrounding regions, I exit the studio.  Walk couldn't have been more accommodating, and seemed genuinely interested in going back in time, and remembering those who influenced his career.

Don Laible is a freelance sportswriter from the Mohawk Valley, now living in Florida. He has reported on professional baseball and hockey for print, radio, and on the web since the 1980's. His columns are featured weekly at WIBX950.com. Don can be contacted via email at Don@icechipsdiamonddust.com.