Chico Walker

Cleotha Walker

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 179 lb.
• High School Tilden Technical High School
• Debut September 2, 1980
• Final Game October 3, 1993
• Born November 25, 1957 in Jackson, MS USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Cleotha "Chico" Walker played eight seasons in the majors, spread out between 1980 and 1993. Most of his major league at-bats were toward the end of that time.

Walker was born in Jackson, MS and went to high school in Chicago, IL. He is one of only two players, along with Ray Searage, to reach the majors from the 22nd round of the 1976 amateur draft.

Chico began in the minors in 1976 with the Elmira Pioneers, where he played in 1977 also. After playing with the Winter Haven Red Sox in 1978, he came to the Bristol Red Sox in 1979, where he was a teammate of Wade Boggs, who was a year older than Chico. Boggs and Walker moved up to the Pawtucket Red Sox in 1980 and 1981. From 1978-1981 Chico always hit around .270. He began to show some power at the end of that period, with 17 home runs in 1981 (Sam Bowen led Pawtucket in 1981 with 27).

Boggs didn't make his major league debut until 1982, but Chico came up to the big-league team in September 1980, appearing in 19 games primarily at second base. Thereafter, through 1984, he spent most of his time at Pawtucket but came up to the majors for cups of coffee in 1981, 1983 and 1984. He began to play more outfield with Pawtucket in his years with the team. In Carl Yastrzemski's last game in 1983, Yaz took his position in left field in the top of the 9th inning, then Walker was sent out to replace him.

He was a free agent after 1984 and signed with the Chicago Cubs, who had just won their division in 1984. He spent three years in the Cubs organization from 1985 to 1987, coming up to the majors each season and getting 100+ major league at-bats the last two of these seasons, but having more at-bats with the Iowa Cubs, Chicago's AAA affiliate. He was an outfielder with Iowa.

The Cubs traded him after 1987 to the California Angels, and he appeared in 33 games with the Angels in 1988 while also playing 79 games with the Edmonton Trappers.

A free agent again, he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays and spent 1989 in the minors with the Syracuse Chiefs. After the season, the Cubs wanted him back and he signed with them as a free agent. He was in the minors in the Cubs organization in 1990, split between two teams, and hit .360 in 32 games with Iowa.

The Cubs were impressed enough that he was up in the majors in 1991, after not having played in the bigs since 1988. He got his most at-bats in 1991, batting 357 times and hitting .257 (the league hit .250 that year, which was before expansion).

In 1992, however, he was picked off waivers by the New York Mets after appearing in 19 games for the Cubs and hitting only .115. He did well with the Mets after being picked up, hitting .308 during the rest of the season in 227 at-bats. The team as a whole hit only .235, with only three of the regulars achieving a .250 batting average. Eddie Murray hit .261, Howard Johnson hit .223 and Bobby Bonilla hit .249.

1993 was his last major league season, one in which he hit .225 for the Mets in 213 at-bats. 1993 was an expansion year in which the National League as a whole hit .264. Chico was 35 years old that year.

In Chico's 15 seasons in the minors, he hit 154 home runs. In his years in the majors, defensively he appeared in 174 games in the outfield, 122 at third base, 74 at second base and a few at DH.

Walker also played in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela and Puerto Rico. He was featured in a Boston Globe article on August 9, 1991 about his long career.

His nephew, Antoine Walker, played in the NBA.

Year-By-Year Minor League Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
1999	Cook County Cheetahs	Frontier League	41-43	6th	Independent Leagues

Related Sites

• Chico Walker at the SABR Bio Project