Neil Walker

Neil Walker, Pirates 2004 #1 draft pick (11th overall), is currently playing for the Lynchburg Hillcats. He played for the Crawdads in the 2005 season for almost a full season. He was pulled up to Lynchburg with just a few weeks left.

During the 2005 season with the Crawdads, Neil saw 485 trips to the plate. With 146 hits, he got 12 homers, 2 triples, 33 doubles, 7 stolen bases, and finished with Hickory with a .301 batting average.

Unfortunately, Neil's 2006 season with the Hillcats was off to a slow start. Neil had surgery to repair a torn ligament in his wrist in December 2005. His recovery process was slower than anticipated, so he got off to a late start with the Hillcats.

I talked to Neil briefly at Tuesday's game in Winston-Salem. He said he's feeling great and playing well. We'll have to keep our eyes on Neil's progress this season :)

BTW- Neil Walker was the first autograph I ever collected from a professional athlete. He's also the only autograph I bothered to collect during the 2005 Crawdads season. It's not because I didn't like the rest of the team... It's just that I didn't like collecting autographs :) I made a black and white print of the photo below and got his signature on it. I'm doing a little more of that now :)


John M. Setzler, Jr.
(the guy with the camera)