The 2024 Louisiana Legends Interview series is brought to you by presenting sponsor, the Gayle and Tom Benson Charitable Foundation, our premiere sponsor.

Fishman Haygood, LLP.

Our platinum sponsor, Joan Swanson, Haydel with additional support provided in part by Louisiana Lottery and Roy Martin with the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.

He's a big Christian.

He's obviously a great athlete.

He's just.

He's unbelievably special.

He's gifted whatever he puts his heart and hands and mind to, he always brings it to legendary status.

We're really proud, to have had to.

Walker not only is a great player, but a great person.

Happy to be sitting here with 2024 legend Todd Walker.

Thank you for welcome us to your home here in Shreveport.

I know, I'm sure they described you as this.

As a high school student.

I didn't get to know it.

I covered your days at LSU.

You were always described as being so naturally gifted, but you also had a very good work ethic after practice and all the extra time.

Where did you get that from?

Well, the funny thing is, back then you weren't able to advertise how much you were working.

Now you can throw it on Instagram that, hey, it's four in the morning and I'm still in the cage right here, you know?

But back then nobody knew.

And so for me, yeah, I would I loved it.

That was the main thing.

So I loved hitting, whether it was in the cage or in a, in an actual game.

I just loved kind of figuring it out, going up the middle the other way, trying to, you know, just to work on some things, the offspeed versus the fastballs and being able to adjust to the tempo and timing of everything.

And so, you know, there are plenty of these examples, but I remember going over five in New Orleans, dead air down there.

So I don't go anywhere.

I never liked playing Tulane or Uno.

But we go out and play there.

Didn't get a hit.

And I remember coming back turning lights on at what was then Alex Boch Stadium.

Mike Neal and I hit all night like the sun actually came up.

And then we go and eat breakfast, and then I can't remember if we went to school or not that day, but, but that was the kind of stuff we would do.

And again, you know, nobody would ever know any of that back, back in the early 90s.

But I loved it.

That was the main thing.

Because you're not gonna you're not gonna put a lot of effort in anything you don't love to do.

from looking at the fences at a high school to playing at the box in front of 8000, eventually expanded at the 10,000 and beyond.

Obviously a very pivotal moment for you.

if you go back to that part that you were at LSU, a decade of dominance, there's a reason why there's denominator out in right field at the box with all those national championship pictures, and you were part of that.

Could you ever imagined that you would have been a part of something that made such a dominant run in college baseball?

No, I knew Skip Berman.

I knew we had some elements.

Smoke.

Laval.

Mike Bianco, who has proven now that, you know, he was special in the world of baseball, Dan Canterbury was our pitching coach.

So I knew the coaching staff was elite, within the country.

But we mentioned there were some others Oklahoma State head Gary Ward and, you know, holiday and, you know, Ron Polk at Mississippi State.

So there were there were definitely some contenders.

But I knew that we had the elements in place.

A lot of other friends would go, hey, we're going to go to the.

We're going to go have fun.

You can catch up with his later.

We learned from the beginning.

This guy is different and he's striving for perfection or whatever he is going to do in life.

We knew it was going to be, you know, off the charts.

Todd's talent and work ethic led him to Louisiana State University, where he became a standout star, guiding the Tigers to a College World Series championship in 1993.

Todd was the best three year player that I have ever had at Louisiana State University.

He was great as a freshman, a sophomore and a junior.

And of course, he won the national championship and he was player of the year in 1993.

He can do it all.

So let's transition from LSU.

You're waiting for that draft announcement and it goes very high.

Top ten.

Can you take us back to what that meant?

You talk about your wanting to hit a goal.

You were looking at high school fans, then you wanted to have success at LSU.

I'm sure at some point my goal is to play and sure enough, number eight comes around and your name is called.

I think the cool thing for me was that I wasn't the kid that had a favorite Major League Baseball team, or that one day I'm going to play in the big leagues.

I kind of lived in the moment, and I think if you ever talk to anybody that tells you about how you're going to play, the best you can play is not to look ahead, but to be right in the moment.

And on that day and do what you can to get 1% better.

And so for me, I wasn't really overly concerned about the draft until the day it came, But that was a special moment, because when you go from eating, you know, at McDonald's three times a day to now, all of a sudden you're about to sign a, you know, a first round bonus, it changes your life.

And it really did more than the money, because, again, people know how quickly that can go.

But it was more just the fact that now, son, I felt a little freedom and a little accomplishment from what I had been doing now, again, I wasn't working to get paid, but, but when you get paid because of the job you did and because that you love to do it was it was really kind of gratifying for me.

And Todd's professional journey was set in motion in 1994.

The Minnesota Twins selected Todd in the Major League Baseball draft.

He was selected the eighth pick.

So, I mean, there were only seven people in the country.

That they figured would be a better shot to make the big leagues than he left handed hitter.

Todd rapidly ascended the major leagues, showcasing a blend of hitting prowess and on field intelligence.

His career spanned 12 seasons with several teams, including the twins, Colorado Rockies, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres, and Oakland Athletics.

While he faced both triumphs and trials, his clutch hitting, resilience and overcoming injuries and ability to adapt to new teams made him a pivotal player in every lineup he joined.

You know, baseball's, a failure sport, he likes to say, which is very true.

You're only going to get a hit three times out of ten times.

You go up there and hit.

And he could do it with the best of them.

Sports information Palmer from LSU said that we have seven former players that are in the major leagues.

Like Todd was, it's so rare or that it's, hundreds of thousands to one that you can make it.

But to stay there for as long as he did for double digit years puts you in the top 2% of the 20% of all people that have played big league ball.

You've talked about coaches.

You've talked about players.

Let me ask about the impact.

I want to get off the diamond for a second.

And first, let me start with Faith and how that has helped carry you through this journey, starting in high school, but through college, through the majors, through all the changes and what that has meant for you.

always said, especially when you're playing in the big leagues or have certain things in your life, you got to believe in something bigger than yourself because we can't do this thing alone.

This thing called life.

I mean, it's just, at times it's extremely difficult.

And, And so that was my faith.

That's where the faith came in, is just believing that there's a there's a, higher reason for doing what I'm doing other than, you know, just getting hits.

And I truly, truly believe that.

And there were some the team functions that that kind of played a part in that as well.

So like my sophomore year when we end up winning the national championship, we were number one to start the year, preseason number one, and we finished number one.

So we basically went wire to wire.

I don't know if we held on to that one the whole year, but we'd have a chapel service and every kid would be there.

Every player on our team was there.

Not not because they were forced, but because of the unity and kind of the, the belief system and everything else that that goes with, you know, believing in something bigger than yourself.

And so that's what we did.

Now, God doesn't promise you're gonna win national championships, and he doesn't promise you're gonna hit 400 or anything like that.

But you got to believe.

And you got to believe that.

That there's an ultimate goal.

And within that, you know, I would go in and I'd be like, give me the give me the power to to, you know, face Roger Clemens or, because I don't feel like I'm capable of doing any of this.

And because of the prayer life that I have and, the belief system, it made me believe just a little bit that I could compete at that level.

I was fortunate enough to hear some of the meetings that you would have with Skip Bourbon on the field before the game and after the game, and I remember he was he would always tell you all as you would close it out.

You represent your maker.

You represent your school.

But in between there he would talk about family.

And that's the other one I want to ask you about, what did the family mean to you during this journey?

Well, it was special, You know, I remember there were plenty of nights on the road where if I made an error or struck out in a in a key spot in the game, I had a hard time sleeping, you know, and and then you'd pop up early and, and, you know, you need that sleep and you need that stuff.

But I wasn't getting it.

Because I was, I felt like in my own life I was a perfectionist.

And so I had to if it and and it's probably the worst thing to be if you're a baseball player.

Because you gotta let things go.

And I had a hard time doing that now.

Made me better in some aspects, but other aspects, just struggled.

So it was nice to have a home life and a family life that you could get away.

Katie and Riley and Jackson and Presley and Shay were a big cornerstone for my life, for the times that I played in the big leagues and the reason why I had enough sanity to go back and get after it the next day.

Last question for you.

the Todd Walker, with a national championship and 12 years in the majors, is talking to the Todd Walker with his hands on the fence at their line, looking over, thinking, one day I'm going to play varsity.

What would you tell them?

It's all going to be okay.

I mean, you have so many, so much anxiety and so much, you know, your goals and your dreams and everything.

I remember just thinking, you know what?

If I don't make it?

What if this happens or that and you have all these doubts in your head and worries and, I still don't feel like, I've conquered that, you know, but, but, you know, God tells you, don't worry.

But I do know that if you don't strike out, you have a chance and put the ball in play, and that's and that hasn't changed.

And so, so for me, you know, it's just I've been very blessed and it's been a special, special deal for me.

Well, it was an honor for me personally to cover your career.

It's been a while, as I've seen you have.

Congratulations on being an LGBT legend in Louisiana, and I appreciate your time.

Thanks for bringing.

Yes, the LP legend thing was really, really cool.

I mean, that was special, especially the people we were with Sam Nader, Wendell Pierce and, you know, the guys that I was around them.

And then they start to realize, wow, this is pretty cool.

And so to be honored by your home state, and this is why I've stayed here.

Because I love the state of Louisiana.

It was it was really, really, really cool.

Thanks, doc.

All right, all right.

The 2024 Louisiana Legends Interview series is brought to you by presenting sponsor, the Gayle and Tom Benson Charitable Foundation, our premiere sponsor.

Fishman Haygood, LLP.

Our platinum sponsor, Joan Swanson, Haydel with additional support provided in part by Louisiana Lottery and Roy Martin with the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.