It?s not often that you can sign a Hall of Famer to a three-year contract for as little money as the Orioles are giving to lefty reliever Jamie Walker. OK, it?s the Austin Peay State University Athletic Hall of Fame, but, as an alumnus of that juggernaut of higher learning, it works for me.
I graduated from the Peay (that?s what we call it) a few years before Walker got there. All right, it was more than a few years. But the point is, I?ve spent the years since explaining to people that it?s not in Texas, it?s in Clarksville, Tenn., and that “Peay” is pronounced like the letter P, not like the word “pay.” Sometimes when telling people I went to Austin Peay, they?ll ask, “What does the ?P? stand for?” Suffice it to say that despite its stature academically ? and the home of one of America?s Top 10 Concert Halls ? APSU still suffers from an identity problem on a national basis. Some people only remember the cheer “Let?s Go Peay!” and little else.
Austin Peay was named for a former Tennessee governor ? hence, the nickname “Governors” for the athletic teams. The Peay has produced very few professional athletes. Their best known football player was lineman Bonnie Sloan, who played for the Cardinals and Saints in the 1970s. Sloan, a classmate if mine, was the NFL?s first deaf player. In basketball, James “Fly” Williams was one of the nation?s leading scorers while at the Peay in 1972-73. His pro career was rather unremarkable in the ABA, though he made some money in that league?s final season, pre-merger. Trenton Hassell, currently a guard with the Minnesota Timberwolves, is also a former Gov.
The first APSU baseball player to make the majors was Jimmy Stewart ? not the actor, but the former utilityman for the Cubs, Reds and Astros. Stewart left the majors after 1973, and it was 20 years before another Governor, Greg Tubbs, got a brief trial with the Braves. Jamie Walker debuted with the Royals in 1997, and fellow left-hander George Sherrill arrived with Seattle in 2004.
Walker has developed a solid reputation as a situational reliever, facing predominantly left-handed hitters. The Tigers made it plain they wanted him back, but there were other offers on the table, and the Orioles? bid (roughly $12 million) won out. It clearly was all about the money, inasmuch as Walker is 35 and might not have many additional opportunities to earn that kind of return on his ability. Geography was no factor; Walker and his family make their off-season home in Kansas.
Perhaps someone told Jamie that there?s now a local chapter of the APSU Alumni Association in the Baltimore-Washington area. I attended the chartering ceremony in October, and one of the things we discussed doing was going as a group to a game, either in Baltimore or D.C., where Jamie?s team would be the opponent. Little did the ballclub know that signing Walker would, by itself, sell tickets, and to more than just one game.
They will have to guarantee he?ll be used in those games, however. Is that asking too much?
Phil Wood has covered baseball in the Washington/Baltimore market for more than 30 years. You can reach him at [email protected].
