He’s going to be able to throw the ball with the very best of them.” “Well, as far as the transition, I think he has made good strides,” Heinkel said. Heinkel has seen those transitions since first coaching him at age 7 at a youth baseball camp. Walker has been able to make smooth transitions to each level. “He was clearly the best power hitter I’ve had in 40 years,” Heinkel said. But I’ve seen him hit some baseballs that just left me shaking my head.”īob Heinkel, 61 and Milwaukee Lutheran’s varsity baseball coach, said Walker has stood out among the hundreds of players he has coached. I’ve been very blessed to be around some good programs and good players over the years. “In baseball, he had some raw power and probably the best raw power that I’ve seen in 27 years of coaching. “He was a pretty darn good high school quarterback, too,” Montez said. Montez recruited Walker out of Milwaukee Lutheran High, where he was a catcher.

“He kept to himself, but he absolutely loved baseball,” said Jacksonville coach Tim Montez, whose 12-year-old son has a poster of Walker hanging in his bedroom. Walker II has taken advantage of his turns.Īt Jacksonville University, Walker led the Dolphins his junior season in 2011 in batting average (.343), hits (72), runs (44), doubles (14), homers (12), RBI (42) and on-base percentage (.426). “When it’s his turn, they’ll let him know.” “My advice to him is not to worry about the next step,” said Walker I, who was an NFL replacement running back for the Minnesota Vikings in 1987 and is the defensive coordinator at Concordia University. Adam Brett Walker I, however, said he would have plenty more opportunities to see his son homer. Walker’s father, fumbling a camera, missed seeing the ball fly out of the ballpark. The whole ballpark was silent for a moment.” “I jumped up and said, ‘Wow!’ I was so excited. “But I did because I’ve been watching Adam Brett his whole life.

“It was very surreal because the ball came off the bat so fast, and it got out of the park so fast, that probably everybody in the park didn’t recognize what was happening,” Glynis Walker said. His parents sat in the stands while visiting from their Milwaukee home. Summoned by the Twins as a substitute for a big-league starter in the late innings of a game at JetBlue Park, Walker launched a baseball over the near-replica Green Monster wall against the Boston Red Sox. Walker announced his competitiveness at the end of this past spring training. Just because he’s quiet doesn’t mean he isn’t competitive.” The one thing about Walker is he works hard every day. What you show might not be who you really are. You’ve got to balance that out one way or another. At times, you’d like to see him show a little more emotion, but there are plenty of guys in the big leagues who have big personalities. “You always have to have a couple of guys like rocks. “His teammates love him,” Mientkiewicz said. Mientkiewicz said he and the Twins have no problem with Walker’s personality.

We used to have to make up stuff so that he would know the word ‘No.’ That’s the honest to goodness truth.” “He’s never gotten in trouble,” said Glynis Walker, a college volleyball and Division III national champion high jumper at Carthage College in the early 1980s. A Christian, Walker wears a silver cross around his neck, a gift from his aunt six years ago. Walker’s imposing stature and plate presence do not match his personality, which best could be described as a quiet cool.Īlthough he sometimes gets his uniform dirty, he otherwise comes across as squeaky clean. I’m just trying to keep working to become a better hitter, and we’ll see where I end up.” “My numbers will start to come around now that I’m starting to see the ball better.

“The main thing is just looking for good pitches to hit,” Walker said. Walker said he wasn’t thinking about home runs and RBI. When he swings at strikes, he’s dangerous.” But the last couple of weeks, he’s not chasing balls out of the strike zone. “A lot of guys put up really good numbers in the Midwest League and then struggle in the Florida State League. “I think we all knew that this level would be a big test for him,” Mientkiewicz said. 236 (47-for-199) with 16 walks while ranking fourth in the league with 60 strikeouts. Through his first 51 Miracle games entering Saturday, Walker led the Florida State League in home runs with 12, including the two he hit Friday night. “He had a great year last year,” Miracle manager Doug Mientkiewicz said before acknowledging Walker’s slower start this season.

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