Born:(1929-03-07)March 7, 1929 Lenoir, North Carolina, U.S.
Died: March 24, 1971(1971-03-24) (aged 42) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Right
Teams
Chicago Cubs (1961–1970)
Verlon Lee Walker (March 7, 1929 – March 24, 1971) was an American catcher in minor league baseball and a coach for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball from 1961 through 1970. He was also known as Rube Walker, nicknamed after his more famous older brother Albert, who preceded him as a catcher in the Chicago farm system. Albert played 11 seasons in the Major Leagues with the Cubs and Brooklyn Dodgers, and was an MLB pitching coach for three clubs, most notably the New York Mets.
Born in Lenoir, North Carolina, Verlon Walker never rose higher than eleven total games in the Double-A Texas League and Southern Association as a minor league catcher (1948–50; 1953–61). He turned to managing in 1957 as the playing skipper of the Paris Lakers of the Class D Midwest League, where he enjoyed his finest season as a hitter, batting .321 with 20 home runs. A left-handed batter who threw right-handed, Walker stood 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and weighed 210 pounds (95 kg).
In 1961, he was appointed to the Cubs' College of Coaches, a rotating team of instructors and "head coaches" created as an experimental alternative to the traditional baseball hierarchy of a manager and a coaching staff. He was a member of this group for the five years of its existence, then was retained when Leo Durocher was named the Cubs' manager for 1966. However, that year Walker discovered he was suffering from acute myeloid leukemia.[1][2] After treatments offered a remission from the illness, he served under Durocher through the 1970 season, initially serving as third-base coach and then moving to the bullpen. Upon the retirement of Joe Becker, Walker was poised to become the Cubs' new pitching coach for 1971. But a recurrence of leukemia caused his death on March 24, 1971, in Chicago at the age of 42.
Upon his death, the Cubs established the Verlon "Rube" Walker Leukemia Center at Northwestern Memorial Hospital,[2] which still exists today as the Rube Walker Blood Center.
^Newspaper article, The Associated Press, 2013-11-28
^ abTribute blog established by Walker's daughter, Leigh Ann Young
Verlon Lee Walker (March 7, 1929 – March 24, 1971) was an American catcher in minor league baseball and a coach for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball...
included Tappe, Charlie Grimm, Goldie Holt, Bobby Adams, Harry Craft, VerlonWalker, Ripper Collins and Vedie Himsl. Each coach would serve as "head coach"...
Morrie Steevens (1959) Tom Sunkel (1950–1954, MGR) Harry Taylor (1955) VerlonWalker (1957–1959, MGR) Jim Zapp (1952) Paris Lakers players "1908 Paris Parisians...
(1954) Jimmy Stewart (1960) Thurman Tucker (1955–1956, MGR) MLB All-Star VerlonWalker (1960, MGR) Jesse White (1954) Tony York (1958, MGR) Carlsbad Potashers...
Williams Other batters 5 Joey Amalfitano 25 Jimmy Stewart Manager 2 Leo Durocher Coaches 5 Joey Amalfitano 3 Joe Becker 7 Pete Reiser 4 VerlonWalker...
Dodger pitcher. Walker is prominent in many of these stories. A younger brother, Verlon "Rube" Walker, was nicknamed after him; Verlon was a minor league...
Spangler 26 Billy Williams Other batters 6 John Stephenson Manager 2 Leo Durocher Coaches 5 Joey Amalfitano 3 Joe Becker 7 Pete Reiser 4 VerlonWalker...
Preceded by VerlonWalker Chicago Cubs pitching coach 1971 Succeeded by Larry Jansen Preceded by Don Osborn Pittsburgh Pirates pitching coach 1973 Succeeded by...
Bobby Adams, Dick Cole, Ripper Collins, Goldie Holt, Fred Martin and VerlonWalker. The team improved to 64–90, four games better than their 1960 record...
Himsl, Jim Bottomley, Halley Wilson and Burdette Thurlby D Paris Lakers Midwest League VerlonWalker D Ponca City Cubs Sooner State League Don Biebel...
Mueller D Morristown Cubs Appalachian League Red Hayworth D Paris Lakers Midwest League VerlonWalker D Carlsbad Potashers Sophomore League Walt Dixon...
Joe Macko C St. Cloud Rox Northern League George Freese D Palatka Cubs Florida State League Hal Jeffcoat, Bobby Adams, Ripper Collins and VerlonWalker...
Magruder Tuttle – real admiral in the U.S. Navy Rube Walker – MLB catcher Verlon "Rube" Walker – MLB coach with the Chicago Cubs from 1961 to 1970 "National...
Dick Wilson D Pulaski Cubs Appalachian League Hersh Martin D Paris Lakers Midwest League VerlonWalker D Carlsbad Potashers Sophomore League Tony York...
VerlonWalker, 42, coach for the Chicago Cubs from 1961 until his death, and former minor-league catcher and manager; younger brother of Rube Walker....
Cavarretta C St. Cloud Rox Northern League Fred Martin D Morristown Cubs Appalachian League Nelvin Cooper D Carlsbad Potashers Sophomore League VerlonWalker...
Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC, where he appeared with Verlon Thompson. On June 20, 2009, Clark announced a new album titled Somedays...
Family Shenandoah Ryan Shupe & The RubberBand Russell Smith Jo-El Sonnier Verlon Thompson Cyndi Thomson Trader-Price Tanya Tucker Steve Wariner Emily West...
Global Information