Larry Walker statue unveiled at Coors Field

DENVER — It was well past time for a statue of an actual Rockies player outside of Coors Field.

A statue of an unnamed baseball player has long stood watch at the intersection of 20th and Blake. But with a pair of BasebalL Hall of Fame inductees in the last six years, one of the few things missing from the Rockies’ home stadium was a commemoration of its franchise legends to match the displays that exist in Chicago, St. Louis, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Baltimore and other major-league outposts.

And as Larry Walker related after unveiling the statue of him outside the home-plate entrance to Coors Field, owner Dick Monfort knew it was time to have a statue of a someone who “actually wore the uniform.”

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Walker unveiled the statue dedicated to him Sunday morning, forever capturing in bronze the celebratory raise of the bat that followed a three-run, walk-off home run against the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 19, 1999.

“Now, to have a statue outside of this ballpark, that’s an honor that’s pretty tough to put into words,” Walker said.

“When I came here, my job was to keep moving — hit the ball, run the bases, chase fly balls in the gap, do anything I could to help us win. And now, here I am, frozen in bronze. I guess that’s a way to slow me down.”

Several of his former Rockies teammates were on hand, including Vinny Castilla and Todd Helton, the latter of whom will see his statue unveiled Sept. 19. Walker thanked them, his family and his father, choking up when he shared how his father — now 88 years old and still umpiring youth games in British Columbia — instilled a lifelong love of the game in him.

Walker already belonged to the ages in Denver. Now the statue representing his likeness will become an iconic spot in LoDo.

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