Larry Walker was one of the most well-rounded and feared hitters of his generation.
Spending 17 seasons in the big leagues, including six with the Montreal Expos, a memorable decade with the Colorado Rockies and his final two seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, Walker fashioned a Hall of Fame career, an honor that was bestowed upon him in 2020.
The Maple Ridge, British Columbia native, was only the second Canadian born player to be elected to Cooperstown.
A career .314 hitter, Walker cracked over 2,000 hits and nearly 400 home runs in his career. He was a five time All Star, a seven-time Gold Glove winner, a three-time Silver Slugger and three-time National League batting champion. He received the ultimate active career individual honor by being awarded the 1997 National League Most Valuable Player award.
The affable Hall of Famer is now teaming up with San Giuseppe Cigars to release his own signature line of stogies.
Limited to 100 copies, the Larry Walker Home Plate Box will feature Walker’s own signature cigars along with a hand numbered and autographed baseball card. The collector that pulls card number 33 will win an autographed Hall of Fame bat from Walker’s own collection.
Walker is the second Canadian born HOFer and he’s also the second Canadian born HOFer to have his own signature cigar with San Giuseppe alongside legendary pitcher Ferguson Jenkins. Jose Reyes and John Daly have similar deals with the company.
71 of the 100 Walker boxes have already sold through the presale.
In a recent interview with SC Daily, Walker talks about his cigars, the significance that the number 33 has across his entire life, seeing himself on his earlies baseball cards, trying to find a way to display his major awards and much more.
Tony Reid–You’re very selective about the products you choose to be a part of and endorse. Can you speak to your passion for cigars and making the choice to create your own signature line?
Larry Walker-I was fortunate enough that Ferguson Jenkins invited me up to Chatham, Ontario for a statue dedication in his hometown a few months back. We were just sitting there and we were smoking some cigars and they just happened to be Fergie’s cigars. I was sitting there with Fergie’s agent Brad and I said it would be pretty cool if the two Canadian Hall of Famers each had a cigar. He ran with that. He called the guys at San Giuseppe. They thought that was pretty cool as well. I got to meet them and talk to them and describe what I like to smoke in a cigar.
I’m not a really strong smoker. Sometimes I don’t even get through half a cigar I will put it down and light it again and take my time. Something that is a 45-minute smoke. Something that is not too strong with a little kick to it, a little spice involved. They sent me some examples. I have some friends that are very avid smokers and they thought it was great so away we went with it.
TR-The number 33 is so intertwined with every aspect of your life, from your jersey number to the time you wake up and go to bed. Can you speak to how important it was to incorporate the number with your signature cigar?
LW-You try to find a name that would fit. One night when we were actually in Cooperstown we sitting in the back and we were talking with the guys from San Giuseppe cigars and the word Tres-Trois came out of my mouth because of the number 33. OK. We should call it the 33 cigar but that sounded kind of boring. I threw it out there. I am from Canada. They do speak French in eastern Canada. I live part of the year in Cabo San Lucas where they speak Spanish and I have played with a lot of Spanish guys so we just decided to do the threes in different languages. It fit in quite nicely, I thought. The 33 revolved around everything I do. Like you said, all of the alarms on my phone are wither 33 or 3 after the hour.
TR- You’re including a literal tobacco card in your cigar boxes. Speaking of the number 33 and the serial numbered cards inserted in the cigar boxes, getting the card serial numbered to 33 is a big deal. You will be rewarding that lucky person with an autographed bat, right?
LW-Yeah we tried to think of something. I guess I could have done the number three one as well. Being the name of the cigar and it being my jersey number, etcetera, I wanted to give that lucky person, if you want to call them that, something special. I got some Hall of Fame bats at my house, so I thought why not? Whoever gets this, I can ship this off to them as a little gift and something to make them happy.
TR–The image from August 18th, 1999, your Turn Ahead the Clock walk off home run is the picture of choice for the cigar artwork, your social media pages, and more. Can you speak to the importance of including that great shot in the design of the cigar product?
LW-I don’t think I have a lot to choose from. That was a 4 to 1 win for us. I hit a home run in the first inning off Kevin Millwood. It was a 1-1 game going into the bottom of the ninth inning. That picture right there was after a three run walk off home run off John Rocker. I don’t often celebrate too big when I hit home runs but that one just felt good. John Rocker is tough on lefthanders. He is up there as a fierce competitor. I got a curveball hanging on the inside and I was able to turn on it and keep it fair. It just felt good, I guess. Congratulations to the cameraman who did all the work and caught me at the right time.
TR–You’ve had an amazing 6,745 total cards produced, with your very first being in 1985 when you played for the Utica Blue Sox. Your official rookie cards came a few years later in 1990 in a wide array of products including Bowman, Donruss, Fleer, Leaf, Topps, Upper Deck and more. What was the experience like seeing yourself on a baseball card for the first time?
LW-That first one in Utica, I see that one pop up every now and then and I see that mustache that I worked on for my whole life and not wearing a ball cap properly when I had hair back then, my hair was in the front of my cap hanging down. There were a lot of interesting learning curves on how to wear a hat. Seeing the card and having that starting with that first one and then you get into the ones they make now, the thick ones with your jersey in them and everything, it never gets old seeing all of these cards.
I never forget where I came from or what I became. It’s quite thrilling to see all of the new cards that come out. Topps sends me a ton of stuff and they being into town when I’m available. Panini is another one. I sit down and try to put the best signature on them that I can. It takes me awhile to do them. There is no point in signing stuff if it’s just a bunch of scribbles. I try to make my signature legible so people know who it is.
TR- How have your interactions been with fans over the years?
LW-For the most part, people are great when they come up. It’s usually the same line ’I hate to bother you but… I’m going to.’ For the most part they are good. You run into a few who may have tipped the bottle up a little too much and they get a little more daring. I try to nicely tell them I’m putting a fork full of food in my mouth right now. Do you think this can wait until later? That doesn’t sit well with them. They come up with one or two things to sign. It’s not like they come up with 12 like you get in the mail sometimes. It’s gone well over the years.
TR–Did you collect baseball cards as a kid? Do you have a collection today?
LW-I vaguely remember collecting some but I wouldn’t call it collecting. I was just trying to find them to put them in my spokes of my tires so they made neat noises in my tires when I rode around. That’s what I remember getting baseball or hockey cards for.
TR- Do you have memorabilia and special items displayed in your home?
LW-In my house in Florida my office has some stuff in it. I don’t have much out for everybody to see. That has changed over the years. Everybody gave me crap. I had one buddy who came over one time. He went to go to the bathroom but he went in the wrong door and it was a closet. He opened it up and one of my Gold Glove balls came rolling out of the closet. It was sitting in there doing nothing.
I am very grateful and humbled by them all but I didn’t have anywhere to put them. Part of me felt embarrassed to put them up everywhere. People would walk in and it would look like a shrine of me digging myself. I have since put some stuff up in my house that celebrates my career a little bit. Most of it is in my office but I have finally given in and said OK, people want to see it. They come over and they want to see stuff, so I put some of the awards out to they can see them.
TR-When can we expect to see the cigar line available to the masses? What has the response been from the people close to you to this point in the game?
LW-The first shipment should be going out here within the week. The leaves have been drying for a few months and they are ready to get rolling here. I have some people down here in Cabo San Lucas, I am down here as we speak. I have people down here who have ordered asking me when they will be going out. They are excited to try them. I have one box down here with me. I haven’t even told a lot of the guys that I have it. When I am smoking one right now I take a different one so they don’t see me with mine and ask where in the hell theirs is. I am being very secretive with it with them. I don’t want them to think I am holding out on them. They are going out soon and I look forward to hearing everybody’s reaction. The couple that I have given out I have gotten a great response from them so I am looking forward to it.
