Fall 2008 - Austin Peay State University
Fall 2008 - Austin Peay State University
Fall 2008 - Austin Peay State University
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Living a dream<br />
‘Cat’ Walker tells journey<br />
to playing baseball in the<br />
big leagues<br />
By Brad Kirtley<br />
Director, APSU Sports Information<br />
The 90-mile-per-hour<br />
fastball is no longer an<br />
option, replaced by a<br />
slider and change<br />
up. The over-thetop,<br />
left-handed<br />
throwing motion<br />
has been altered<br />
by a three-quarter<br />
delivery, sometimes<br />
side-arm slinging<br />
motion. His hairline,<br />
peppered with gray, has<br />
receded. Even the name has<br />
changed since <strong>Austin</strong> <strong>Peay</strong> last<br />
saw him pitch.<br />
Jamie “Cat” Walker is in his ninth<br />
season as a major league pitcher,<br />
his second with the Baltimore<br />
Orioles. The face of <strong>Austin</strong> <strong>Peay</strong><br />
baseball during the early 1990s, he<br />
held several school records and<br />
was the Ohio Valley Conference‘s<br />
Pitcher of the Year in 1992.<br />
Four more left-handed pitchers<br />
would follow Walker as OVC<br />
Pitcher of the Year, including one<br />
who did not earn such distinction,<br />
George Sherrill, Walker’s teammate<br />
on the Orioles roster. Walker also<br />
was a 10th-round draft choice of<br />
the Houston Astros in June 1992. At<br />
that point, he was the highest drafted<br />
Governor in <strong>University</strong> history.<br />
“His name was on everything<br />
(pitching records) and he was the<br />
Continued on Page 16<br />
14 <strong>Austin</strong> <strong>Peay</strong>
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