With two outs and runners on first and third in the top of the eighth inning, Adam Brett Walker II hooked a double down the left field line off Jacob Barnes, a pitching prospect for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Both runners scored, and the Scottsdale Scorpions took a 6-3 lead over the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League (AFL) championship game.
The scene played out at Scottsdale Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 21, and Scottsdale hung on 6-4 to win their third championship in 24 seasons.
A former Milwaukee Lutheran Red Knight, Walker was 2-4 with 3 RBI to win his third championship in the past two and a half years of professional baseball.
Walker and six other Minnesota prospects were joined by players, coaches and trainers from the Tigers, Indians, Red Sox and Giants for the 24th season of the AFL. Prospects from the Royals, Yankees, Rangers, Cardinals and Brewers played for the Saguaros.
This past season, 27 former first-round draft picks played in the AFL, long considered the graduate school for top prospects. Roughly 60 percent of those assigned to the league have made the big leagues.
The two played college ball in the Atlantic Sun conference, Walker for Jacksonville University, and Barnes for Florida Gulf Coast. The two also faced one another this past season in the Southern League.
Of their previous encounters, Barnes said, "He had the power back then and could swing it. We had heard that he was kind of raw and that there were different ways you could pitch him, but if you made a mistake he would definitely hit it.
"I think I struck him out once, and he grounded out to first the other time. I got lucky the two times I faced him, but I definitely witnessed him getting some off our guys."
The 24-year-old Milwaukee native has been around sports his entire life. Both his parents were great athletes at Carthage College. His dad played one year in the NFL as a replacement player with the Minnesota Vikings and currently coaches at Concordia University.
The younger Walker played baseball, basketball and football before settling on baseball, his true love. In three years at Jacksonville, he hit .359 with 41 home runs and 174 RBI in 168 games.
While he resides in Jacksonville during the offseason, he still considers Milwaukee home and loves everything but the weather, which really isn’t conducive to getting baseball work done in the offseason.
He does come home a couple of times a year to see family and friends. He can usually be seen at a Bucks game or hanging out on Water Street with his friends. After a long nine month season, he spent Thanksgiving with his family and some of his grandmother’s barbecue ribs.
The Twins selected Walker in the third round of the 2012 draft. The thinking behind drafting him was simple.
Twins director of player development Brad Steil said, "We liked his overall offensive potential that he showed in college. On top of that, he is a really good kid, a person that works hard and a great teammate; those qualities were factors in drafting him so high."
While he has proven to be a prodigious home run hitter during his brief pro career, he has also struggled with plate discipline.
He made his pro debut in the summer of 2012 with Elizabethton of the Appalachian League. In 58 games, he batted .250 with 14 home runs, 45 runs batted in and 76 strikeouts.
He spent all of his first full season at Low-A Cedar Rapids of the Midwest League. His 27 home runs, 109 runs batted in, 267 total bases and 115 strikeouts led the league, and his .278 batting average is the highest of his pro career.
The following year, he was a key member for the Florida State League champion Fort Myers Miracle. While his average dropped to .246, he again led the league with 25 home runs, 94 RBI and tied for first with 156 strikeouts.
This past season, he played for AA Chattanooga of the Southern League along with several Ft. Myers teammates. He contributed to another and again led the league in homers (31), RBI (106) and strikeouts (195).
While ballplayers are naturally judged by their numbers, that isn’t what comes up most when people talk about Adam Brett Walker.
Scorpions manager Matt Quartraro said, "His power is remarkable, but the first thing that stands out is how humble he is and what a nice person he is. He works extremely hard and has been really diligent in doing the things the Twins have asked of him. When he hits a ball, it’s something else."
One night during batting practice, he stepped to the plate, and after depositing a ball out onto the street, everybody on the field stopped what they were doing to watch him hit the next four pitches deeper and higher than the first.
When asked to assess Walker’s career Steil said, "He has to continue to work on his strike zone discipline and not chasing pitches out of the zone, in particular breaking pitches. He goes through stretches where he shows improvement, and sometimes he takes a step back."
In 20 AFL games, Walker was among the league leaders in homers (5, T2nd), RBI (18, 4th) and strikeouts (37, T1st) while batting .240. He also was the starting DH for the East team in the Fall Stars Game and went 0-2.
Before his championship game heroics, he was in a four-game, 0-15 slump with 11 strikeouts and one run batted in. The fact that the big hit came off of his "friendly-nemesis" shows that he is making key adjustments in key situations.
He knows that he has to improve his plate discipline and not chase after pitchers’ pitches out of the zone. On days when he was not in the starting lineup, he made sure to get extra work in the outfield.
The only things flashy about Adam Brett Walker are his socks, and you won’t even see those because he only wears them when he wears his pants long.
Scottsdale and Chattanooga hitting coach Chad Allen said, "He’s a great kid who doesn’t talk much, but when he does, he is very well spoken, very humble and as everybody knows he’s got tremendous power. He listens to you and tries everything you ask him to do. You can’t find much better character than Adam Brett."
