he chances of the Red Sox prying Larry Walker from the Colorado Rockies is miniscule, particularly after Rockies management has deemed Walker ''untouchable'' in trade proposals.
Too bad.
In last night's All-Star Game there were few players who enjoyed their Fenway experience more than the man many consider the National League's best all-around player.
It wasn't that Walker hit like the .382 hitter (with 25 homers and 77 RBIs) he is at the All-Star break. He was one of five strikeout victims of ex-Montreal teammate Pedro Martinez.
''Were you throwing 400 miles per hour?'' asked Walker, posing as a member of the media during Martinez's interview session.
The Canadian-born Walker was one of the young players Dan Duquette brought along during his tenure in Montreal. The Sox general manager has tried at times to acquire Walker, as recently as this year, but was rejected.
So if Walker can't be a regular at Fenway, he decided to take a piece of the ballpark and last night's game with him.
''I'm hoping the grounds crew won't be too mad at me after what I did in right field,'' said Walker, holding up a piece of the field. ''I'm taking this home with me.''
Walker said he barely saw what Martinez was throwing. He said a combination of being in awe of the ballpark and the emotional Ted Williams ceremony prior to the game had the usually cool Walker a little overwhelmed.
''When I saw Ted out there with tears on his face I turned away because tears were starting to come to my eyes,'' he said. ''What an honor to be standing there with Ted Williams.''
He said his emotions got the best of him from the moment he got to the ballpark, seeing ''the sign that says Fenway Park and that it's not going to be here forever. A strikeout and a comebacker to the mound in the last All-Star Game at Fenway Park. I'm pretty proud of it.''
Walker has always loved Boston and was very close to former Sox manager Kevin Kennedy. He often told Kennedy he'd love to play at Fenway. But with his disappointing Rockies getting closer to falling out of the pennant race, Colorado isn't yet ready to dismantle the team and trade its best player.
Playing in his fourth All-Star Game last night, Walker has been hitting over .350 since May 3. He's also scored 50 percent of the time he's reached base (69 for 138) and is hitting .405 with runners on base. Over his last 162 games, Walker is batting .391.
Walker was asked whether the Rockies have what it takes to turn their fortunes around.
''If I say no I'm ripping my teammates,'' he said. ''I believe my teammates can get the job done. If there are a couple of moves that need to be made that would help certain areas of our team, then that would probably be beneficial to us.''
Walker did make a pregame All-Star prediction for Martinez: ''Knowing Pedro and the adrenaline is flowing it wouldn't surprise me if it was three up and three down. He's an awesome pitcher. Anyone who has ever faced him knows how overpowering he can be.''
And that's exactly what happened in the first inning last night. Three batters, three strikeouts.
