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Larry Walker draws biggest jump in HOF voting among non-inductees

Mark Lyons / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Former National League MVP Larry Walker received the biggest increase of non-Hall of Fame inductees following Wednesday's announcement as the Canadian finished with 34.1 percent of votes, good for a 12.2 percent increase from 2017.

Year Vote % Increase
2011 20.3 1st year on ballot
2012 22.9 +2.6
2013 21.6 -1.3
2014 10.2 -11.4
2015 11.8 +1.6
2016 15.5 +3.7
2017 21.9 +6.4
2018 34.1 +12.2

With only two years left on the ballot (each candidate has a 10-year window to be inducted), even if Walker fails to accumulate the necessary 75 percent of the vote by 2020, he still has a chance to be inducted by the Hall's Modern Baseball Era Committee.

Walker was renowned for his five-tool talent. He finished with seven Gold Glove awards to go along with three batting titles and five All-Star appearances. According to JAWS - a metric developed as a way to measure Hall of Fame worthiness by combining a player's seven-year peak of WAR - Walker (58.6) is the only non-Hall of Fame right fielder among the top 10 and boasts a higher JAWS total than the average of the 24 Hall of Famers at the position (58.1).

The former outfielder began his career with the Montreal Expos and lasted six seasons in Canada before signing as a free agent with the Colorado Rockies in 1995 on a four-year, $22.5-million contract. He'd go on to hit .332/.425/.616 and win the 1997 MVP award in 10 seasons with the Rockies before ending his career with the St. Louis Cardinals.

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