totally random

Today’s subject: Chico Walker. Jackson native Walker, given name Cleotha, had a rather unremarkable big league career. Drafted out of a Chicago high school by Boston in 1976, he played parts of 11 years in The Show but got into only 526 games. A 5-foot-9 switch-hitter, he batted .246, hit 17 homers, stole 67 bases. However, Walker’s name does appear on a noteworthy list — a list that includes Ole Miss alum Steve Dillard and ex-Jackson Mets star Dave Magadan, other familiar names like Ryne Sandberg, Bill Madlock, Davey Lopes and Ron Cey and forgettable ones such as Carmen Fanzone, Domingo Ramos, Ty Waller and Augie Ojeda. Chicago Cubs fans might recognize these names as belonging to the subset of players who toiled at third base at Wrigley Field between Ron Santo’s departure in 1974 and Aramis Ramirez’s arrival in 2003. Among the throng who got that opportunity, 44 of them appeared in at least 50 games at the hot corner. Chico Walker was one of them. His best season was 1991, when he batted .257 with six homers, 34 RBIs and 13 steals in 124 games for the Cubbies. He made 47 starts at third that year and 10 more appearances there. P.S. Former Ole Miss star Lance Lynn, now with the St. Louis Cardinals, could get a record reward in salary arbitration if he goes that route. The record, as mlb.com reports, is $4.35 million for a first-year arbitration-eligible starting pitcher. Right-hander Lynn won 15 games for the Cards in 2014 and has 49 W’s in four years; he’s going to get a nice contract, whether in arbitration or pre-arbitration negotiation.