Jerome Walton #27-Outfielder
Jerome O'Terrell Walton was born on July 8, 1965 in Newnan, Georgia. Newnan is a small town located in Coweta County about 40 miles northeast of Atlanta, named after General David Newnan a veteran of the War of 1812 and the Seminole Wars. Jerome began playing a made up version of baseball with the neighborhood kids using rocks as balls, until his mother took him to the YMCA and signed him up to play little league when he was 8 years old. He asked for a "good glove" she got him one that was a little big, but it was a new quality made glove and he loved it. He was mostly reared by a loving but strict grandmother Susie Mae Walton and his mother Susie Ann Walton, it appears his biological father was not in the picture as his mother was just a teenager when he was born and he was given her family name. He grew up somewhat shy and was not much of a talker spending alot of time with his grandmother while his mother finished schooling and pursuing a life in ministry work. His grandmother died somewhat young in 1978 when Jerome was just 13, his mother married a minister named John Hudson and delved even further into religious works by his side. He attended Newnan High School where he lettered in three sports. He started on the varsity team in the tenth grade playing split end, running back and quarterback and doubled on defense as safety. On the basketball court he played guard and averaged 21 points per game and was a pitcher and third baseman in baseball for the Cougars. He played football for Coach Max Bass who amassed 27 winning seasons during his 29 year tenure which included Walton's presence on the 1981 region championship team.
The football and basketball scholarships were coming in, but no baseball team selected him in the draft out of high school, so he was contemplating which way to go. His baseball coach Joe Jordan assured him he would be drafted in a couple years. He went for a tryout at Enterprise-Ozark Community College in Enterprise, Alabama, Coach Ronnie Powell liked what he saw and offered him a scholarship to play for the Boll Weevils. In his first year he batted .190, Powell didn't like his stance, his legs were too close together and he kept "stepping in the bucket", he spread his legs more and more until he felt comfortable. He was having success with the stance in practice and simulated games. He pleaded with Powell to use the stance real games when the season started, in the first game of his sophomore season he hit a double and a homer, the "funky stance" was staying.
He hit .433 as a sophomore and was named All-Division, All-Tournament in the State Tournament in Montgomery and All-Region 22. He was a key in Enterprise State's winning the Southern Division Championship with a 15-5 record. Walton was named the Most Valuable Player for the Southern Division of the Alabama Junior College Conference. He pitched a complete game earning the team's only win in the 1986 state tournament. The Boll Weevils were playing in a multi-team tournament in Pensacola, Florida in the fall of 1985, among the 15 plus scouts in the stands, the tourney was going kind of late so coach Ronnie Powell urged them to stick around to see his sophomores in the final game, most didn't heed the advice. Only two scouts were still there when the Boll Weevil sophomores took the field at 11 pm.
One of them was Earl Winn of the Chicago Cubs, who timed Walton on his run from home to first after laying down a bunt and reaching base easily and couldn't believe the time on his stop watch. As Walton was trotting out to the field for the second half of the inning, Winn was at the dugout asking Powell if he could come to Enterprise and see Jerome, as they continued the discussion the inning ended. Powell called Jerome over and asked him if he would run for Winn after the game. Winn couldn't believe the time even after Jerome played a full game and had slipped on wet grass to start, he was sold. Winn convinced the Cubs to get moving on this kid and not wait until the June draft when there was sure to be a lot of interest and he got his wish.
Jerome was selected in the 2nd round (36th overall) of the January 14, 1986 amateur draft by the Chicago Cubs signing on May 12th. He was assigned to their Rookie class Wytheville Cubs of the Appalachian League where he batted .288 with 66 hits (5th), 48 runs (2nd), 21 stolen bases (tied for 3rd) and 28 walks in 66 games. He was the Appalachian League's Player of the Month for July and was selected to the league's postseason all-star team. The team came in fourth in the Northern Division. He was promoted to the Single-A Peoria Chiefs of the MIDW in 1987, he finished the
season 2nd in the league in on-base percentage at .452 as their starting collecting 158 hits (4th), 102 runs with 24 doubles, 49 stolen bases (2nd), 91 walks batting .335 (3rd). He also recorded 11 triples putting him 2nd that season and he was a mid-season and postseason all-star selection. The team finished second in the Southern Division.
In 1988 he was moved up to the Double-A Pittsfield Cubs in the EL, he won the batting title with a .331 average, which hadn't been done by a Pittsfield player since 1976. He finished with 137 hits (tied for 4th), 26 doubles (2nd), 64 runs, 42 stolen bases (4th) in 120 games with a .399 on-base percentage (2nd). He started in the Eastern League All-Star Game, had a triple and the game winning RBI and was selected to the league's postseason All-Star Team. Walton hit safely in 15 of 16 games from July 15 - July 31 (24-61-.393) with 9 multi-hit games. During the stretch he scored 13 runs and had 16 RBI's. They would go to the post season but lost in the semi-finals.
The Cubs coaching staff had become aware of his performances in the minors and were very impressed with that saw during the 1989 spring training drills. He especially caught the eye of Manager Don Zimmer. Just before camp opened in Mesa, Arizona, Zim started asking questions. He spoke with Cubs minor-league outfield instructor Jimmy Piersall and Cubs minor league hitting instructor Richie Zisk what they thought he might hit if he brought him up now, they both said .260. Good enough for Zim as he chose Walton to be his starting center fielder on Opening Day. He would be joining a roster that included Ryne Sandberg, Greg Maddux, Rick Sutcliffe, Andre Dawson and Mark Grace. Jerome appeared to be a text-book lead-off hitter, able to hit for average, consistently get on base and steal but the first thing noticeable was his unusual batting stance.
He made his Major League debut on April 4th as the lead off batter playing center field in front of 33, 361 faithful Cubs fans at Wrigley Field as they faced off against the Philadelphia Phillies on Opening Day. With Floyd Youmans taking the mound for the Phillies. Walton grounded out to third in his first at bat and he committed an error on the first ball hit to him off the bat of Mike Schmidt, things were starting out a little rough. In the 3rd he would get his first hit off Youmans, sending Joe Girardi to the plate to bring in the first run of the game. In the fifth he hit a bunt single to third, then grounded out in the 6th. The Cubs would get the victory and a win for Rick Sutcliffe by the score of 5-4.
By the beginning of May Walton was being hampered by a his hamstring, but had been down playing the injury and hiding the pain. He would rest a couple games and tell them it was feeling fine and they cleared him to keep playing. When he finally went to the disabled list on May 11th the trainers took heat, but they aren't psychic. He played 4 rehab games with the Iowa Cubs and was activated on June 11th.
Walton with Montreal Expos catcher Nelson Santovenia behind the plate at Wrigley Field in Chicago, IL. Montreal won 5-1 on June 23, 1989.
Walton is tagged out at home by San Francisco Giants' Terry Kennedy as home plate umpire Ed Montague looks on at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, CA on July 1, 1989. Cubs won 3-2.
He picked back up right where he started, holding his own the rookie was putting up impressive numbers, he had a game in June where he stole 4 bases in one game, he had games in June and early July where he went 4-for 4, then on July 21st he would start a hitting streak. The Cubs were 3.5 games back of the Montreal Expos in the division on that date. When his hitting streak reached 15 games the team had trimmed the Expos lead to 2. On August 5th, Jerome would hit a single into right scoring Shawon Dunston for the go ahead run in a 4-2 come from behind victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates, putting the Cubbies in a tie with Montreal in the NL East Division as he was heading to 20 games. When his streak ended on August 20th he had hit in 30 consecutive games setting a franchise record by a rookie as the Cubs were now leading their division by 2.5 games. They never looked back. Despite the early injury and re-aggravating the hamstring near the end of the season, he finished his rookie season with a .293 BA (7th best in the NL). He collected 139 hits, 23 doubles and 24 stolen bases in 116 games (515 plate appearances) as he became an integral part of the Cubs success that year .
They won the NL East and he went along with them to the post season. They faced the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS, he batted .364 with 2 walks, 8 hits, 2 RBIs and 4 runs scored. In Game 5 he provided a hopeful lift for the Cubs when he hit a two-out, ninth-inning RBI single to bring the Cubs to within a run of San Francisco at 3-2. The next batter was Ryne Sandberg who grounded out ending the chance to come back and they
were eliminated from the series 4-1. The Giants were defeated in the World Series in a 4 game sweep at the hands of the Oakland Athletics.
He was voted the NL Rookie of the Year (the Cubs had back to back winners with Billy Williams in 1961 and Ken Hubbs in 1962) and become new fan favorite. He was also named to the Topps All-Star Rookie Team, was named the Sporting News Rookie Player of the Year and the Baseball Digest Rookie Player of the Year. He also was in serious consideration for a Rawlings Gold Glove Award. His teammate Dwight Smith finished second in the
Rookie of the Year voting. In the minors Smith and Walton were fast friends. When spring training opened in Mesa, AZ, Smith picked Walton up at Sky Harbor Airport and they joked about being the league's top two rookies. On May 1, Smith joined Walton in the Major Leagues and they were suddenly roommates and teammates and became inseparable.
With his newfound stardom came the abundant appearances and interviews, one reason he had never been much of a talker was due to a slight speech impediment. With a pay raise sure to come (he made $68,500 in the '89 season) along with paid events and endorsements he would now be able to have this corrected through speech lessons.
He wanted to be more loquacious to fulfill another dream of his, to speak to teens about staying in school and away from drugs. He also wanted to use some money to help his family, like buying a new home for his mother either one large enough to share or two close together. He always knew he wanted to use any success to give back to his community like providing a place for teens to play sports to keep them off the streets. Like his mother who counseled the hearts and minds of troubled youths through the word of God he wanted to help keep their hands busy and bodies strong through sports. Along with traveling all over for interviews, events and photo shoots during the off season, he wrote a book with co-writer Jim Langford about his first season in the big leagues. "Rookie:The Story of a Season" that was released in December 1989. It chronicles his journey to the majors and tries to inspire others to never give up on their dreams.
Jerome became a husband and father very young, marrying his high school sweetheart Cynthia, he was divorced young, too. In February 1990 while baseball was in the news due to a lockout he was making headlines not for baseball but for charges filed by his ex-wife claiming he hit her and threatened her life. His friends and family came to his defense, his former coaches as well. His basketball coach at Newnan, Terrell Reed, would recollect only one outburst. In his senior year during a football practice Walton and another boy were arguing. Reed ran to the field to intervene just as Jerome had cocked his arm back and hit the coach as he got between the boys. Reed knew it was an accident, ironically the fight was about Cynthia. The boys caught a two-day suspension for fighting and football coach Max Bass booted him off the team not only for the incident but because Walton had become lax in complying with the rules of keeping in shape. The punishment seemed to wake him up as he worked his rump off to get back on the team and he improved in both football that final season The alleged incident with his ex supposedly took place on January 1st, but she sought no medical attention. She lost credibility when she offered to drop the charge for money, Walton refused as he already supported her and their young son Jonathan even helping her out with her children from another relationship.
In March he was in the news again when Chicago media reported that once the lockout was lifted Walton hadn't showed up to camp in Mesa, AZ and was "holding out" over a salary dispute. While he and the Cubs were in negotiations and a bit apart on the amount according to him that wasn't the reason he didn't come early to camp. His contract renewal amount was $185,000, he wanted $270,000, the Cubs countered with $200,000, he refused, unable to come to an agreement the Cubs optioned the automatic renewal amount. While he missed the first 2 days of workouts he did report before the deadline and he claimed it was due to obligations he made before the decision to lift the lockout and was cleared by the team. Walton always felt he was given the runaround not only financially but with playing time and reputation as well. The media gave the Cubs organizations side as stating that he came into camp out of shape and didn't deserve as big of a raise as he wanted. Walton's side was they were cheap especially since the AL ROY Gregg Olson of the Baltimore Orioles was given 270,000 plus bonus incentives.
Through Jerome's rookie season a segment of Cubs fans were focused on keeping track of teammate Shawon Dunston, they implemented the "Shawon-O-Meter" to track the shortstops batting average, later it would transform into the "Jerome-O-meter". While Jerome's relationship with the Cubs continued to be tenious, his performance and health suffered as well. The Cubs would also go through many problems in the next few seasons. At the moment he still had his job as the starting centerfielder.
He would recieve tragic news from home on May 25th, his step brother Clifford Hudson had been shot in the back outside of a car wash where he worked. He wasn't able to tell the police who had done it when they arrived and he died at the hospital later from his wounds. Jerome was devestated. The next day the team was playing a double-header, he pinch hit in the first and did end up playing the second game and went home to Atlanta right after. It ended up being a bad year all the way around, tensions, a loss in his family, he was nagged with injuries all season (missing almost 60 games) and he slumped in between even getting benched. Then there were trade rumors, Walton even felt the team didn't want him anymore. He finished with a .263 ERA, scoring 63 runs, 16 doubles, 14 stolen bases, 50 walks and 103 hits in 101 games. The team didn't fair well either finishing 4th in the division.
Another off season, another salary negotiation and another low-ball offer (in Walton's opinion) he would re-sign with the Cubs for a slight raise of $210,000 for the 1991 season and of course he was unhappy. He started the season in his usual role, but he began to slump and his lead off role got taken away, later he would lose his starting job. The Cubbies were 10 games back heading into September. He started getting more play as the season came to a close and he was doing alright, but he was also asking to be traded. It was unclear if they were playing him because he had gotten hot or if they were showcasing him for a trade.He finished the season batting .219 an he had driven in just 17 runs and scored 42 with just 59 hits in 123 games.
The Cubs would finally give Walton a significant raise and avoid arbitration when the two sides agreed to a $525,000 salary. Jerome suffered a groin injury near the end of spring, he still thought he would be ready, he would tape it up and muddle through (once again down playing the injury), but the Cubs sent him to the the DL on March 31st. He was hoping to return to the club before the home stand on April 10th but Manager Jim Lefebvre sent him on a rehab assignment to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs of the American Association. He was informed he would be playing in left as while he was gone his role in center had been usurped by Sammy Sosa. Usually, a bit disgruntled with change he stated he'll play wherever they want him as long as he's on the field. By the time he returned on April 24th, however, not only had he lost his place in center field he would now be sharing time in left with Derrick May and he was not very pleased about it. He began to feel that he couldn't believe anything he was told. He batted just .127 then when trade talks heated up a couple weeks before the deadline the Cubs were adamant no deals were in place especially for Walton. Though there were several teams that claimed the Cubs turned down every offer. Jerome once again stated publicly he would welcome a trade, he was demoted instead, being sent to the Iowa Cubs on June 19th, catcher Rick Wilkins was brought up to take his roster spot. He ended up spending the rest of the season on the disabled list with lower back issues. It was speculated that he had been in pain throughout the year but once again was hiding it from the club. The Cubs now for the third year in a row since making the post season finished in 4th place.
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