Roy Oswalt had his way with the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2005 NLCS. Though he didn't fare as well the year before, recording a 6.75 ERA in 8.0 innings of work against St. Louis in the 2004 NLCS, he bounced back with vigor and put up a stellar performance. How good? Two starts, 14.0 innings pitched and only two runs allowed, leading to a 2-0 record, a 1.29 ERA and an eventual trip to the World Series for Houston — all of which led to him winning the MVP Award of the NLCS.
Larry Walker didn't do so hot in that pair of matchups, batting cleanup for the Cardinals and totaling one hit in five at-bats against Oswalt. Walker actually had a fair amount of success overall against him all in all, with a .333/.412/.600 slash line in 34 career plate appearances against him. However, Oswalt turned up the dial in their 2005 postseason meeting, and Walker knew just how good he could be.
A memory from Joe Buck helps to paint the picture of just how deflated Walker was in that series, with Oswalt rolling along without any signs of slowing down. Buck shared the story with Chris Long on the "Green Light" podcast:
"My favorite story of Larry Walker... I'd been doing the American League series and I came back and I'm in St. Louis, and I'm sitting in seats that we had with my family and my daughters. There was a huge line for the bathroom and I was like, well, I'm going to be Mr. Big League and I'm going to go down into the Cardinal clubhouse to go to the bathroom, because it was right there instead of waiting in a long line.
"So I go into the Cardinal clubhouse to go to the bathroom, and they're facing Roy Oswalt of the Astros... I run through the clubhouse, I look over and I'm like, oh, it's Larry Walker. He's like, 'Hey!' and I stop, he's got his pants down around his knees, I think he'd just been to the bathroom, and he's sitting there smoking a cigarette. And he goes, 'Let me tell you right now. We have no f---ing chance.' I'm like, 'alright!'
And that's just how Walker was, Buck said, which doesn't come as particularly surprising considering his garb during the announcement that he had been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. After all, for such an important life moment, why wouldn't someone be dressed up in SpongeBob gear?
Buck also recalled the incredible encounter at the 1997 All-Star Game between Walker and Randy Johnson, where the then-Rockies slugger entertained the idea of switching his handedness in an attempt to gain an edge against the near-untouchable Big Unit.
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