When Steve Carcarey tunes in to watch the National League Championship Series this week, he sees much more than two ballclubs vying for a spot in the World Series.
He sees an inspiration, in Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker — and a longtime friend, who embodies what Norristown is all about.
“People don’t realize how hard this kid worked. People don’t know his background. Here’s a kid who won two national championships for the University of South Carolina. The kid’s a winner, everywhere he goes,” Carcarey said.
“And what I like the most about this young man is the persistence,” he said.
Times Herald readers may know Carcarey, the co-owner of Collegeville Italian Bakery, as a longtime baseball coach at Bishop Kenrick High School, Norristown Area Senior High School, Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic High School, Widener University and Mt. Carmel American Legion, and a 2022 inductee in the Montgomery County Coaches Hall of Fame. Readers may also remember Walker, the Diamondbacks’ first baseman who the Times Herald profiled in 2014, when Christian was playing with the Bowie Baysox, the Baltimore Orioles’ Double-A affiliate. He looked back at the 2003 season by Walker’s Section 5 champion Lower Perkiomen team that fell just shy of the Little League World Series.
“I’ve known Chris since he was 15 or 16 years old, and the way he’s transformed his body: he was a big guy in high school, he was just all power, and the way he takes care of himself now: he’s fit, and toned, and you just can’t say enough great things about this kid, and what he’s done on and off the field,” Carcarey said.
“I’m just happy that persistence paid off. He never gave up on himself. He’s living his dream, and I’m happy for him, and happy for his family,” he said.
Walker’s journey to the NLCS has been a long one: after being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2009 following his senior year at Kennedy-Kenrick, Walker chose instead to play at the University of South Carolina, where the team played in the College World Series in each of his three years with the program, winning the title in his first two seasons. After being drafted again by the Baltimore Orioles in 2012, and a call-up in 2014 that produced his first big-league hit, Walker had a major obstacle to overcome as he navigated a series of waiver transactions as a minor league prospect: a big name, playing the same position, everywhere he went.
“When he first got drafted by the Orioles, he was behind an all-star: Chris Davis. Then he goes to the Braves, and he’s behind Freddie Freeman. Then he goes to the Reds, and he’s behind Joey Votto — and then he goes to the Diamondbacks, and he’s behind Paul Goldschmidt,” Carcarey said.
“Here’s a kid that could’ve said ‘I’m never gonna get a chance, I’ll never get an opportunity.’ But he got an opportunity, and look at him now: he’s a Gold Glove first baseman,” he said.
The Diamondbacks traded Goldschmidt after the 2018 season, opening a position for Walker that he’s held onto ever since, with over 140 games played at first base in three of the four full seasons since, and being named the league’s top-fielding first baseman just last year.
“People said he didn’t have a position, he can’t play at third base, he can’t play at first base. He made himself a Gold Glove first baseman. That’s what you see with this kid. He’s proven so many people wrong,” Carcarey said.
Throughout it all, he’s never forgotten his roots: Walker alternates winters in South Carolina and visiting family in the Norristown area, and never forgets to stop by the bakery. A November 2021 visit was proudly posted on the bakery’s Facebook page as Walker presented Carcarey with his Diamondbacks jersey, and in 2022 Christian’s mom, Julie, stopped by with a batch of homemade meatballs, which the bakery served with their fresh baked rolls and tomato pie.
“One time, we were sitting there talking with him, just a normal conversation, and he gets up. And I’m like, ‘Hold on, where are you going?’ He went outside, and got a bat, and saw a little boy at the bakery and gave it to him,” Carcarey said. “That’s the kind of guy he is. Here’s a guy who didn’t forget where he came from.”
Stop in the bakery — located at 3846 Ridge Pike in Collegeville, open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and offering special Phillies donuts this week — and you can see the “Walker Wall,” a display of Christian’s Diamondbacks jersey, a bat, and a photo, all signed by the bakery’s favorite player. No, Carcarey said, they won’t cover it up as Walker faces the Phillies.
“We’re proud, and honored, to display the Walker Wall with all his memorabilia on it. We’re so happy for him personally,” Carcarey said.
“Obviously we’re Phillies fans, obviously we want the Phillies to win, but we want Chris to be successful,” he said.
And it’s not the first time that Walker has matched up against Phillies superstar Bryce Harper: in a 2009 minor-league exhibition home run derby, still viewable on YouTube, Walker triumphed by pounding 19 homers into the empty stands of Tampa Bay’s Tropicana Field.
“They both used aluminum bats, and both of them were hitting absolute bombs with those bats, and I don’t know if anybody gave him a chance with Harper in that contest — and Walker ended up winning,” Carcarey said.
What can local kids learn from seeing one of their own on baseball’s biggest stage?
“He’s proven that you don’t give up on your dream. He’s been stuck behind how many all-star first basemen? He could’ve said ‘I’ll never get my shot,’ but Arizona stuck with him, and look what he’s done,” Carcarey said. “He’s put up monster numbers, and had a great year.”
