Walker to call Pirates games, announce first overall draft pick

The Pittsburgh Kid got one last round of applause from PNC Park Saturday afternoon.

Before the game, but after the video tribute highlighting the best moments of his seven-year tenure with the team, Neil Walker tossed out the first pitch before his hometown Pirates took on the Brewers.

"I was extremely humbled and honored to be asked to throw out the first pitch," Walker told reporters at PNC Park. "Certainly don't feel quite deserving of it."

Of course it was a strike:

"Anybody that’s saying that was a changeup or an Eephus, that was my knuckle-ball," Walker joked. "Go check out the spin rate, all right? I’m just happy I got it there without chucking it into the stands.”

It was hardly goodbye for the Pine-Richland graduate, though. If anything, Walker is going to be spending a lot more time around the team.

Walker will be a color analyst for select games for AT&T SportsNet later this season and will do some radio work as well. His first game behind the mic will be August 13 for TV.

Anyone in particular he wants to try to emulate?

"I like Tony Romo," he said with a chuckle. "I listened to him and I watched a lot of football. I really enjoy watching baseball, there's a lot of dead time. So I think if it's an ex-player, you to have a lot of stories or inside-clubhouse type of experience and things like that. That can go a long way.

"One thing somebody told me is that you don't have to always use the airspace," he continued. "So I'm gonna have to maybe remind myself of that as I get into broadcasting."

Walker jokingly gave the reporters at the ballpark Saturday the green light to tell him if he's talking too much. 

He'll be appearing on TV before then, though. Next week he will announce the Pirates' first overall selection in the Amateur Draft in Denver. That will be on July 11.

Ben Cherington was the one who requested if he would do the honors, and Walker happily accepted.

 "I’ll make sure that I tattoo the name on my hand or something so I don't mess it up," he said.

While he is getting plenty of broadcast reps in the near future, Walker hasn't made up his mind if that's how he wants to spend his time for good now that he hung up the cleats. Perhaps its coaching. Perhaps it's in player development or evaluation.

"I'm not much qualified or educated to be much else than part of the baseball world. So we'll start with that. But, yeah, talking baseball, talking hitting, talking strategy — those are things that I enjoy. Where that leads, I really don't know. 

"I'm gonna stay engaged. I'm going to kick the can down the road within the organization and see where things are at the end of the year, or at the end of the season."

But after listening to Walker talk on the television broadcast Saturday, he might have have found his next step.