Glew - Canadian baseball notes: Peters, Quantrill, Soroka, Walker
On the day his statue was unveiled outside of Coors Field, Colorado Rockies legendary outfielder Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, B.C.) threw the ceremonial first pitch to fellow Canadian Cooperstowner Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.) on Sunday. Photo: Colorado Rockies
August 24, 2026
By Kevin Glew
Canadian Baseball Network
Some Canadian baseball news and notes from Sunday:
Walker statue unveiled with Jenkins on hand
A statue of Canadian baseball great and Colorado Rockies legend Larry Walker (Maple Ridge, B.C.) was unveiled outside of Coors Field in a pre-game ceremony on Sunday.
“To have a statue outside of this ballpark, that’s an honour that’s pretty tough to put into words,” Walker said in his speech at the ceremony. “When I came here, my job was to keep moving — hit the ball, run the bases, chase fly balls in the gap, do anything I could to help us win. And now, here I am, frozen in bronze. I guess that’s a way to slow me down.”
The statue captures Walker with his bat raised in a celebration after he belted a walk-off, three-run home run off Atlanta Braves closer John Rocker in a 4-1 victory on Aug. 18, 1999. It was Walker’s second home run of the game.
After beginning his career with the Montreal Expos, Walker signed with the Rockies prior to the 1995 season. In his decade as a player with the Rockies, Walker was an All-Star four times. He also won five Gold Glove awards and three batting titles and was voted the National League MVP in 1997.
In 2020, he became the second Canadian to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, joining legendary Chicago Cubs pitcher Fergie Jenkins (Chatham, Ont.). Walker also joined Jenkins as the only Canadian players to have statues outside of big league stadiums. A statue of Jenkins was erected outside of Wrigley Field in 2022.
Fittingly, Jenkins was on hand for the ceremony on Sunday. Walker later threw the ceremonial first pitch to Jenkins.
Fellow Cooperstowner and longtime Rockies teammate Todd Helton, who was also at Sunday’s ceremony, will also be honoured with a statue on September 19.
Both bronze statues were created by Colorado sculptors George and Mark Lundeen of Lundeen Sculptures.
Peters hits walk-off home run for White Sox, gets ring for cycle
On Sunday, Tristan Peters (Winkler, Man.) belted a walk-off home run for the Chicago White Sox with one out in the bottom of the ninth to give the Sox a 2-1 win over the New York Mets at Rate Field.
It was a solo home run to centre field off Mets right-hander Kodai Senga.
“It got in a little on me, and I know to centre it's been tough in this ballpark,” Peters told reporters after the game. “But I also knew the ball was flying today, so I was just telling the ball, ‘Keep going.’”
It was Peters’ third walk-off hit of the season for the Sox.
The Okotoks Dawgs alum now has nine home runs this season to go along with a .271 batting average and 45 RBIs.
The homer came one day after White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf presented Peters with a ring to honour the cycle he hit on July 10 in the Sox 14-1 win over the Athletics. The ring includes 10 diamonds representing Peters’ 10 total bases from that game.
That performance made Peters just the second Canadian to hit for the cycle in an MLB game since 1900.
Prior to Peters, the last Canadian to hit for the cycle was catcher George Kottaras (Scarborough, Ont.) for the Milwaukee Brewers on September 3, 2011.
Quantrill shines again for Rangers
Texas Rangers right-hander Cal Quantrill (Port Hope, Ont.) isn’t doing the Toronto Blue Jays any favors in the American League Wild-Card race.
On Sunday, Quantrill started and hurled six scoreless innings to lead the Rangers to a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels. With the win, the Rangers improved to 65-66 and moved a game-and-a-half ahead of the Blue Jays for the third - and final - AL Wild Card spot.
It was also Quantrill’s second consecutive scoreless start. Last Tuesday, the Ontario Terriers and Junior National Team grad tossed seven scoreless innings to lead the Rangers to a 5-0 win over the Washington Nationals.
Quantrill’s win on Sunday was his sixth of the season and it lowered his ERA to 2.90. He threw 68 of his 96 pitches for strikes and did not walk a batter in the contest.
It also marked the fifth consecutive start in which Quantrill has hurled at least five innings and permitted one earned run or less.
In total, Quantrill has appeared in 27 games (10 starts) for the Rangers this season, his eighth in the big leagues.
Soroka back on IL
The Arizona Diamondbacks placed Michael Soroka (Calgary, Alta.) on the 15-day injured list on Sunday with right shoulder inflammation.
It’s the Canadian righty’s second stretch on the IL this season.
Soroka sustained the injury during his start against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday when he allowed six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings.
That was his third start after being activated by the D-Backs on August 10 after he missed more than six weeks with a glute strain.
In total in 18 starts with the D-Backs this season, Soroka is 8-4 with a 3.40 ERA. He has 91 strikeouts in 95 1/3 innings.
The 29-year-old Calgary Redbirds and Junior National Team grad is in his seventh major league campaign.