[jamus23]

Walton Fredericks:

One of the things I've been trying to do with these Hall of Fame bios is to find some aspect of each player that is distinctive. Obviously, as Hall of Famers, most of them have separated themselves from the total baseball population. That is, after all, why they are in the Hall of Fame. But what can be hard to do is to discover how each one separates himself from the Hall of Fame population: What makes this great player unique from that great player? Sometimes a guy holds a major record, career or single season. Sometimes a guy spent all, or virtually all, of his career with one team. Maybe he had great postseason success. Maybe there is a tragic element to his career (there is at least one player who could be described this way, but I won't be getting to him for a quite awhile). Maybe he was the foundation player for a dynasty. There are all kinds of different things that one can look at. So what do you do when you get to a player that doesn't seem to have any distinguishing characteristics? I guess you just go through his career, and hope something stands out...

After winning four consecutive Southeast Division titles from 2018 to 2021, the Atlanta Braves saw their fortunes take a turn for the worse. Though they remained competitive, they slogged through two last place finishes from '22 to '24, and finished in third place in the other season. In 2024, Atlanta posted its first below .500 record since 2010. That was enough to get them a decent draft pick prior to 2025. With that pick, the 6th pick overall, they selected a second baseman by the name of Walton Fredericks. Fredericks split his first season between A and AA, and absolutely raked. He batted over .300 at both levels and combined for 29 homeruns. In 2026, Fredericks began at AA, and continued to hit well. In June of that year, he was promoted to the major league roster, skipping AAA entirely. Though he did not start right away, he saw plenty of action, and acquitted himself rather well, with a .796 OPS in 101 at bats. Fredericks moved into the starting lineup in 2027, and though Atlanta finished in last place with the worst record in baseball(61-101), he enjoyed a promising campaign. His .791 OPS and 25 homeruns were enough to win him the AL Rookie of the Year award. Fredericks saw his numbers decline very slightly to a .782 OPS in 2028, but he was nevertheless named to the All Star team. Even better was the fact that Atlanta was a surprise contender that season, winning 90 games and finishing only 4 games out of first place.

But Atlanta didn't remain competitive for long. Though Fredericks improved his OPS to .900 on the nose, and went to his second All Star game, the Braves collapsed to the bottom of the American League in 2029, losing 100 games. Atlanta improved its record dramatically in 2030, winning 79 games, but still finished in last place. Fredericks, meanwhile, enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career, with a .306 batting average, a .957 OPS, and 41 homeruns. Strangely, though, he was not named to the All Star team that season. In '31, Fredericks was excellent again, but Atlanta's 83 wins were not enough to get out of last place in a tough Southeast. Likewise in 2032, when Knoxville and Nashville ran roughshod over the entire American League, and Atlanta tied with Washington for a last place finish with only 77 wins. 2033 to 2035 were the same. While Fredericks had established himself as a dangerous slugger, good for 30+ homeruns a year(and occasionally 40+), Atlanta simply could not get out of last place. In 2036, the Southeast was quite weak. Nashville managed to win the division with a mediocre record of 76-86. The Braves finally got out of last place, but finished in third with 71 wins.

Finally, in 2037, Atlanta had a breakthrough. Although Fredericks' 27 homeruns represented his first season with fewer than 30 since 2029, the Braves fought off Washington to win the Southeast by 2 games, with a record of 88-74. Unfortunately, Atlanta ran into Grand Rapids in the ALCS and was defeated in 6 games. In 2038, Fredericks had a career year, with a career best .973 OPS, and banged out 75 extra base hits, including his third 40 homerun season. The Braves survived a tight race with Nashville and Washington, beating the two of them out by just 2 games. Once again, however, the Braves fell in the ALCS. This time it was to Tucson in seven games. In 2039, Fredericks posted his worst OPS since 2028, and the Braves were not able to win a third straight division title. Knoxville beat out the Braves by 2 games to capture the Southeast.

Atlanta returned to the top of the Southeast in 2040, but Fredericks was not around to enjoy it. The 34 year old second baseman was traded to Kansas City just before the trade deadline. It was an odd trade. Atlanta was in a bit of a tight race, with Miami and Knoxville playing very well in the Southeast, while Kansas City was just hoping it could stay close to .500. And yet there was Atlanta, selling off an expensive veteran bat for prospects. Perhaps Atlanta knew what it was doing. The Braves won the division by 8 games over the surprising Dolphins, while Kansas City finished at exactly .500. Fredericks' decline seemed to continue in 2041. His .743 OPS that season was the worst of his career. Despite that, Kansas City managed to contend in a weak Central Division. Though its final record was a mediocre 76-86, the Royals finished just 3 1/2 games out of first, as Grand Rapids and Tucson were masters of mediocrity, tying for the division lead with records of 79-83. Grand Rapids won the one game playoff to "earn" its way into the postseason.

In 2042, Fredericks enjoyed a bit of a resurgance. He posted his first .800 OPS season since '39, and hit the 500th homerun of his career, to help the Royals into the playoffs. Kansas City won the Central Division with a record of 87-75. Little did the Royals know that their ALCS opponent was on the verge of becoming an American League dynasty. The Miami Dolphins had been in the league for only five seasons at that point, and it was their first postseason appearance. Fredericks, who had put up solid numbers in his previous two postseason series, was an embarassment in the ALCS, going just 2 for 17 with 8 strikeouts. It was a microcosm of the entire series, as the upstart Dolphins swept Kansas City en route to their first World Series championship.

In '43, the Royals remained competitive, but lost the Central Division to Denver in a one game playoff after the two finished the regular season with identical 87-75 records. Fredericks, however, was no longer around. In the offseason that year, he had been dealt to Memphis. His OPS slumped to a career worst, .704, and Memphis brought up the rear of the Central Division. The Grizzlies finished in last again in 2044, but Fredericks wasn't ready to give up the ghost quite yet. He bounced back with an .809 OPS, and smacked 32 homeruns. Fredericks returned to Kansas City in '45 as a free agent, but played only sparingly, and was released at the end of the year.

At the time of his retirement, Fredericks ranked 23rd all time in hits, tied for 9th all time in homeruns, 13th in RBIs, 2nd all time in triples, and 10th in runs scored. Today, Fredericks still ranks tied for 22nd in homeruns, 2nd in triples, and 23rd in runs scored.

So what did I learn about a Hall of Famer who seemed to be rather boring? Well, apparently, he was a really good triples hitter. Second on the all time list, just 6 behind all time leader, and fellow Hall of Famer, Josias Fernandez. Also, I don't think either he or Fernandez have to worry about anyone passing them in the near future. At the start of this season, there was only one active player even in the top 25, and he was too far back to even think about it. So that's something, I guess.



Fredericks' stats:

Year     G    AB    H  2B  3B  HR  RBI    R   BB    K  SB  CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS Teams 
2026    46   101   28   4   0   5   13   18    8   22   1   3 .277 .330 .465 .796 ATL 
2027   147   584  159  23   7  25   73   92   47  139   7   9 .272 .326 .464 .791 ATL 
2028   159   638  170  18  11  28   95  101   51  134  18  16 .266 .321 .461 .782 ATL,AL 
2029   156   602  191  28  10  24   92  121   65  112  11  13 .317 .384 .517 .900 ATL,AL 
2030   143   579  177  28   9  41  120  117   49  139  10  11 .306 .360 .598 .957 ATL 
2031   151   593  186  27   9  33  129  112   68  124  15   6 .314 .384 .556 .941 ATL,AL 
2032   154   569  180  20   4  38  124  111   68  119   7   9 .316 .389 .566 .955 ATL,AL 
2033   154   569  157  24   8  33  119  103   77  139  11   8 .276 .362 .520 .882 ATL 
2034   156   575  164  26   8  36  126  125   81  140  10  10 .285 .373 .546 .920 ATL,AL 
2035   155   571  156  21   4  42  118  127   76  168   8   3 .273 .359 .545 .903 ATL,AL 
2036   153   548  141  17  10  31   90   96   65  150   4   4 .257 .336 .495 .831 ATL 
2037   153   535  151  21   5  27  112   96   63  150   4   7 .282 .358 .492 .849 ATL 
2038   153   539  158  24  11  40  116  100   68  137   2   8 .293 .372 .601 .973 ATL,AL 
2039   154   532  130  18   7  32  108   92   78  171   1   7 .244 .341 .485 .826 ATL 
2040   153   540  129  17   6  30  104   94   76  135   2   5 .239 .333 .459 .792 ATL KC 
2041   155   560  134  14   9  26   88   88   55  169   1   7 .239 .307 .436 .743 KC 
2042   154   617  168  20   9  30   91  111   79  187   3   5 .272 .355 .480 .835 KC 
2043   149   528  119  16   8  20   72   68   60  138   1   6 .225 .304 .400 .704 KC MEM 
2044   149   500  121  21   4  32   90   69   55  121   2   5 .242 .317 .492 .809 MEM 
2045    60   114   25   5   3   4   17   26   16   31   1   2 .219 .315 .421 .736 KC 
Total 2854 10394 2844 392 142 577 1897 1867 1205 2625 119 144 .274 .349 .505 .854   
 
Career Minor League Batting Stats
 
 
Year      G  AB   H 2B 3B HR RBI  R BB  K SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS 
2025,  A 93 386 135 11  5 19  71 64 39 89 16 10 .350 .404 .552 .956 
2025, AA 42 168  51  7  1 10  29 27 12 37  8  2 .304 .341 .536 .876 
2026, AA 74 275  82 10  0 13  43 48 30 57 13 13 .298 .356 .476 .832 
 
Career Postseason Batting Stats
 
 
Year   G AB  H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB  K SB CS  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS 
2037   6 21  6  0  1  1   2 3  2  4  0  0 .286 .348 .524 .872 
2038   7 21  4  2  0  1   2 4  6  9  0  1 .190 .370 .429 .799 
2042   4 17  2  0  0  0   0 1  1  8  0  0 .118 .167 .118 .284 
Total 17 59 12  2  1  2   4 8  9 21  0  1 .203 .309 .373 .682 
 
 
Player History
 
 
Drafted in 1st round, 6th overall pick, by Atlanta in 2025...
Had first career hit on 6/30/2026, off Craig Posada (WAS)...
Hit first career homerun on 7/9/2026, off Moises Castillo (GR)...
Had 5 hits with 0 RBI against Memphis on 4/15/2027...
Won Rookie of the Year Award in 2027, hitting .272 with 25 HR, 73 RBI...
Won Player of the Week award on 4/28/2028, hitting .500 with 3 HR, 10 RBI...
Drove in 6 runs against Knoxville on 6/21/2028...
Was selected to the 2028 Allstar game...
Had 5 hits with 2 RBI against Memphis on 4/23/2029...
Was selected to the 2029 Allstar game...
Injured on 5/21/2030 with a Pulled Hip Muscle, out for 1-2 weeks...
Drove in 7 runs against Memphis on 7/14/2030...
Had 20-game hitting streak snapped on 4/17/2031...
Hit 3 homeruns against Kansas City, driving in 4 runs on 4/19/2031...
Was selected to the 2031 Allstar game...
Was selected to the 2032 Allstar game...
Had 5 hits with 1 RBI against Washington on 9/18/2032...
Drove in 7 runs against Washington on 4/7/2034...
Drove in 6 runs against Grand Rapids on 5/6/2034...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/12/2034, hitting .571 with 3 HR, 11 RBI...
Was selected to the 2034 Allstar game...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/12/2035, hitting .348 with 6 HR, 11 RBI...
Won Batter of the Month award on 6/1/2035, hitting .308 with 14 HR, 32 RBI...
Was selected to the 2035 Allstar game...
Hit 3 homeruns against Nashville, driving in 8 runs on 9/18/2035...
Drove in 7 runs against Kansas City on 5/15/2036...
Had 5 hits with 4 RBI against Knoxville on 8/23/2037...
Was selected to the 2038 Allstar game...
Had 2000th career hit on 9/15/2038, off Steven Davis (KNO)...
Hit for the cycle against Memphis on 5/4/2039...
Traded from Atlanta to Kansas City on 7/25/2040 (Going to KC: 2B W. Fredericks. Going to ATL: P D. Clift, 2B L. Griffeth, 3B N. Hegwood)...
Drove in 9 runs against Denver on 6/7/2041...
Won Player of the Week award on 5/12/2042, hitting .400 with 4 HR, 13 RBI...
Had 500th career homerun on 5/22/2042, off Victor Ater (TUC)...
Traded from Kansas City to Memphis on 2/22/2043 (Going to MEM: 2B W. Fredericks, 1B C. Serra. Going to KC: LF J. Moore)...
Signed as a free agent by Kansas City on 2/13/2045 to a 2-year deal worth $583,000 per year...
Released by Kansas City on 10/4/2045, refused assignment to minors...
Retired and inducted to the Hall of Fame in 2046.
 
 
Batting Leader Boards Appearances 
 
AVG
2029 - .317 - 9th
 
OBP
2029 - .384 - 10th
 
SLG
2030 - .598 - 8th
2031 - .556 - 9th
2032 - .566 - 9th
2038 - .601 - 6th
 
OPS
2029 - .900 - 10th
2030 - .957 - 9th
2031 - .941 - 8th
2032 - .955 - 7th
2038 - .973 - 7th
 
Hits
2029 - 191 - 5th
 
Triples
2028 - 11 - 4th
2029 - 10 - 1st
2030 -  9 - 7th
2031 -  9 - 7th
2033 -  8 - 7th
2034 -  8 - 7th
2036 - 10 - 6th
2038 - 11 - 4th
2039 -  7 - 10th
2041 -  9 - 7th
2042 -  9 - 8th
2043 -  8 - 10th
 
Homeruns
2030 - 41 - 5th
2031 - 33 - 10th
2032 - 38 - 8th
2034 - 36 - 8th
2035 - 42 - 5th
2038 - 40 - 6th
 
RBI
2030 - 120 - 9th
2031 - 129 - 5th
2032 - 124 - 8th
2034 - 126 - 9th
 
Runs
2029 - 121 - 3rd
2030 - 117 - 9th
2031 - 112 - 10th
2034 - 125 - 8th
2035 - 127 - 2nd