Mike Walley

​Chris Hutchinson (born August 11, 1973), is a Canadian former professional baseball closer and relief pitcher. He played 3 seasons in Canadian Baseball Association for the Montreal Patriotes and Ottawa Lions and 8 seasons in the American Baseball Association for the Chicago Cyclones. He amassed a 19-9 record with 108 saves in 182 relief appearances with a 1.36 ERA, a 0.85 WHIP and 237 strikeouts over 225 innings. He is a 2-time ABA Champion, 1-time CBA Champion and a 3-time ABA Reliever of the Year.

## Professional Career

### Montreal Patriotes (2007-2008)

In the 2007 Inaugural CBA Draft, Walley was selected in the 4th round with the 24th overall pick by the Montreal Patriotes. He was known as one of the best reliever in the CBA with a great, all-around profil.e He was named the team's closer in 2007, amassing 15 saves in 16 opportunities. His numbers were good, not great and didn't earn any votes for the Reliever of the Year Award.

Walley struggled with his command in 2008, which saw him walk batter at an abnormal pace, more than two and half times he did the previous year. He still managed to have 14 saves, but with more base runners on the basepaths, he struggled a bit, but could still rely on his strikeouts to get him out of a jam.

### Chicago Cyclones (2009-2016)

Tired of Walley's inconsistent play, Montreal traded him to the ABA to Chicago for reliever Steven Testa, starting pitcher Kory Storts and catcher Greg Blazejak. Motivated by the Cyclones success, Walley worked on his command and had his best year yet. He had a perfect 16 in 16 record in save opportunities and didn't allow a single run to score during the season over 22 innings. He only allowed 11 baserunners. His league-leading 16 saves, combined with his exceptional performances saw him win the ABA Reliever of the Year Award, the first non-American player to win the award.

Walley had some injury problems during the offseason, notably suffering from back spasms and elbow problems. He missed the vast majority of the 2010 season with a shoulder injury, but still appeared in 2 games and pitched 3 scoreless innings.

Walley was right back where he left it off in 2011 with a league-leading 19 saves. His command problem was now a thing of the past with Walley walking only 1 batter over 25.2 innings of work. Despite his great performances, Walley didn't win the Reliever of the Year Award, losing to Billy Martinez. Many of Walley's streak ended in 2011, ge notably threw 29 scoreless outings and 32 scoreless innings.

Walley was even more dominant in 2012, winning once again the Reliever of the Year Award with a sub 1.00 ERA. He continued his impressive saves streak. That streak ended in 2013 after 48 straight saves opportunites without blowing one. Walley was still as dominant as ever and a key part of the Cyclones success.

Walley once again led the league in saves and for the first time in his career, led the league in relief appearances. He was just as dominant as before and puzzled hitters in the ABA, en route to win his third Reliever of the Year Award. He was plagued by back issues between the 2014 and 2015 season and struggled during the 2015 spring training. He was still named the Cyclones closer and amassed 3 saves before injuring his elbow and asked the Cyclones not to bring him back as a closer and stayed in the bullpen for the rest of the season, with 9 relief appearances. He won the ABA Championship with Chicago but it was clear his best days were behind him.

He started the 2016 season content with his role as a relief pitcher. His season was short-lived after he was diagnosed with a dead arm and was limited to 4 relief appearances. At the end of the season, concerned about the foreign player limit, Walley and the Cyclones mutually agreed to part ways with Walley leaving on good terms and as the franchise leader in saves.

### Ottawa Lions (2017)

Walley wanted to go back closer to home and went back to Canada on a one-year deal with the Lions. He struggled out of the gate and suffered from back issues during the season and asked for his release to heal his injuries. Ottawa granted him his release and still sent him a championship ring after the Lions won the CBA Championship, as a show of respect for one of the best Canadian closer to ever play.

## Retirement

Following his release by the Lions, Walley annouced his retirement from baseball. He's remebered as one of the best Canadian closer in history and one of the first Canadian pitcher to achieve success in the ABA. He chose to represent the Chicago Cyclones in his Hall of Fame bid. At the time of his retirement, Walley was the franchise leader in saves for the Cyclones and for a Canadian pitcher. The Cyclones retired his number 30 in his honor.

### Hall of Fame

Walley represents the Cyclones in his Hall of Fame bid. Experts aren't sure Walley did enough to get in, as he only played nine seasons in the ABA and missed one of them due to injuries and had limited appearances in two seasons. However, it is hard to forget how dominant Walley was when he was at his best.

#### Voting History

2019: 42.8%

2020: 45.1%

## Awards

3X ABA Reliever of the Year (2009, 2012, 2014)

2X ABA Champion (2009, 2015)

1X CBA Champion (2017)