How did the column assignment all start? Walters was covering the Twins about 25 years ago when the sports editor asked him if he could also write a notes column once a week. Several months later Walters agreed to leave the Twins beat and become a full time columnist.
Writing now for the Pioneer Press and the newspaper’s Website, Walters is reporting news most days of the week. “This is all about energy, not ability, really,” he said.
Energy, competitiveness and willingness to do things like knock on doors in the middle of the night. “You gotta be kind of nutty to do that kind of thing,” Walters said. “You’re always snooping. Your days are 24 hours. You go to bed with a couple of phones next to your nightstand. You’re always looking for news and you’re always on call. You always want to write things that other people might not be able to get first. You always want to be first with news.”
Once a pro baseball player, Walters sees similarities between the competitive drive needed in both athletics and reporting. “It’s fun trying to get things in your column… that the other people have to repeat the next day,” he said. “That’s the thrill of that, and that’s like having a big scoreboard. Every day you can pick up the Minneapolis newspaper and other media…and the Internet, and all that, and you can look at it as a big scoreboard and you can say who won and who lost. This is still for me a chance to be very competitive and I enjoy it.”
Walters grew up in northeast Minneapolis. He was signed by the Twins after a tryout and had a short career as a pitcher in the organization including six games in the major leagues.
It was during spring training of 1969 that he got the Shooter nickname seen even today on his Internet column. That spring Walters was throwing the ball past major leaguers including Detroit Hall of Famer Al Kaline who he struck out on three pitches. Twins outfielder Bob Allison called him Big Shooter and St. Paul newspaper man Arno Goethel reported it back home.
When Walters realized his future wasn’t playing baseball, he pursued his other dream, sportswriting. He graduated with a journalism degree from Minnesota in 1974. “I’ve been able to do the two things I wanted to do ever since I was a kid,” he said. “So, pretty lucky.”
As a youngster Walters delivered newspapers for the Minneapolis Tribune. Before his customers received their papers, he had to read the sports news himself. “I couldn’t wait to open up the package (of papers), sit on the corner and read the sports section,” he remembered.
When Walters was in grade school his parents gave him a portable typewriter for Christmas. That typewriter launched his Neighborhood News publication.
Walters spent his summers playing baseball with a dozen or so other kids. After the games he would go home, write a story about them, and then make copies of the Neighborhood News. His four younger siblings delivered the publication to the homes of kids who played in the baseball games.