Whether they grow up playing hardball, stickball or whiffle ball, big leaguers cling to the same childhood fantasy: They're standing in the backyard or the schoolyard, and they dream of hitting the climactic homer or throwing the final pitch in a World Series. That cliché has become as synonymous with the major league baseball "experience" as the bubble on an unsuspecting player's cap or a shaving cream pie in the face.

As a youngster in the Pittsburgh bedroom community of Gibsonia, Pirates second baseman Neil Walker dared to dream from both sides of the plate. But his imaginary brush with fame ended with a singular, provincial twist: It always came at the confluence of the Monongahela, Allegheny and Ohio Rivers.

Neil Walker is riding a 15-game hitting streak, and he's batting .452 in 11 games in July. Charles LeClaire-US Presswire

Unlike Jerry Seinfeld in the famous "puffy shirt" episode, Walker wanted to be a Pirate. He made that declaration to his parents, Tom and Carolyn, each time the family car took Route 279 past Three Rivers Stadium on the way to another game.

"Neil got the itch," Tom Walker said by phone. "His older brothers were playing, and his sister was a tomboy and she played as well. When he was 6 or 7 he'd go by that ballpark and say, 'I'm going to play there someday.' I had learned that Neil had exceptional abilities, and I wasn't about to tell him he couldn't do anything."

Three Rivers Stadium has given way to PNC Park, Kevin McClatchy yielded control to Bob Nutting, and a former No. 1 draft pick named Andrew McCutchen made the transformation from prospect to most valuable player candidate. He is receiving lots of support this summer from hometown boy and sidekick Neil Walker, who is doing his part to try to bring the Pirates their first .500 or better season and playoff appearance since 1992.

After a nondescript three months, Walker has benefited from some recent changes to shorten his swing and has been crushing everything in sight. He's hitting .452 (19-for-42) with a 1.330 OPS in July, and he carries a 15-game hitting streak into Monday's game in Colorado. Among big league second basemen, Walker's 2.7 wins above replacement ties him with Cleveland's Jason Kipnis for third behind Robinson Cano and Aaron Hill.

Walker has come a long way from his Pine-Richland High School days, not to mention the 2009 season, when he arrived from Triple-A ball in September and bunked in his old bedroom. The following summer, the Wall Street Journal wrote a story detailing how Walker and Oakland A's pitcher Tyson Ross were the only big leaguers to live with their parents.

"That brought Neil a lot of grief right there," Tom Walker said, laughing. "Oh my. His teammates were saying things like, 'Hey Neil, do you mind if we send our wash home with you?' Or, 'What did your mom make you for breakfast this morning?' I think that's when Neil decided to get married -- just so he would have a reason to get out of the house."

A family thing

If there's such a thing as a jock factory, the Walkers of western Pennsylvania would certainly apply.

Tom posted an 18-23 record in the big leagues with the Montreal Expos, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals and California Angels. His biggest claim to fame came in the minors in 1971, when he played for Cal Ripken Sr. in the Texas League and threw a 15-inning no-hitter for the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs to beat Albuquerque 1-0. Each year on Aug. 4, a few stray baseball cards trickle in to be signed, the occasional radio station makes a call and the Walkers hold a little celebration to commemorate the night that Tom threw 193 pitches and lived to tell about it.

"That's probably why I can't brush my teeth anymore," he said.

Tom Walker's brother-in-law, Chip Lang, pitched briefly for the Expos in the mid-1970s. One of Neil's brothers, Matt, played outfield in the Detroit and Baltimore chains, and the other, Sean, pitched for George Mason University. Carrie, the sister, played professional basketball in Ireland and is married to Pittsburgh native and Tigers utility man Don Kelly. They have a son Brett, age 3, who can flat-out rake.

Neil Walker's formative years as a Pirates fan came in "peanut heaven" at Three Rivers, when he watched his favorite player, Andy Van Slyke, chase down balls in the gap and rank among the league leaders in triples each year. In 1994, the family scored tickets to the All-Star Game, when Neil snagged the signatures of Ken Griffey Jr. and Frank Thomas. To this day, the balls are among his most prized baseball possessions.