Shortstop Barry Larkin was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame today with 86% of the vote, announced the Baseball Writers Association of America. Larkin is the lone inductee of 2012.
Larkin played his entire 19-season career with the Reds, with a .295/.371/.444 line and 198 home runs across 9,057 plate appearances. He won the NL MVP in 1995, made a dozen All-Star appearances, and won three Gold Gloves. FanGraphs pegs his career Wins Above Replacement at 70.6.
Congrats Barry. Well earned.
Makes me wonder if another man named Barry will be in it next year.
Word! Congrats Barry!
Probably feels sweet to get in after not getting in prior years, and to do so in a year where he is the only one going.
Bonds is pretty much the poster child of the steroid era. The odds of him ever getting in are slim to none, but even if he gets in, it’ll take a few years of arguments and a couple other alleged steroid users getting in.
I agree, I don’t see Bonds making it first ballot.
If Bonds does not make it on the first ballot, then what is the purpose of having a Hall of Fame?
To honor the non-cheaters.
They’re going to have to take out a whole bunch of plaques then.
Perhaps, but you can’t change that. You do the best job you can moving forward and hope it is better than you did in the past.
Sounds like a statement from the BBWAA, re: Braun.
Even before he was accused of using steroids he was the first player ever in the 400/400 club. Put him in.
He may make it in eventually, but the whole scandal coupled with the fact he probably wouldn’t have broken the HR record (Either of them) without them as well as his attitude throughout the whole thing will be enough to keep him out at least for a few years.
My guess is he’ll probably make it in toward the tail end of his eligibility. Basically once we get to the point where the Hall starts accepting other guys linked with steroids. Honestly, I think there’s decent odds A-Rod will make it in ahead of him and that may also serve as the tipping point for his candidacy.
bonds deserves it, regardless of whether or not he cheated he hit over 750 hr, that takes some real talent.
His home run record is about his worst argument for candidacy. One can make the argument that he was worthy of the Hall prior to his steroid years, but it’s pretty safe to say that he wouldn’t have sniffed the all time or single season records without steroids.
If he gets in, it’ll be on the merits of his career prior to the point where he was blatantly on steroids (Most believe, based on testimony from his trainer, that he started after 1998).
Can we not talk about Bonds? This is Barry Larkin’s day!!!
Does anyone notice the striking similarities between Alomar’s and Larkin’s careers?
Slash Line:
Larkin: .295/.371/.444 –> 9 silver sluggers
Alomar: .300/.371/.443 –> 4 silver sluggers
Stolen Bases:
Larkin: SB 379, CS 77 –> 83%
Alomar: SB 474, CS 114 –> 80%
Defense:
Alomar was the best 2B in his generation –> 10 gold gloves
Larkin was only an above average SS –> 3 gold gloves
Personal Allocates:
Both have won a World Series Champion at least once.
Both have won multiple silver sluggers and gold gloves.
Both have been elected to multiple All Star games.
Larkin has one MVP award, whereas Alomar has none.
Games played:
Larkin: 19 years, 2180 games played
Alomar: 17 years, 2379 games played
Conclusion:
Alomar was probably more valuable simply because of the difference in
the games throughout their respective careers. But overall, I think it
is
appropriate to induct Larkin into the HoF, one year after Alomar.
My conclusion is that Larkin and Alomar are, in fact, the same person.
PS – I think you meant “Personal Accolades”
Larkin got screwed out of 2 gold gloves because Ozzie was still playing and NOT because Ozzie was better defensively at the time.
Barry Lamar Bonds is not eligible because he has NOT retired yet people!!
Well deserved. Great player.
He was just a great ball player and I am real glad he got in, well deserved.
Well deserved, Barry Larkin was amazing to watch when I was a child.
Fixed it for you Kevin.
I’ve heard that 5 year-old Barry was amazing, too. Too bad he really went downhill around age 9…
All grammar-based joking aside, hell yeah, way to go Barry!
congrats larkin!
Well Deserved!
It’s BS. Check the stats for Bagwell, McGriff, Martinez, and a few others who got squat. Their numbers are much better than Larkin’s.
None of those people played shortstop. Across the board he’s considered a top ten shortstop of all-time.
I don’t give a crap what position he played. His numbers were much less. Are we picking by position or by numbers?
So you’re saying only 1B/OF should be in the HOF then?
Both
Apparently the voters don’t give a crap what you think either. Guess who wins in this one?
classic WEEI comment
Obviously, shortstops are held to a different offensive standard than first basemen. Do you even watch baseball?
Position is a MAJOR factor in the voting process. That he put up the numbers he did playing a premium defensive position is incredible.
Put Edgar at shortstop and see how many of the runs he creates with his bat are given back on defense. Baseball is a multi-dimensional game, and players are rewarded for strong offense at premium positions on the diamond.
If you don’t get that, you’re either incredibly dense, new to the game, or both.
His numbers were much less what…?
No, but Bagwell is the 3rd best 1B of all-time(after Gehrig and Pujols).
But I’m not saying Larkin didn’t deserve to get in. He should have got in last year.
Jimmie Foxx does not endorse this post.
ts ts ts… the best defensive 1B didn’t get in the HOF, Donnie Mattingly played a superb defense way better than Garvey and Keith H., but being the best at his position didn’t guarantee him the selection.
OK Ill go one better. Alan Tramell. Arguably Better off and def. Why so long to make it in?
Congrats Barry Larkin, it’s nice to see him finally come out from the shadows of Jeter, A-Rod, Ripken and Garciaparra
You forgot Ozzie Smith.
coolio!
BBWAA dot com has the whole ballot.
Javy Lopez and Eric Young got votes, Brad Radke got 2 votes.
Juan Gone is officially Gone after his 2nd year on the ballot only getting 4% of votes
seriously, who voted for bill mueller? what is there to gain in voting for bill mueller?
Peter Gammons?
I know Pedro Gomez did…
Well-deserved for Larkin. Truly a class act and great player.
How these writers cannot vote for Bagwell is still beyond me.
Well deserved and slighly underrated from the rest of the league. Congrats Barry.
Poor Phil Nevin. Didn’t get a single vote.
If its any consolation, he’s in my Baseball Mogul 2009 Hall of Fame.
Congrats to Barry Larkin
Jack Morris up to 66.7%. That’s pretty much lock-for-election territory there. I don’t get that at all. Morris, to me, is the pitching version of Bernie Williams. Almost, but not quite.
Competition will be even harder in the upcoming years, Pedro, Schilling, Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Mussina.
Some of these are for sure HOFers, some are borderline. Might get hard for Morris to get it. I think all those players I listed were better than Morris.
He is going to get in almost exclusively based on Game 7 in 1991
That’s the problem. It’s a single game. In Morris’s time he was never a great pitcher, he was a good pitcher who had a couple of great moments, nothing else.
Agreed wholeheartedly, but a large portion of the BBWAA consists of older guys who vote based on narrative rather than fact. It’s a sad truth.
Jack Morris was a good pitcher whose career was highlighted by All-Star appearances, Opening Day starts, and the fortune of being on a lot of good teams.
The lack of correlation between those things and his actual performance will be overlooked in lieu of the fact that he provided historic moments in an otherwise pedestrian career. His 3.90 ERA will be the worst in the entire Hall of Fame when he gets in, but people will rejoice as if it’s a deserved honor.
I love Jack Morris. I’m a Twins fan whose happiest sports memory is the 1991 World Series. The only thing close to Morris’ Game 7 dominance, in terms of sentimental value for me, is Puckett’s walk-off in Game 6. Still, even I can admit that while Morris is one of my all-time favorites… he’s not one of the all-time greats.
Actually a more apt comparison would be Kirk Gibson. Both were good, but not great, but had one HUGE defining postseason moment and won some WS. The difference: Gibson didn’t even sniff the HOF, let alone make it past the first ballot.
I have yet to hear an intelligent argument for Morris’s inclusion. Mostly intangible crap like “he pitched to the score” and was a “big game pitcher”.
Hopefully this opens the door for Trammell
Pete, the writers “right” as you call it is the way the system is set up. Anyone who has been a member of the BBWAA for ten years gets a vote. The BBWAA provides broad criteria, including character, and the writers cast their votes. If you don’t like the way the writers vote, work to change the system or, perhaps, yell at a writer.
By the way, Edgar Martinez doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame.
Raines definitely belongs and I am ambivalent about Bagwell.
Even though I know Bonds took steroids I think he should get in the hall. He started taking roids in 1999 because that is when he grew into a middle linebacker. Prior to that he had won 3 mvps 8 gold gloves and 7 silver sluggers. He had 400+ homeruns and 400+ steals prior to 1999. Had over a 400 obp. Even if you take away his 4 mvps and 300 homeruns he hit on steriods he is still a hof. This guy had talent unlike Sosa Bagwell Mgwire Palmero who were good only because of steriods in my opinion.
That’s the problem though, Bonds would probably have been a HOFer if he wouldnt have taken steroids. Now with everything that came out about it nobody wants to even look at those guys. If Bonds doesnt get in he really has nobody to blame but himself, he would have been in more than likely without steroids.
I fail to remember when Bonds failed a drug test. Conjecture, assumptions and hyperbole does not and should not preclude a person from the hall of fame. A jury found him guilty of obstruction of justic and nothing else. He should make the HOF without question.
I believe he failed 3 of them during the MLB’s “random” testing……but he’s a hall of famer anyway in my book.
It doesn’t matter. Most of the HoF voters that aren’t voting for these guys are using the character criteria to justify their lack of votes, not questioning their playing abilities if they hadn’t taking steroids.
Besides, you may have a point with Sosa, but McGwire was already a big star before he first took steroids, and judging from how far he hit those balls and his career total of 583, he would’ve still hit 500+ HRs without steroids. He was also an excellent defender, an elite on-base threat, and his career batting average is misleading due to a couple of horrible outliers (including his injury plagued final season).
As for Palmeiro, he’s probably the most underrated player with 3000+ hits in baseball history. Even before his failed test, he was extremely underrated and somehow snuck up to that huge milestone with little fanfare. His connection to steroids then seals the deal.
Anyone know how Mattingly did? In my opinion he should be in his numbers werent bad, the guy was a vaccum at first base, and was probably one of the best if not the best 1st basemen in the 80’s
He’s up to 17.8%
Damn, i thought he had a higher percentage last year, i could be wrong though, kinda sucks he probably wont get in. Donnie Baseball was my favorite player growing up as a kid.
At this point Mattingly should only get in as a manager if he does something for the Dodgers. The fact is he was a dominate hitter for only a couple of years. The last two thirds of his career were more or less slightly above average compared to other hitters of the time.
I was just saying he has something like 9 Gold Gloves an MVP and was a .307 or .309 career hitter had over 2000 hits, and a 6 or 7 time AS, pretty good numbers in my opinion. I know i may be bias because he was my favorite player growing up I just think he should be in. That’s just my opinion
I’m not sure that the Hall of Fame should be based on offensive stat production alone. Clearly, Ozzie Smith isn’t a Hall of Famer on offensive merit…but if you mention one breaths worth of great all time shortstops…Ozzie is there.
Yes, but do you really consider Mattingly to be one of the best defensive 1B of all time (not to mention that SS is a MUCH tougher defensive position than 1B)?
I don’t feel that Mattingly is a Hall of Famer. I’m actually making about the same as you are. Defense should definitely play into the case as far as middle infield Hall of Famers go. But offensive contribution should probably be a larger component…..or you’d be littering the Hall with the Rey Ordonez types.
Omar Vizquel is an interesting case coming up in a few years.
How is Mattingly not one of the best fielding 1st basemen of all time? His fielding percentage is like .998 and he has 9 gold gloves, in the 80’s nobody was better, i think he has one of the best gloves for a first basemen ever.
Keith
Jack Morris and Fred McGriff need to be in!
Those guys are all time goods not Hall of famers
I disagree. if McGriff was on a big market team, he would be considered one of the greatest. he was one of the top first baseman in the 80s/90s. He’s always been overlooked. Morris had a great career and he was an incredible big game pitcher. I think they both deserve to be in. For their era, they were some of the best
So Tim Raines isn’t in because he’s a cokehead, but Morris is in for being a “big game pitcher” and McGriff is in based on something that didn’t happen.
Good to know. Please get off the internet.
go take a nap little boy. McGriff should be in, where were you in the 80s/90s? Both players were some of the best for their era and that should go along ways. McGriff and Morris were in the runnings for MVPs and Cy Youngs for many years. Raines never was. He was good but not dominant in his era. Maybe Vince Coleman can get in too?
I don’t know of anyone that ever called Arnold a little boy!
Lou Ferrigino did…
Please look at Tim Raines’ stats from 1981-1987. Thank you.
McGriff wasn’t better than the DH and two other first basemen on this ballot.
Morris would easily become one of the worst pitchers in the Hall if elected. If you have a pulse, you’d know this. I don’t care about his opening day starts as an ace, his 10 inning complete game as an ace. They’re irrelevant when you’re statistically inferior to your peers as Morris is. You’d know this if you had a pulse.
name a better 1B than McGriff in the 80s/90s (that wasn’t juiced). Grace, Clark, Hal Morris? Nope. Same with Morris. Take a look space cadet!
Who was a better 1b? Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell, by leaps and bounds.
I loved Crime Dog, and that nickname alone and the fact that he could conceivably wear a Devil Rays cap almost makes him worth it, but not quite.
Bagwell
Mike Piazza will be eligible next year! He better make it first ballot!
TO-NY WO-MACK!
*clap clap clapclapclap*
Is Eric Young a part of the BBWAA? If not, then who in the hell voted for him? Same could be said for guys like Brad Radke, Bill Mueller, et al. Seriously though, these voters should take this at least semi-seriously.
Radke has a higher career WAR than Jack Morris. Neither should be HOFers, just saying though.
Rather have that than the nine clowns who left their ballots blank.
One guy, Randy Miller, doesn’t think Bagwell deserves the HoF even though he isn’t holding ‘roids against him. To him Bagwell is “good, but not HoF worthy”
His case against Raines is even funnier, cause “If Raines is so great, why did he get 22% of vote one year?”
Prior to 2000, Barry Bonds was a hair shy of being in the 500-500 club, won 3 MVPs, won several gold gloves, had a top 30 OBP (not just in the modern era… EVER… including back when guys hit .400 with regularity), and even had Wesley Snipes play a loosely based version of himself in a movie with the guy from Taxi Driver.
In order to deny Barry Bonds entrance to the Hall, please provide proof that using PEDs directly influenced his career in the 1980s and 1990s, when he was one of the best all-around players in baseball history.
maybe if Wesley Snipes played Fred McGriff, you’d get a clue. haha
Seriously dude, get off the internet. You know nothing about baseball.
because you do. “hmmm, did Wesley Snipes ever play you? Sorry Biggio, maybe next year……”
That’s the bad thing about Bonds. He didn’t need to use PEDs when he did, because as you pointed out, he was already a great player without them. Now, a lot of people prolly won’t vote for him, since he tested positive in 2001..
I think that’s the biggest shame in all of this. I would have loved to see what he could have done.
Personally, I’d vote them all in simply because of all the cheaters that are already in the Hall like Gaylord Perry, but if you’re not going to let in guys like McGwire (who would’ve still hit 500+ HRs w/out steroids) and Palmeiro (who also has over 3000 hits) because of the character clause, then you can’t let in Bonds. Having a HOF career prior to taking steroids doesn’t matter. He cheated, therefore he doesn’t meet the character criteria for election into the Hall. It would be the same as if Albert Pujols suddenly decided to start taking steroids this year.
Some people also choose not to make a mistake just because it was made prior.
I guess that’s only if you want to ignore that he still had a significant contribution for the follow decade after that too–and that contribution by most people’s eyes think that he cheated. They usually look at the guy’s career as a whole, not just one portion of it.
Congratulations to Larkin. Maybe there is some hope for Bernie Williams
(.297/.381/.477).
I think too many people get into the HOF. Barry Larkin was a nice player but HOF maybe not. The HOF should only be of all time greats like mantle mays steve carlton rickey henderson Nolan ryan cal ripken. Guys like andre dawson, ryne sandberg who have made it in the past are not all time greats. If there is any debate whether a player is a HOF then he is not one. Derek Jeter yes Bernie williams no. Greg Maddux yes Mike mussiana no. This is the hall of fame not the hall of the good. Frank Thomas Mike Piazza randy johnson chipper jones John smoltz greg maddux tom glavine craig biggio curt schilling pedro martinez for future hall of fame.
I’m with you, but Ryne Sandberg is a Hall of Famer. Especially if Biggio is.
Yeah, if Jorge Posada gets in, then it’s obviously not that prestigious. A catcher known for his bat that only hits .273 lifetime has no business in the HOF..
.273 is a pretty high average as a catcher. Posada I’d say won’t make it but he definitely is on the borderline level.
I wouldn’t say it’s a high average. It’s a little above average for a catcher, but not HOF material. Piazza hit .308, mostly as a catcher. That is a high average, and he should get in the Hall on the first ballot..
No argument about Piazza. And to be exact, Posada’s career BA as a catcher is not .273, it’s actualyl .279. Currently there are 13 HOF catchers, 6 of them have a lower BA.
Only 3 HOF catchers have a higher OBP than Posada (for his stats as a catcher), and only 2 have a higher slugging percentage.
Again, I’d vote no though for him but he is definitely borderline. Only catchers this era who were better were Pudge and Piazza, and maybe Mauer in the end if he stays at C.
Ok, that’s fair.
And I think Mauer should probably move positions to extend his career, perhaps to first..
Barry Larkin was one of the best offensive SS of his era and that shows up as All*Star appearances. He played strong defense and was a leader on a good team. How many better SS can you name from 1970-2000? Ripken? Jeter?
I don’t disagree with everything, just your perception that Larkin was just a nice SS amongst his peers. There are what, two dozen or so SS in the HOF? Larkin for sure was amongst those guys, and is definitely way better than all the other SS who have ever played the game and are eligible.
Then Omar Vizquel will be a HOFer, too. Same amount of RBI’s, 500+ more hits…8 more gold gloves than Larkin.
Vizquel should be. With the exception of Ozzie Smith, he’s the greatest defensive shortstop of all time..
I don’t know about that, but Vizquel was an elite defensive SS, plus his career offensive stats are very similar to the Wizard’s career offensive stats, and Ozzie got in on his first ballot.
2600 games started at shortstop, only 186 errors at the position in his career. hall worthy no doubt.
Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle should get special Hall of Fame commendations for using “Performance Detracting Drugs”. My goodness. How many home runs have been socked with hangovers in MLB history?
This is great news for my 1987 Topps Barry Larkin rookie card! It’s worth a mint now!! Literally…it’s worth a York Peppermint Patty.
When Will Clark gets in the Hall…then we’ll be talking slamming those biscuit wheels on this gravy train!
This whole steroid argument comes down to this, is a player still considered “great” knowing they got an artificial/synthetic “assist” that no other players in any era before them received? It doesn’t matter if they were a great player or not before the roids since the act of using them contaminates the sample of statistics therefore impossible to judge them on the breadth of their careers.
Interesting voting dynamics in Morris. No one has gotten to 66.7% w/o being elected subsequently. But he has 2 years left…..next year you see 2 guys that were gonna be 1st ballot guys w/o PEDs but they did em anyways in Bonds and Rocket…do they get “punished” by being left off a bunch of ballots a la the other cheaters that have come up so far? Then you have a borderline guy before PED’s in Sosa and a guy in Biggio that is a borderline guy overall…but he got his 3000 hits ( ever notice his career high power surge at age 37-38-39? hmmm…..)…then all hit abysmal D catcher that is likely getting in first ballot and a very Morris like guy in Schilling….plus Bags and Raines as serious contenders from the holdover (nonwithstanding Trammel was Barry Larkin but will be screwed)….in 2014 you have Maddux and Glavine….do you think if Morris misses next year that they will put him in as the junior candidate with those two guys?….hmmmm….I think Jack’s best bet is next year while people argue about Bonds and Clemens….if not next year, he may be the first guy to not get in with 2/3 the vote late in the process…typical Tigers screw job ( see Freehan, Whitaker dumped off the ballot after 1 year while Ryno is 1st ballot, and Trammell)
Congrats to Larkin! Free Alan Trammell!!
Edgar career stats: .312/.418/.515 CAREER .933 OPS!!!
Over the course of 18 years (not his fault some of those were September stints blocked by Jim Presley) in 2055 games and 8672 PA.
Is that not enough? More than enough?
Martinez was a great hitter. I wouldnt mind it if he made the hall. But the fact that he was a dh will make it where he never gets in
If ozzie smith is in the HOF that means that one dimensional players can get into the HOF too.
Edgar career stats: .312/.418/.515 CAREER .933 OPS!!!
Over the course of 18 years (not his fault some of those were September stints blocked by Jim Presley) in 2055 games and 8672 PA.
Is that not enough? More than enough?
Some of you are arguing the fact that Larkin was just a good SS compared to a great one. For a good part of his career you could argue the fact that he was the best all around shortstop in the majors. The SS position wasnt offensive position then as it is now. Larkin made it that and then Jeter, Nomar, and Arod took it a step farther. Looking over the past 20 years and taking into account defense, baserunning, leadership, and offense I would say Jeter is first and Larkin is 2nd.
Uhhh, Cal Ripken and Robin Yount say hellloooooo from 1981….Larkin followed them and Trammell….
Other than announcers and managers, is Barry Larkin the only Hall of Famer who has never led an offensive category over the course of his career? Ozzie Smith has even led a category one year.