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POLL: Barry Larkin and the Hall of Fame

Posted by Andy
Barry Larkin will be on the Hall of Fame ballot for the third time in January 2012 and is a good bet to make it in. This past year he had 62.1% of the vote and just needs to bump up to 75%.

Larkin played his entire 19-year career with the Reds and was one of the preeminent hitting shortstops of the 1990s.

He was a 12-time All Star, 9 time Silver Slugger winner, and won the 1995 NL MVP.

He was a part of the 1990 World Series champions and hit .338/.397/.465 in 4 post-season series.

Let's take a look at some of the arguments for and against Larkin entering the Hall of Fame.
First off, let's talk briefly about the card featured here. It's 1987 Donruss Opening Day #191. This set was issued late in 1987 to commemorate the players who starting on opening day of that season. The design closely follows that of the regular-issue 1987 Donruss cards, except replacing the black border with a maroon one.

The card back is quite similar, but forgoes yearly stat lines for a lengthier player bio. The back of Larkin's card reminds us of the battle between he and Kurt Stillwell, who many thought would become the longtime Reds shortstop. After Larkin beat out Stillwell, the Reds traded the latter with Ted Power for Angel Salazar and Danny Jackson, who became an important part of the Reds' championship team a few years later.

Now, back to Larkin and his candidacy.

For Barry Larkin in the Hall of Fame:

It's easy to forget that Larkin was ahead of the curve in terms of offense from the shortstop position. Over the 5-year stretch (1988-1992) before the Steroids Era, check out the best OPS+ among shortstops with at least 1,000 plate appearances:

Rk Player OPS+ PA Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS Tm
1 Barry Larkin 124 2826 24-28 669 2524 387 772 130 25 55 306 119 27 .306 .365 .443 .808 CIN
2 Cal Ripken 120 3528 27-31 808 3108 417 838 158 11 113 444 18 9 .270 .345 .437 .782 BAL
3 Alan Trammell 113 2207 30-34 525 1951 266 545 108 6 44 267 42 20 .279 .350 .409 .759 DET
4 Jeff Blauser 109 1828 22-26 527 1604 226 424 84 12 47 192 18 19 .264 .339 .420 .759 ATL
5 Travis Fryman 108 1584 21-23 376 1448 184 388 78 8 50 214 23 12 .268 .318 .436 .755 DET
6 Tony Fernandez 99 3357 26-30 755 3036 389 831 152 39 28 275 106 53 .274 .331 .377 .709 TOR-SDP
7 Jay Bell 98 2644 22-26 626 2305 332 595 114 25 36 222 36 22 .258 .322 .376 .698 CLE-PIT
8 Ozzie Smith 98 3156 33-37 733 2748 392 757 128 15 9 232 196 40 .275 .352 .343 .695 STL
9 Spike Owen 96 2270 27-31 641 1957 238 484 93 21 26 160 22 19 .247 .336 .356 .692 BOS-MON
10 Dickie Thon 91 2236 30-34 621 2059 209 531 83 17 37 207 60 19 .258 .307 .369 .675 SDP-PHI-TEX
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/30/2011.

Everybody remembers Ripken, but Larkin was the class of all shortstops from an offensive perspective. And this came from a position that put up only 5 guys who had an OPS+ of at least 100.

When the Steroids Era came, Larkin did even better, putting up an OPS+ of 126 from 1993 to 2000 (over 4,171 plate appearances.)

Although he won the MVP in 1995, he probably didn't deserve it, with Greg Maddux, Barry Bonds, and even teammate Reggie Sanders as better choices. However, he backed that up with a far better 1996, a very rare season by a SS that qualified for a batting title with an OPS+ of at least 150:

Rk Player Year OPS+ Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BA OBP SLG OPS
1 Alex Rodriguez 2002 158 26 TEX 162 725 624 125 187 27 2 57 142 9 4 .300 .392 .623 1.015
2 Alex Rodriguez 2001 160 25 TEX 162 732 632 133 201 34 1 52 135 18 3 .318 .399 .622 1.021
3 Alex Rodriguez 2000 162 24 SEA 148 672 554 134 175 34 2 41 132 15 4 .316 .420 .606 1.026
4 Nomar Garciaparra 2000 155 26 BOS 140 599 529 104 197 51 3 21 96 5 2 .372 .434 .599 1.033
5 Derek Jeter 1999 153 25 NYY 158 739 627 134 219 37 9 24 102 19 8 .349 .438 .552 .989
6 Nomar Garciaparra 1999 153 25 BOS 135 595 532 103 190 42 4 27 104 14 3 .357 .418 .603 1.022
7 Alex Rodriguez 1996 160 20 SEA 146 677 601 141 215 54 1 36 123 15 4 .358 .414 .631 1.045
8 Barry Larkin 1996 154 32 CIN 152 627 517 117 154 32 4 33 89 36 10 .298 .410 .567 .977
9 Cal Ripken 1991 162 30 BAL 162 717 650 99 210 46 5 34 114 6 1 .323 .374 .566 .940
10 Alan Trammell 1987 155 29 DET 151 668 597 109 205 34 3 28 105 21 2 .343 .402 .551 .953
11 Robin Yount 1983 150 27 MIL 149 662 578 102 178 42 10 17 80 12 5 .308 .383 .503 .886
12 Robin Yount 1982 166 26 MIL 156 704 635 129 210 46 12 29 114 14 3 .331 .379 .578 .957
13 Rico Petrocelli 1969 167 26 BOS 154 643 535 92 159 32 2 40 97 3 5 .297 .403 .589 .992
14 Ernie Banks 1959 155 28 CHC 155 671 589 97 179 25 6 45 143 2 4 .304 .374 .596 .970
15 Ernie Banks 1958 156 27 CHC 154 682 617 119 193 23 11 47 129 4 4 .313 .366 .614 .980
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/30/2011.

Rare, that is, until the triumverate of A-Rod, Jeter, and Nomar came along. Those 3 are remembered as the guys who revolutionized the SS position into an offensive threat, but in truth that was all part of the Steroids Era. Larkin and Ripken rewrote it while those three were still making out in the backs of cars.

With the help of his bat as well as his glove, Larkin amassed a career WAR of 68.9, good for 61st among position players. His nearest neighbors:

59. Luke  Appling+ (20) 69.3 R
60. Brooks  Robinson+ (23) 69.1 R
61. Barry Larkin (19) 68.9 R
62. Tony  Gwynn+ (20) 68.4 L
63. Jesse Burkett+ (16) 68.0 L

Fine company.

Throw in all the All-Star selections, Gold Gloves, Silver Sluggers, and a Word Series championship, and this guy is a sure-fire Hall of Famer.

Against Barry Larkin in the Hall of Fame:


The biggest argument against Larkin in the HOF is that despite his long career, he doesn't rank in the top 100 for any major offensive categories other than stolen bases (87th career).


In the year he won the MVP, 1995, there were at least 5 more deserving candidates, and he didn't rank higher than 7th in the MVP voting in any other year. How can a player who was never the best in the league be a Hall of Famer?


Tough to come up with a lot else against Larkin...


Here's the back of the card above, and then please vote in the poll at the very end.



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