POLL: Barry Larkin and the Hall of Fame

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.