Barry Larkin New Hall of Famer

Barry Larkin is in. Nobody else on the Baseball Writers Association of America ballot is.

The Cincinnati Reds’ 19-year shortstop, a 12-time All-Star, will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame July 22 in Cooperstown, N.Y. after receiving 86.4 percent of the 573 ballots cast in an election that closed Dec. 31, it was announced Monday afternoon. It takes 75 percent of the vote to be selected.

“I’m incredibly, incredibly moved by this experience,” said Larkin, “so humbled by being the newest member of the Hall of Fame.”

Larkin was the favorite for election this year, a year in which no new superstars became eligible for the annual vote. In his second year on the ballot last year Larkin received 62.1 percent of the vote, the highest amount among players who were not selected. The late Ron Santo, the long-time Chicago Cubs third-baseman, was previously chosen by the Golden Era Veterans Committee for the Hall of Fame and also will be inducted in July.

Not only did Larkin bat .295 in his career that spanned 1986 to 2004, he won nine Silver Slugger Awards as the best hitter at his position in a given year, and three Gold Glove Awards as the best fielder. Larkin was the 1995 National League Most Valuable Player and was a member of the Reds’ 1990 World Series championship team. Currently a broadcaster, Larkin, 47, is a native of Cincinnati and also won the 1993 Roberto Clemente Award, Major League Baseball’s highest honor for community service. Among Larkin’s other career totals were 2,340 hits, 379 stolen bases, 1,329 runs scored, and 198 home runs in 2,180 games.

Larkin received 495 votes, the 24.3 percent gain from the year before being the highest single-year jump by any candidate since Yankee pitcher Herb Pennock’s numbers improved by the same margin in 1948. Voters can check off up to 10 candidates in the Hall voting, but this year 10 voters returned completely blank ballots, supporting no one for induction.

In a mock election, Fansided’s baseball writers gave more than 75 percent of the vote to just one player, long-time Houston Astro slugger Jeff Bagwell. In the real election, the veteran first baseman finished third with 56 percent of the vote. Second was pitcher Jack Morris with 66.7 percent of the vote. Reliever Lee Smith, 50.6 percent, and star lead-off man Tim Raines, 48.7 percent, rounded out the top five.

They were followed by infielder Alan Trammell, 36.8 percent; designated hitter Edgar Martinez, 36; Fred McGriff, 23.9; Larry Walker, 22.9; Mark McGwire, 19.5; Don Mattingly, 17.8; Dale Murphy, 14.5; Rafael Palmeiro, 12.6; and Bernie Williams, 9.6.

Players become eligible for Hall consideration five years after retirement and can remain on the ballot up to 15 years. However, anyone who does not receive at least five percent of the vote in a given year is removed. This year that rule applied to Juan Gonzalez, 4 percent; Vinny Castilla, 1; Tim Salmon, .9; Bill Mueller, .7; Brad Radke, .3; Javy Lopez, .2; Eric Young, .2; and Jeromy Burnitz, Brian Jordan, Terry Mulholland, Phil Nevin, Ruben Sierra, and Tony Womack, none of whom received a single vote.

The biggest surprise among the also-rans is the firm rejection of Gonzalez, who won two American League Most Valuable Player awards, batted .295, hit 434 home runs, and drove in 1,404 runs, while winning two home run crowns and an RBI championship with 157 knocked in during the 1998 season.

Voters did not rally around McGwire, who has confessed to steroids use while accumulating his 583 home runs, but he remains on the ballot for further consideration, as does Palmeiro, who flunked a drug test along the way to totalling 569 homers and 3,020 hits, numbers that are ordinarily automatic thresholds for Hall of Fame acceptance.

Other Reds in the Hall of Fame are Johnny Bench, Tony Perez, Sparky Anderson, Joe Morgan, Ernie Lombardi, Eppa Rixey, Bid McPhee, Bill McKechnie, Warren Giles and Ed Roush.

“Barry distinguished himself as a tremendous leader and a dominating player,” said Bench upon hearing of Larkin’s election.

Morgan enthusiastically endorsed Larkin’s selection, too.

“When you watched him play you knew he was a special player,” said the long-time second-base star.