Make a Case: Barry Larkin

An article by WhoDey    1 Comment

The 2010 MLB Hall of Fame class will be announced on Wednesday.  Among the players appearing on the ballot for the first time is Barry Larkin – a guy whose HOF candidacy is often greatly debated.  While this obviously is his first, not last, crack at the ballot, it will be interesting to see what the result is.

Jayson Stark wrote a fantastic article on ESPN.com last week about Larkin.  In Stark’s opinion, he’s a sure-fire Hall of Famer.  Below is an excerpt:

Barry Larkin is one of the greatest shortstops who ever lived. Period.

I’m not sure why this is a fact lost on most of the non-Ohioans on our fine planet. But it’s a fact I can assure you is 100 percent true. And because it’s true, you should also know this:

Barry Larkin is a Hall of Famer. An easy Hall of Famer.

Stark continues, explaining:

For most of the 19 seasons (1986 to 2004) that Larkin spent patrolling shortstop in Cincinnati, a fellow named Ozzie Smith was known as the National League’s most famous shortstop. But inside the game, baseball people knew the truth — that the real pre-eminent shortstop in the league was actually Barry Larkin.

So why wasn’t that fact recognized by the rest of civilization? Because Larkin was a victim, to some extent, of his era. But it’s important to define that era, because you should recognize that Barry Larkin came along before the modern age of Masher Shortstops. Before A-Rod. Before Nomar. Before Tejada. Before Jeter.

But what of his offense?

You want to talk offense? OK, let’s talk offense.

Larkin won nine Silver Sluggers. Want to name all the infielders in history with more? It won’t take you long. There has been precisely one of them — A-Rod (with 10).

Want to name all the other players in history with more Silver Sluggers at any position? That won’t kill your day, either. There have been only two others: Barry Bonds (12) andMike Piazza (10). And that, believe it or not, is it.

Stark makes a pretty convincing case, although it’s not entirely cut and dry.  The number one detractor?  Injuries.  Larkin had an unusually high number of trips to the DL.  This lack of endurance prevented him from reaching several milestones in “counting stats”, such as home runs and hits, that Hall voters tend to love.  And it looks especially bad when stacked up against another HOF shortstop with whom his career overlapped – Cal Ripken.  As Stark noted, Larkin was, to some degree, a victim of his time – the position of shortstop was evolving right before our eyes during his career.

Now, I’ll admit to being a bit biased, seeing as how Barry is my favorite player ever, period, in any sport – ok, maybe that’s more than a bit biased.  But it’s hard to argue with 9 Silver Sluggers, 3 Gold Gloves (overlapping his career with Ozzie), an MVP, a 30-30 season (the first for a shortstop), and a World Series ring.  If you watched Larkin throughout his career, you’d have seen that he was the kind of leader a team needed.  He did whatever the team required –  Bat leadoff?  Sure.  Hit for power?  Add a 30 home run season.  Show some speed on the basepaths?  You bet – 83% of the time, he was successful.  And defense?  Well, you already know the answer to that.

We’ll find out tomorrow, but I for one am hoping that the voters get it right and put Barry Larkin in the Hall of Fame.

Photo from the Cincinnati Enquirer.