Jonathan Daniel - Getty Images
4 months ago: CHICAGO - FILE: Barry Larkin #11 of the Cincinnati Reds overthrows first base early during a game against the Chicago Cubs on July 21, 2004 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois. It was reported that former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame January 9, 2012. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
The Hall of Fame voting came in yesterday afternoon, and Barry Larkin was elected with 86% of the vote. Congrats to Barry - not that he'll necessarily read this, but he's definitely a deserving candidate and it's great to see him get in. One of these days I'm going to need to get back up to Cooperstown again...
Nobody besides Larkin came particularly close to getting inducted, although Jack Morris (67%) and Jeff Bagwell (56%) are within hailing distance. Morris seems likely to get in next season, unless he gets screwed up by the bottleneck of talent that's going to join the ballot. Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Alan Trammell all saw large increases in their vote total from last season, so here's hoping that means those guys will get in eventually.
This always strikes me as strange, but nine ballots were left blank. Nine? You're telling me that nine writers thought there was nobody in this class that was worthy of the Hall? I suppose they could be making some sort of moral stand, but my guess is they were voters that fell into the "Nobody should get a unanimous vote" category and wanted to preserve the Hall's "history" of voting. Luckily nine votes is only 1.5% of the total vote and wouldn't have changed if any player got in or not...it's just interesting.
0 recs | 62 comments
Larkin did all the little things that can't be measured with stats
Very glad Larkin finally got in. I loved watching him play. He did so many things that don’t show up on paper: Hitting the ball to the right side to move the runner over, going to his left deep in the hole and holding potential doubles into singles…stuff like that. He was also legendary in his ability and willingness to mentor young players and being a coach on the field.
John Gregg - January 10, 2012
I've always been a Larkin guy -- glad he got in
That said, how does his % jump over 30 points in just 2 years? The process is so obsurd
Jason Collette - January 10, 2012
It's a weird process.
I wish they would do an overhaul on who’s allowed to vote for the Hall. It seems like there are lots of people that aren’t transparent about their ballot and are very old fashioned. I feel like transparency should become an expectation.
Steve Slowinski - January 10, 2012
It should be a requirement
I’d like to see something where the writers select a team of scouts and a team of saberists to collaborate and present their respective cases via webex.
I get the process is tough since you’re having to (hopefully) set aside personal biases & review players as someone who watches the game to mostly report on it and not to analyze it. If you got a nice breakdown of tools & numbers from trusted individuals, it could help improve this process.
Lastly, given how crowded these ballots are going to be the next few years, this mindless crap of the Muellers & Young’s of the world getting votes has to stop. We’ve seen cases were guys fall a handful of votes short while those votes are wasted on guys that were good to the media. yawn
Jason Collette - January 10, 2012
I don't get the whole concept of a 1st Ballot HOF
It seems to me that if a player was good enough to get in on the third try…he should have been good enough to get in the first time. It seems like some writers punish player’s for on/off-field incidents (like Alomar spitting in ump’s face). That doesn’t seem right to me.
Also it appears that some voters vote based upon who is on the ballot and not on the merits of an individual player. They may be inclined to vote for a particular player one year because the ballot has no strong candidates and vice versa.
John Gregg - January 10, 2012
Like myself, I'd imagine a lot of Bay Area residents are Larkin fans because of the time he spent in Plant City.
Why I’m also a big Kevin Mitchell and Chris Sabo fan.
rglass44 - January 10, 2012
He lives over here in Orlando now and has for awhile
He’s a big investor in a baseball training facility over here and his son went to DP HS (Damon’s alma mater)
Jason Collette - January 10, 2012
I'm a Larkin fan because Tim Beckham is pretty much going to be the same player.
PriceMultiCyYoungs - January 10, 2012
nice
AndrewTorrez - January 10, 2012
awefuly obsurd inded
pudieron89 - January 10, 2012
I totally agree with Cameron. The hall does it's best to keep players out
rather than vote them in
sternfan1 - January 10, 2012
The problem is an adherence to old benchmarks
Not winning 300 shouldn’t keep you out. Not even making 250 shouldn’t exclude you
Schilling only won 216 games with a 3.46 ERA. Change out the name and people aren’t as high on him but look at how dominating he was from 96-04 and again in 06 once he recovered from the foot and how can one say he’s not one of the best pitchers of the last 20 years?
Jason Collette - January 10, 2012
Same can be said for Morris in his heyday
sternfan1 - January 10, 2012
Jack Morris has one game
One. Game. If that’s the standard, let’s put Kirk Gibson in the Hall of Fame.
AndrewTorrez - January 10, 2012
Jack Morris was the ace of 3 world series winning teams.
Peter Piontek - January 10, 2012
So was Vic Raschi
bobr - January 11, 2012
No, not even close
You can’t put Schilling and Morris in a sentence that includes the word dominance. Schilling’s fWAR is 30 wins more. Morris had 4 seasons of >4.0 fWAR and none of them came consecutively. Schilling had a run of 15 seasons in which 12 of them were >4.0 fWAR years.
One’s a dominator, one is a compiler. To watch the same talking heads that called Blyleven a compiler twist and turn to defend Morris entertains me.
Jason Collette - January 10, 2012
I wouldn't be against adding a section to Cameron's idea about postseason greatness
(Not that I’m sure that gets Morris in, but it might.)
Average to good players who have carried their team to a world series deserve to be remembered. I view the hall as a keeper of the truly fantastic bits of baseball history, not just the fantastic players.
Whelk - January 10, 2012
the Hall already enshrines moments
Kirk Gibson’s HR was the greatest thing I ever saw. Doesn’t mean Gibson is a Hall-of-Famer; it means you enshrine the ball.
Jack Morris’s 10-inning game was awesome. Enshrine the ball, not the player.
AndrewTorrez - January 10, 2012
Change the language and say you're enshrining the player.
And a whole lot of the inane debate we get into come HOF season goes away (same thing with having a room for achievers of benchmarks).
Whelk - January 10, 2012
I guess I think more distinctions are better than fewer
but to be honest, with the ready availability of information these days, I’m not sure it matters. Ron Santo is probably known by more people age 40 and younger for not being in the Hall than he would be if the voters had been sensible in the first place.
AndrewTorrez - January 10, 2012
Best years btwn 96 & 04?
That’s pretty much the kiss of death for Hall voting right now. Anybody who peaked from the late 90s thur the early aughts is gonna have a tough time.
nomoredevil - January 10, 2012
Another beautiful day for the Rays not to sign a FA
sternfan1 - January 10, 2012
the prices are dropping, old friend.
rglass44 - January 10, 2012
flagged for ageism
pudieron89 - January 10, 2012
the prices are dropping, old friend.
rglass44 - January 10, 2012
the prices are dropping, old friend.
pudieron89 - January 10, 2012
flagged for ageism
rglass44 - January 10, 2012
Graphic Look at Replacing Runs in FA
http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/1/10/2693321/a-graphic-look-at-replacing-runs-in-fa-tampa-bay-rays
Jason Collette - January 10, 2012
That is just awesome.
Wade Davis is being traded today. I have no reason to believe that, there’s no rumor but I’m calling it.
joeybw - January 10, 2012
To whom and for what?
Might as well finish the prediction
BossmanJunior333 - January 10, 2012 via mobile
Mets
for a 1B. I don’t know, they got 3 guys who can play 1B that the Rays may like, I guess since it’s just a wild prediction, I will say Duda and a prospect.
joeybw - January 10, 2012
As long as its not murphy im good
BossmanJunior333 - January 10, 2012 via mobile
I was checking fangraphs
And I like duda more now. Hard to find anthing flukey about him.
BossmanJunior333 - January 10, 2012 via mobile
26?
AndrewTorrez - January 10, 2012
Ha statistically speaking, besides.being
BossmanJunior333 - January 10, 2012 via mobile
Ha statistically speaking, besides being a below average runner and defender
BossmanJunior333 - January 10, 2012 via mobile
His below average defense could be from being mostly an OF'er in Citi Field
I think he would be at least average at 1B.
joeybw - January 10, 2012
-.02 uzr at 1b, so average
BossmanJunior333 - January 10, 2012 via mobile
Versus -11.8 in RF
BossmanJunior333 - January 10, 2012 via mobile
So?
rglass44 - January 10, 2012
so I'm concerned that a career .850 OPS in the minors as an old guy
might mean that Duda’s .852 OPS last year represents his peak value as a part-time player, and not a guy who can be an everyday 1B.
I’m not even saying “don’t acquire Duda,” but I think there are legitimate questions.
AndrewTorrez - January 10, 2012
.715 ops v.lhp
So not worthless against lhp which is positive
BossmanJunior333 - January 10, 2012 via mobile
Duda is my hope. I'd be good with any of the three, but I worry about Davis' cost.
rglass44 - January 10, 2012
I read something a while back
About who would be off limits for gio, and davis was one of them. I think the mets see him as the heir after wright leaves.
With how bad of an outfielder duda was, I have to think he is most expendable
BossmanJunior333 - January 10, 2012 via mobile
To be fair
I remember reading that and the whole farm system was off limits + Davis + Neise. Maybe they didn’t like Gio or they thought they could get him for nothing.
I love Ike Davis but I think he would just be the latest pipe dream.
joeybw - January 10, 2012
I think konerko is more likely than ike sa
BossmanJunior333 - January 10, 2012 via mobile
I think konerko is more likely than ike davis
BossmanJunior333 - January 10, 2012 via mobile
fine with me, I want Konerko in the #4 spot.
joeybw - January 10, 2012
Blank ballots
At least two writers have publicly said that they refuse to vote for anyone from the “steroids era”, so that probably explains most of the blank ballots.
Brickhaus - January 10, 2012
Not their job to whitewash history
They had a chance to help that when the players were active. This stuff? Cowardly
Jason Collette - January 10, 2012
One of them was the Baltimore writer
Probably not coincidentally, the only Baltimore players possibly coming up in the next 5 years or so are people who have been proven to use steroids or were implicated by the Mitchell Report.
Brickhaus - January 10, 2012 via mobile
ugh, which one?
AndrewTorrez - January 10, 2012
let's see if they keep that stance when Jeter is eligible
AndrewTorrez - January 10, 2012
What a class act, glad to see him make it.
firemangreg - January 10, 2012
Factoid of the day
Hellickson’s innings increased 24% last season…..but his pitch count went up just 16%
Shields’ innings increased 18.5% last season…..but his pitch count went up just 6.3% last season.
Remember, all innings are not created equally.
Jason Collette - January 10, 2012
I rememember Brian Anderson talking about that during a Website Wednesday or something
Late in the season, his innings were projected to go incredibly higher but his amount of pitches didn’t grow much at all.
joeybw - January 10, 2012
It might not be so easy for Morris and Bagwell to get in next year
It’s media fun day as next years ballot has Clemens AND Bonds as well as Maddux and Glavine splitting the votes. Hey, Crime Dog is probably never getting in but he had a nice little jump this year.
joeybw - January 10, 2012
That Tim Raines is still on the outside looking in is a travesty
One of the best leadoff hitters in the history of the game.
nomoredevil - January 10, 2012
Andy Sonnanstine is one of the best long-men in the game.
sc_monsta1015 - January 10, 2012
sonny wasn't even one of the best long men on the team
nomoredevil - January 10, 2012
+1
Peter Piontek - January 10, 2012
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