Larkin...MAYBE?

[brm7675]

I was watching the Sports Reporters on Sunday and one of the reporters they had on is an offical voter for the MLB HOF and he made the comment that as of right now, Barry Larkin is a "maybe" vote for the HOF this year....

Really?

We need to stop this stupidity of letting uneducated people vote on the HOF.

[Nathan]

I was watching the Sports Reporters on Sunday and one of the reporters they had on is an offical voter for the MLB HOF and he made the comment that as of right now, Barry Larkin is a "maybe" vote for the HOF this year....

Really?

We need to stop this stupidity of letting uneducated people vote on the HOF.

Who do they say get in?

[brm7675]

Who do they say get in?

His vote for sure was going to be for Bert Blylevin and one other but I can not recall whom.

[davereds24]

Alomar will get in ahead of Larkin.

[Hondo]

Alomar will get in ahead of Larkin.

I think Alomar will be a Shoe in this year... Larkin should go in with Alomar because Barry Deserves it and would be ideal to go in with Alomar...

[Pony Boy]

I have been meaning to take a hard look at the stats of Ozzie Smith compared to Larkin for a while. So here it is:

Defense:
-A highly subjective category, but I'll give it to Ozzie, who might have been the best defensive SS of all time. But Larkin was very, very good and one of the best of his era. Ozzie won 13 GG, Barry won 3 GG, but most will concede that at least a couple of Ozzie's GGs rightfully belong to Larkin.

Hitting:
-Ozzie wasnt even a league average hitter. He actually wasnt even close to being a league average hitter over his career. Ozzie only posted an OPS+ higher than 100 4 times in 19 years. In other words, he posted a league average OPS only 4 time in 19 years. His best year had him at OPS+ 112. That is just a hair better than what Drew Stubbs put up in 2010. In other words, first ballot HOFer Ozzie Smith's best offensive season out of 19 was roughly equal to Drew Stubbs in 2010. Werent a lot of people screaming for Stubbs to be sent back to Louisville last season? Ozzie's average OPS+ over his career was 87. He better be the best defensive SS of all time, because if he isnt then he has no business in the HOF, let alone the first ballot.

-Larkin had an OPS+ over 100, 14 out of 19 years. And he never dipped below 100 during his prime. Only when he was basically a rookie and when he was over the hill. His average OPS+ was 116, which is 4 points above Ozzie's best ever OPS+. Larkin had a OPS+ over 130 7 times, peaking at 154in 1996 which for comparison sake was the same OPS+ that Votto had in 2009, and he did this while playing GG caliber shortstop.

I used OPS+ because it attempts to equalize the differences in the ballparks and the eras of the two players, but here are the basic career stats of Larkin and Ozzie for comparison:

Ozzie .262/.328/.666, 28 HRs
Larkin .295/.444/.815, 198 HR

Stolen Bases
A category that is often used to lend some credibility to Ozzie's horrible offensive numbers. But even here the edge goes to Larkin. Ozzie sits at number 14 all time in number of SBs, averaging a whopping 37 bags per 162 games. Barry was also a pretty prolific base stealer, averaging 28 bags per 162 games. But Ozzie was caught a hell of a lot more often than Barry. Ozzie was successful only about 74% of the time, Barry was successful 83%of the time, that is the 8th best in MLB history. Keep in mind that a 67% success rate is considered the cutoff point at which you are hurting the team by attempting to steal. Larkin didnt steal as many bases, but he was a much smarter base runner.

Awards:
-Ozzie won 13 GG, Barry won 3 GG.
-Ozzie won 1 silver slugger (that's right only 1). Barry won 9 silver sluggers.
-Ozzie was a 15 time all-star. This includes several seasons in which Ozzie had no business being anywhere near the AS game. Like in 1995 when he played in 44 games hitting .199. Larkin made the AS game 12 times, and none of those appearances (not even his last one) are suspect. Larkin somehow failed to make the All Star game at least twice when he was clearly deserving. For example, Larkin finished 12th in MVP voting in 1992 and failed to make the AS game. Ozzie went that year despite an OPS that was about 130 points lower than Larkin's.
-Larkin won the MVP in 1995. Ozzie never won an MVP, but finished 2nd in MVP voting in 1987. Maybe his best year at the plate, hitting .303 and zero HRs.

Postseason-
Both players won 1 World Series. Ozzie hit .208 in the Series, all singles. Barry hit .353 and slugging .529. Ozzie appeared in 2 more World Series and was a disaster at the plate in each. Hitting .087 in the '85 Series and .214 in the '87 Series with zero power. He never hit anything other than a single in a WS game. Ozzie did better in other playoff series in his career, but not nearly as good as Larkin. Ozzie's career postseason OPS is .617, Barry's is .862.

The fact that Ozzie Smith got in on the first ballot and Larkin may not get in on his second ballot and perhaps may never get in is just crazy. When you compare the two players Larkin is far, far superior.

[texasdave]

When healthy Barry Larkin was the better shortstop. End of story. If only he would have started maybe leapfrogging the pitcher on the way out to short or something. Both players belong in the HOF.

[JayBruceFan]

Larkin should have learned how to do a backflip :D

[cincy14]

Dave Concepcion s/b in the hall.

[redsfanmia]

Larkin should have learned how to do a backflip :D

Barry could backflip he just was not as flashy, there is a picture of Barry backflipping to celebrate the Reds either making the WS or winning the WS.