Only Barry, “The Lonely Larkin,” Enters the Hall of Fame, Red Sox ’89 draftee finishes 3rd behind Morris

Barry Larkin will be the only player elected to the Hall Of Fame in 2102.

Sources on the street in Vegas say that the odds on the former Reds’ All-Star, Gold Glove, shortstop, indicate he will be a Lonely Larkin on the stage at the induction ceremonies in Cooperstown next summer. [posted 1:52 PM EST, Monday]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>  NEWS FLASH !!!  …68 MINUTES LATER <<<<<<<<<<<

"Barry Larkin495 (86.4%)3Jack Morris382 (66.7%)13Jeff Bagwell321 (56.0%)2"

Former Red Sox draft pick in 1989, Jeff Bagwell, finished third in the 2012 election behind Jack “The Cat” Morris, who was 8.3% shy of election and has two final years for entry by the regular process; he will them need to be elected by the Veterans’ Committee.

In just his second year of eligibility, Bagwell missed election by 19% of the votes.

Larkin had been gaining momentum toward the magic number [75%] during his first two years of eligibility garnering increasing numbers of the votes of the BBWA.
electors:  51.6 % in 2010 and 62.1% last year.

The Reds liked him so much, they drafted him twice:

June 7, 1982: Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2nd round of the 1982 amateur draft, but did not sign.
June 3, 1985: Drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1st round (4th pick) of the 1985 amateur draft.

During his 19-year career with the Reds, Larkin put up solid offensive numbers:

BA .295
OBP .371
SLG .444
HRs: 198
RBI: 960

"Significantly, he became the first major league shortstop in MLB history to join the 30-30 club, when he had 33 home runs and 36 stolen bases in 1996."

Jeff Bagwell, who was born in Boston, just a long HR from Fenway Park, attended H.S. and college in Connecticut, and would have been a hometown favorite with Red Sox fans.

He was drafted by the Red Sox in the 4th round of the 1989 amateur draft and signed with Boston on June 10, 1989.  Unfortunately, then Red Sox GM Lou Gorman made one of the worst trades in baseball history when he promptly traded Bagwell on August 30, 1990 to the Houston Astros for Larry Andersen, whose odds of making the HOF are ZERO.

Bagwell started his MLB career with the Astros on April 8, 1991 and retired in 2005; he is considered one of the top three candidates for election in 2013 .

Houston Astro’ former 1b, Bagwell  has widespread support for election and will likely be voted into the Hall next year with Morris.

“Jeff Bagwell, Barry Larkin Bagwell’s numbers are especially remarkable given the fact that he spent most of his peak seasons playing his home games in a pitchers’ paradise, the Astrodome. The whisper campaign against him, consisting of rumor, innuendo and unsubstantiated speculation, strikes me as fundamentally un-American.” [” Michael Bauman, MLB.com]

“Bagwell was a complete player and helped his teams to six playoff appearances. Larkin was the consummate pro, both offensively and defensively.” [Richard Justice, MLB.com]

“Bagwell should be in. It is wrong that he is being overlooked or being viewed suspiciously. Personally, I decline the honor of passing judgment on the steroids era, but there is no need to judge Bagwell on anything but his tremendous accomplishments.” [T.R. Sullivan, MLB.com]

Larkin was known as a smart base runner, a clutch hitter, a solid defensive player, and was well-liked by his team mates; he was the team Captain from 1996-2004.

"HISTORICAL FOOTNOTE:  On September 27, 1998 Barry, his brother Stephen Larkin, second baseman Bret Boone, and third baseman Aaron Boone all played the infield for the last game of the 1998 season at the same time making it the first time in Major League Baseball that two sets of siblings were on the field at the same time."

Detroit Tigers’ starter Jack Morris has a great deal of support for election and will likely be voted into the Hall next year with Bagwell.

“I’ve been voting for Morris for years — this is his 13th try of the maximum 15 years on the ballot. He should have been elected years ago. Critics say his 254 career victories and 3.90 ERA fall short of Hall of Fame standards. But Hall of Famers Whitey Ford, Catfish Hunter, Jim Bunning, Juan Marichal and Don Drysdale had fewer wins than Morris. Jack was the dominant pitcher of the 1980s.” [Hal Bodley, MLB.com]

“Morris not only was a consummate big-game ace, he did it for nearly two decades and was a 20-game winner three times. Smith, who retired as the career saves leader but has since been passed, gets my vote for his early dominance, career-long consistency and durability.” [Ken Gurnick, MLB.com]

“Morris is the embodiment of an ace. If we can keep people out of the Hall due to character (Pete Rose), then we can enshrine Murphy because he not only excelled on the field but also did something off the field to ennoble the game every day.“ [Chris Haft, MLB.com]

“ Morris helped three teams win championships and was perhaps the best pitcher of the ’80s.” [Richard Justice, MLB.com]
MORE:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bagweje01.shtml#trans

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/larkiba01.shtml

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=larkiba01

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Larkin

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