Uncommonly Sports: Barry Larkin

Issue: Two part issue - 1) Why does no one outside of Cincinnati believe Barry Larkin is a Hall of Famer; and 2) Why does Barry Larkin not make most people's list of the top shortstops of all time?

Short Answer: I don't have an answer to either.

Reasoning: It is obvious to me why everyone in Cincinnati knows, not thinks, that Barry Larkin in a Hall of Famer. He is perhaps the most beloved Cincinnati Red ever. He was a hell of a player on the field and a gentleman off the field. If you have ever heard the roars Pete Rose generates when he shows up at a Reds game, you know how much Cincinnatians love their Reds (regardless of how much others may hate them). Barry Larkin represented the re-birth of the Reds when he lead them to the World Series Championship in 1990, and still played his tail off when the Reds became what we who grew up in this city (post 1976 and sans 1990) always expect the Reds to be, i.e., a small-market team that refuses to spend money, pay draft picks, and loses games. But, we always had Barry. He was never the flashiest, but he always did his job, and did it well.

Why Barry Larkin is not considered one of the greatest shortstops of all time is beyond me. Let us take a look at the ENTIRE LIST of Hall of Fame Shortstops and a list of statistics that each has which represents the best among shortstops ever*:

Luis Aparicio
Luke Appling
Dave Bancroft
Ernie Banks (.500 slugging %, 512 home runs)
Lou Boudreau
Joe Cronin
George Davis
Travis Jackson
Hughie Jennings
Rabbit Maranville
Pee Wee Reese
Cal Ripken, Jr.
Phil Rizzuto
Joe Sewell
Ozzie Smith
Joe Tinker
Arky Vaughn (.406 on-base %)
Honus Wagner (.327 batting average, 3,415 hits, 1,732 RBI, 1,736 runs, 722 stolen bases)
Bobby Wallace
John Ward
Robin Yount

Uhhhhhhhh, what? How many of these guys have you heard of? And, how many would you take over Barry Larkin? I would take Honus Wagner (obviously, he seems to be the benchmark) and Ernie Banks. That's it. Sure, Cal Ripken was way more durable (Larkin was hurt a lot, but let us not forget that he played on the old artificial turf in Riverfront Stadium, which was more like concrete), but he was not better. Ozzie Smith was a defensive wizard (although Larkin did win 3 gold gloves playing at the same time as Smith), but not a better all around player than Larkin. Larkin is the third best shortstop on this list, period.

Let's take a look at Larkin's stats** and where he ranks among Hall of Fame shortstops: .295 batting average (T-7th), .371 on-base % (8th), .444 slugging % (6th), 2,340 hits (10th), 198 home runs (4th), 960 RBI (10th), 1329 runs (8th), 379 stolen bases (6th). No higher than 4th in any category, no lower than 10th. Remember, this is among those already in the Hall of Fame - the place Barry should be soon. Oh, by the way, Larkin was a 12-time All-Star, won the Roberto Clemente Award in 1993, the Lou Gehrig Award in 1994, the NL MVP in 1995, a 9-time Silver Slugger Award winner, and was top-5 in fielding % in the NL 9 different times. By his stats alone, one may not think Barry Larkin is a Hall of Famer, but when compared to other shortstops who are in the Hall of Fame, Barry Larkin is an easy Hall of Famer. Hopefully the "sportswriters" who vote, will get their acts together and put Mr. Larkin in the Hall next year. While they're at it, Pete should be in there too.