Larkin-- deserving of HOF?

[KEVINEHLE]

Barry is in......on only the 3rd try.

I kind of think he deserves it....but how many of you do? 12 All Star and 3 Gold Gloves.

Are there others who should have gotten in before him?

[Roscodog]

I think he should be in the HOF but so should Alan Trammell and Lee Smith.

[Risden]

I think that Larkin was easily the best player in this class. Glad to see that an all-around, highly skilled player in ALL phases of the game was enshrined.

[MrHacktastic]

in my opinion Tim Raines is the obvious choice of the group. He is one of the top 5 leadoff hitters of all-time. I think the only reason he isn't is because his prime happened in Montreal and history generally ignores MTL players. He performed well when in the playoffs as well. Just look at his ALCS stats.

I think being a leadoff hitter is a unique thing in baseball. It is almost the equivalent of a position in the field. The rest of the lineup looks for you to set the table, steal bags, see pitches, and create more fastballs for them to hit. Tim did that as well as anybody in his prime and the only reason he isn't the greatest leadoff hitter of all-time is because Rickey Henderson existed. Imagine the publicity Raines would have had during his career if not for Rickey.

[the splinter]

I loved Raines too. But I can't give my HOF vote.

He is Lou Brock without 3K hits and the baggage of onfield drug involvement during his active career. The guy kept coke in his back pockets and changed his sliding style to the head first to protect his stash. One could argue coke was Raines version of roids. As soon as he quit the blow his career went to downhill.

Feel free to insert the names Hernandez/Strawberry/Eric Davis/Gooden etal at will.

Sorry...thats not HOF to me.

[kylerose256]

I agree with Hackdog: Here is why....

Player 1 - .295/.371/.444 198HR 960RBI 379SB 2340H 1329R 2180GP
817/939 K/BB

Player 2 - .294/.385/.425 170HR 980RBI 808SB 2605H 1571R 2502GP
966/1330 K/BB

To me those 2 are similar players...obviously player 1 is Barry Larkin and player 2 is Tim Raines. I give credit to Larkin for the position difficulty, but I want to point somethings out about Raines. HE HAD 1330 WALKS!!! That is good enough for 35th ALL-TIME. So what? Right? Well, other than Rickey Henderson and Joe Morgan, the rest of the 35 were all power hitters. That means they spent alot time being pitched around. Where as Raines spent his time setting up the rest of the lineup. That would make Tim Raines one of the Top 3 leadoff hitters of all-time. He had 1330BB to 966K. Lou Brock walked 761 times, but he struck out 1730 times!!!!! Tell me who did a better job setting the table for their team. I realize brock had more hits and stolen bases, but if you add hits and walks together it looks like this Raines 3,935 times on base to Brock's 3784 times on base. Also, if you take steals minus caught stolen Raines is 662 and Brock is 631. That's why he is a no-brainer. Yes, Raines carried around coke, but Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle were alcoholics and don't try to tell me they never played games drunk.

Raines is a Hall of Famer.

[Mean Dean]

[quote:4b59d1c44b] One could argue coke was Raines version of roids. As soon as he quit the blow his career went to downhill.[/quote:4b59d1c44b]Raines went into rehab after the 1982 season. [url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/raineti01.shtml]Here is his career[/url].

[MrHacktastic]

[quote:88445030db="the splinter"]I loved Raines too. But I can't give my HOF vote.

He is Lou Brock without 3K hits and the baggage of onfield drug involvement during his active career. The guy kept coke in his back pockets and changed his sliding style to the head first to protect his stash. One could argue coke was Raines version of roids. As soon as he quit the blow his career went to downhill.

Feel free to insert the names Hernandez/Strawberry/Eric Davis/Gooden etal at will.

Sorry...thats not HOF to me.[/quote:88445030db]

Well I have no idea what you think about baseball or the HOF but I now know how you feel about cocaine. Hardly relevant to Raines's HOF voting.

[durantjerry]

[quote:ed4d211a08]Hardly relevant to Raines's HOF voting. [/quote:ed4d211a08]
Agree. Also, don't think Larkin was a "No Brainer", but 12 All Stars, 9 Silver Sluggers and 3 Gold Gloves during Ozzie's reign sure looks good on paper.

[mfort]

I don't think people outside of Cincy realize just how good this guy was. I think he should have been a 1st ballet HOFer. Stats speak for themselves and should have had many more GG's but Ozzie was still getting them late in career based on Rep. Could have hit 25-30 HR's a year as he did when he hit 3rd in lineup but usually was leadoff or 2nd and always placed a premium on situational hitting. Things that don't go into the stats like coaches asking him to hit behind a runner. A simple groundout to 2nd base to move a runner from 2nd to 3rd. The way the game used to be played. He sacrificed alot of stats for the team. True team player. Captain. Great player at a premium position. Couldn't understand how Alomar was a 1st ballot and Larkin wasn't. If he were a Yankee would be considered best SS of all-time.(Maybe)