Over at ESPN, Jayson Stark puts it very succinctly:
Barry Larkin is one of the greatest shortstops who ever lived. Period.
Indeed. But then, we already knew that, right?
Stark continues:
I’m not sure why this is a fact lost on most of the non-Ohioans on our fine planet. But it’s a fact I can assure you is 100 percent true. And because it’s true, you should also know this:
Barry Larkin is a Hall of Famer. An easy Hall of Famer.
Stark goes on to say that he doesn’t expect Larkin to be elected to the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, and further, he explains why that would be a grave injustice.
Read the entire article. And someone needs to forward this piece to every Hall of Fame voter. It’s the best argument in Larkin’s defense that we’re likely to see in a mainstream media outlet.