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Last updated on Tuesday, January 10, 2012
(NEW YORK, NY) - Former Cincinnati Reds Shortstop Barry Larkin has been elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Larkin was chosen on 86 percent of the ballots, well above the 75 percent needed for election.
He is the lone player selected by the Baseball Writers Association of American and will be inducted along with former Cubs third baseman Ron Santo, who was elected posthumously by the Hall of Fame's Golden Era Committee.
It was Larkin's third year of eligibility. He played 19 seasons, all with his hometown Reds, hitting .295 for his career.
He hit 198 home runs, drove in 960 runs, collected 2,340 hits and stole 379 bases. Larkin was the National League's Most Valuable Player in 1995, was selected for the All-Star Game twelve times, won three Gold Gloves and was the captain of the Reds' 1990 World Series Championship team.
Three other players garnered more than 50 percent of the vote but fell short of election. Those players are former Tigers and Twins pitcher Jack Morris, former Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell and long-time closer Lee Smith.
Evansville native Don Mattingly was named on 18 percent of the ballots and remains eligible.
Mattingly spent his entire playing career with the New York Yankees and is currently the manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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