Welcome To The HOF ...

 
Welcome to the HOF Ron Santo & Barry Larkin!!! Today Barry Larkin joins Ron Santo in the Hall Of Fame class of 2012. Santo & Larkin are excellent choices & well-deserving of this honor.
 
Ron Santo is absolutely one of the top ten third basemen of all time. I believe that it is a travesty that he fell to being elected posthumously. With each successive year of his being passed over, I could only cry out, '' OOOOhhhh  NNNNoooo!!!! '' His lifetime stats are solid, but they are much more than that when compared to third basemen & when thought of in terms of the era in which he played. Ron Santo played in the era of the pitcher and yet he hit 342 home runs & had a .464 sliugging percentage - 2nd only to Eddie Mathews among 3rd basemen to that point. Santo also was a 5 time Gold Glove winner & led in many lifetime NL third base defensive categories until Mike Schmidt eventually eclipsed them. His NL records included records  for career assists, total chances, & putouts. These records & others lasted as well until Mike Schmidt, the greatest third baseman of all time, came on the scene. Ron Santo was the best of his time & one of the best ever. It was a pure pleasure to see him play. Kick up your heels one more time Ron ...  
 
Barry Larkin was a 12 time all star, a winner of 3 Gold Gloves, & was the 1st shortstop ever to hit 30 home runs & steal 30 bases in a season. As well, he garnered an MVP and won the Roberto Clemente Award. He was a World Series winner in 1990 and contributed by hitting .353 in the series. In 1995 he hit .389 in the NL Championship Series. Barry Larkin was a captain and according to his peers, he was a great leader. He had a career .295 batting average complimented by 198 home runs & 379 stolen bases. His career crossed paths with that of Ozzie Smith; if not for that, he may well of had as many as 10 Gold Gloves. Baseball historian & expert Bill James calls Larkin one of the greatest shortstops of all time & ranks him 6th all-time. An interesting little known point worth mentioning is that Barry Larkin learned to speak Spanish so as to have a better rapport w/his Hispanic teammates. I believes that this speaks volumes to his success, both as a player & as a person ...
 
Congratulations Ron & Barry!!!  You have both wonderfully represented the great sport of baseball - both on the field on off. Welcome to the HOF!!!
 
Until next time, so long everybody ...
 
Lee [ Cowboy ]