Barry Larkin voted into baseball HOF

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Barry Larkin had no idea back in 1982 that he would become a baseball Hall of Famer thanks to Bo Schembechler.

A two-sport standout in his senior year of high school, Larkin went to the University of Michigan on a scholarship to play defensive back for Schembechler’s Wolverines. When he arrived in Ann Arbor, Larkin learned he was being redshirted.

“I was a better football player than a baseball player at the time,” Larkin recalled. “And that was influential because I just worked on my baseball talent, just that alone. And that was an eye-opener because I got so much better.”

So much better that he was elected to the Hall of Fame on Monday with plenty of room to spare. The former Cincinnati Reds shortstop was chosen on 495 of 573 ballots (86 percent) in voting announced by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, well above the necessary 75 percent. Larkin was on the ballot for the third time after falling 75 votes short last year.

He will be inducted July 22 in Cooperstown along with the late Ron Santo, elected last month by the Veterans Committee.

“I’m just incredibly, incredibly moved by this whole experience and so humbled by the experience and so excited about being the newest member of the Hall of Fame,” Larkin said on a conference call.

His election came in the final year before the Steroids Era becomes the main focus in balloting.

Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio and Curt Schilling are eligible for the first time next year.

Jack Morris followed Larkin with 382 votes (67 percent), missing by 48.