Larkin only player voted into Hall of Fame

Barry Larkin, the 12-time All-Star shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds, was the only player elected to Baseball's Hall of Fame in voting released Monday.

Larkin, who received 86.4 percent of votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America, was in his third year on the ballot. He received 52 percent in 2010 and 62.1 in 2011, but a lack of sure-thing candidates jumped him to the head of the class this time. A player needs to be named on 75 percent of ballots to be elected.

Former Yankees centerfielder Bernie Williams received 55 votes, or 9.6 percent, in his first year of eligibility. That's the most of any of this year's ballot rookies.

Another Yankees icon, Don Mattingly, was named on 17.8 percent of ballots on his 12th go-round. Former Yankee Tim Raines got 48.7 percent.

Pitcher Jack Morris finished second with 66.7 percent in his 13th of 15 years of eligibility. Morris, the winningest pitcher of the 1980s, had his percentage increase from last year's 54 percent but still missed by 48 votes. Former Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell picked up 56 percent and reliever Lee Smith had 50.6 percent. No other player got more than half of the votes.

A total of 573 ballots were cast, including nine blank ones.

Larkin will be enshrined July 22 in Cooperstown, N.Y., along with former Cubs third baseman Ron Santo, who was posthumously elected by the Veterans Committee in voting announced in December. Santo will be represented by his widow.

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Larkin, a career .295 hitter, played 19 seasons with his hometown Reds. In 1995, he hit .319 with 15 home runs, 66 RBIs, 98 runs and 51 stolen bases en route to winning the NL MVP award. The following year, Larkin became the first shortstop in MLB history to hit at least 30 home runs and steal at least 30 bases in the same season. He hit 33 home runs and stole 36 bases that season.

"I'm just incredibly, incredibly excited,'' Larkin said. "This is wonderful. I'm just incredibly, incredibly moved by this whole experience and I'm so humbled. I'm so excited about being the newest member of the Hall.''

Paul O'Neill, who played with Larkin on the Reds before getting traded to the Yankees, said: "Looking back on my career in both Cincinnati and with the Yankees, I knew I was on the field every day with two shortstops who would be Hall of Fame players: Barry Larkin and Derek Jeter. Obviously, I felt very fortunate to play with such great players, who are also outstanding people. I'm thrilled about this honor for Lark.''

Next year's Hall of Fame ballot will include several controversial first-timers, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Sammy Sosa, along with holdovers Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro, all of whom have been linked to performance-enhancing drugs.

Voters have so far refused to come close to electing any player with a steroid taint. McGwire, who admitted to using banned substances only after he retired, received 19.5 percent of the vote.

Palmeiro, who failed a steroid test in 2005, was at 12.6 percent. Palmeiro is one of four players in major-league history with more than 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.

Also on the ballot for the first time in 2013 will be Kings Park High School product Craig Biggio, a member of the 3,000-hit club, and former Mets catcher Mike Piazza.