Larkin Gets Hall Call, Juan Gonzalez Falls Off Ballot

The National Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2012 was announced this afternoon and only one player, Barry Larkin, was selected for enshrinement by the Baseball Writers.

Larkin, who was on the ballot for the third time, was named on 86.4% of the ballots cast by the voting members. He will be the 24th shortstop inducted to the Hall.

As is usually the case, the more interesting thing isn’t which players were voted in, but how the vote totals played out for the others. A pair of prominent former Texas Rangers appeared on the ballot for the second time. Rafael Palmeiro saw his vote total increase from 64 total votes (11.0%) in 2011 to 72 votes (12.6%) in 2012.

Two-time former American League MVP Juan Gonzalez, however, did not fare as well in his second yer on the ballot. After barely skimming by last year, gaining just 5.2% (30 votes) of the vote in 2011, Igor saw his vote total drop to 23 (4.0%) this year. Unfortunately for him, with a total of less than 5.0% of the votes, Gonzalez’s name will not appear on subsequent ballots. He may still be considered for selection by the Veteran’s Committee, but that will have to wait until his 15 years of ballot eligibility have expired.

Ruben Sierra, perhaps my all-time favorite former Ranger, was not named on a single ballot, joining five others in that regard.

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