Todd Helton vs Barry Larkin Hall of Famer

What does it take to get to the Hall of Fame in Baseball? Certainly Barry Larkin had a great career and put up some impressive numbers while playing arguable the hardest position on the diamond, but to reach the Hall of Fame one needs to reach some certain numbers, did he? In Barry Larkin Hall of Famer vs Todd Helton I will look into the Reds All Star Shortstops numbers compared to Todd Helton's and see if they match up.

If it was only about comparing stats Todd Helton surpasses Barry in every major offensive category easily and is still playing, while accomplishing these numbers in far less time.

Barry finished his 19 year playing career with 2,340 hits and a sub .300 batting average (.295), he didn't even reach 200 hundred homers or 1,000 RBI's and yet somehow made it into the Hall of Fame, Hmmm!

Todd Helton on the other hand has played 15 years in the Bigs' and currently sits at 2,363 hits, with 347 HR's and 1,308 RBI's while sporting a .323 Batting Average. He has a whopping 554 Doubles over 100 more than the speedy Larking that played four more years than he has.

Barry's great defense and good offensive numbers in 1995 helped to earn him a MVP trophy but when you look at his numbers that year they don't even come close to Todd's best year.

Barry finished the '95 season with a .319 average, 158 hits, 29 doubles, 6 triples, 15 Home Runs and 66 RBI's. He did not lead the league in ONE offensive category and played in only 131 games, get real!

On the other hand Todd in his best year, which was 2000, hit a blistering .372, with 216 hits, 59 doubles (more than twice as many as Larkin), 2 triples, 42 Home Runs almost three times as many as Larkin, with 147 RBI's. He also walked 103 times and only struck out 61 while playing in 29 more games.

He finished 5th in the MVP voting that year!

So based on the numbers Barry must have had an AWESOME year defensively and yet he committed 11 errors in a pathetic 544 chances for a measly .980 fielding percentage, what gives . . . maybe it was his charming personality!

Now granted Todd plays an easier position than Barry did but let's take a look at his defensive numbers while smoking the league in hitting. He had almost three times as many chances than Barry with 1,482 he committed only 7 errors and had a .995 fielding percentage, WOW!

Barry never lead the league in any offensive category his entire career and only lead the league in putouts twice as a shortstop and once with assists and none of those years were when he won the MVP, WOW!

Todd on the other hand has lead the league four times in offensive categories and EIGHT times in defensive categories and yet has never won a MVP while playing in 2054 games compare to Barry's 2,180.

Yes, Mr. Larking without a doubt played a harder position but HOF numbers they are not. He has a World Series ring and MVP trophy, although Dante Bichette clearly had the better season in '95.

So clearly Barry Larkin wasn't voted into the Hall of Fame based on outstanding offensive numbers, so his defensive must have been the catalyst to propel him to the H.O.F. His sportsmanship, loyalty and leadership were also other intangible factors that contributed to his enshrinement.

It seems certain that Todd Helton will be inducted into the Hall of Fame based on the comparison with Barry Larkin's numbers, however one never knows how the Coors Field factor will influence the voters decisions.

Take for instance how Larry Walker, a truly outstanding player in his own right, has fared in the H.O.F. voting and Todd's fate becomes less certain. Walker has better numbers than Larkin, played a decade in a Rockies uniform while hitting better than .350 four different seasons for the Rockies and yet didn't even receive one vote by Denver sports writers this year, truly pathetic.

Will the snub that Walker is receiving from not only his hometown voters but the Coors field stigma affect Helton's chances of becoming enshrined in the Hall of Fame, hard to say.

What I find most interesting is that a bunch of wannabe hacks (sportswriters) that probable aren't even the best players on their company coed softball teams actually have a say in who is enshrined in the Hall of Fame, arguable the greatest achievement of any baseball player.

Barry Larkin Hall of Famer vs Todd Helton may not be the best comparison to justify Todd's chances of reaching the Hall of Fame but I believe should provide enough of an argument to allow the often narrow minded voters a basis for his eventual enshrinement.

On Friday the 13, of April 2012 Todd Helton hit a opposite way double in the bottom of the eighth for the game winning RBI against the Arizona Diamondbacks and then followed up his heroics on Saturday (the 14th) after a one hour and 11 minute rain delay with a monster walk-off two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth just inside the right field foul pole.

J.J. Putz the Arizona closer hadn't blown a save in 28 straight chances when Helton pulled an inside fastball, on a 1-1 count down the line for the game winner, his first homer of the year.