Barry Larkin

Baseball Player Won-Loss Records
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Barry Larkin

Hall-of-Famers as Seen Through Player Won-Lost Records: Barry Larkin

Barry Larkin was elected to the Hall of Fame in his third year of eligibility, 2012, with 86.4% of the vote.

Five highlights of Barry Larkin's career:

Barry Larkin was named to twelve All-Star teams. He won three Gold Gloves and nine Silver Sluggers.

Larkin won the National League MVP award in 1995 when he batted .319/.394/.492 with 15 home runs and 51 stolen bases (with only 5 caught stealing) and 98 runs scored in 131 games (out of a 144-game season) while winning his second Gold Glove.

Larkin was the first shortstop to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in the same season when he hit 33 home runs and stole 36 bases in 1996.

Barry Larkin appeared in the postseason twice, in 1990 and 1995. In 17 career postseason games, Larkin batted .338/.397/.465 with 8 stolen bases (with only one caught stealing), and 11 runs scored. He batted .353/.421/.529 with 3 runs scored in the Reds’ four-game sweep of the Oakland A’s in the 1990 World Series.

Barry Larkin's brother, Stephen, had a one-game major-league career with the Cincinnati Reds. Barry played SS and batted second and Stephen played 1B and batted third in a 4-1 Reds’ victory on September 27, 1998.

The first two tables below present Barry Larkin's career as measured by Player won-lost records, in and out of context.

Season	Team	Age	Games	pWins	pLosses	pWORL	pWOPA

Basic Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
1986	CIN	22	41	5.5	4.5	1.7	1.2
1987	CIN	23	125	14.5	14.0	2.5	1.1
1988	CIN	24	151	22.8	19.1	6.4	4.4
1989	CIN	25	97	13.5	10.0	5.0	3.9
1990	CIN	26	158	22.5	18.3	6.9	4.9
1991	CIN	27	123	19.0	15.3	5.9	4.3
1992	CIN	28	140	21.5	16.1	7.8	6.0
1993	CIN	29	100	13.5	12.3	2.9	1.7
1994	CIN	30	110	16.0	13.6	4.4	3.0
1995	CIN	31	131	19.9	15.1	7.1	5.4
1996	CIN	32	152	22.0	18.3	6.3	4.4
1997	CIN	33	73	8.2	8.2	1.1	0.2
1998	CIN	34	145	20.0	16.6	5.8	4.0
1999	CIN	35	161	22.4	17.6	7.5	5.5
2000	CIN	36	102	11.7	13.0	0.3	-0.9
2001	CIN	37	45	5.7	4.7	1.6	1.1
2002	CIN	38	145	14.5	15.3	1.2	-0.3
2003	CIN	39	70	7.8	6.6	2.1	1.4
2004	CIN	40	111	10.7	10.6	1.5	0.4
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,180	291.5	249.5	77.9	51.6
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			17	2.5	1.6	1.2	1.0
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			2,197	294.0	251.1	79.1	52.6

Season	Team	Age	Games	eWins	eLosses	eWORL	eWOPA

Expected Player Won-Lost Records
						Value Decomposition
1986	CIN	22	41	5.2	4.7	1.2	0.7
1987	CIN	23	125	14.1	14.4	1.7	0.4
1988	CIN	24	151	22.1	19.7	5.1	3.1
1989	CIN	25	97	12.9	10.5	4.0	2.9
1990	CIN	26	158	21.2	19.6	4.4	2.4
1991	CIN	27	123	19.3	15.0	6.5	4.9
1992	CIN	28	140	20.7	16.9	6.4	4.6
1993	CIN	29	100	13.4	12.4	2.8	1.6
1994	CIN	30	110	15.7	14.0	3.7	2.3
1995	CIN	31	131	19.2	15.9	5.6	3.9
1996	CIN	32	152	22.6	17.8	7.4	5.5
1997	CIN	33	73	9.1	7.3	2.9	2.1
1998	CIN	34	145	19.8	16.8	5.5	3.6
1999	CIN	35	161	21.3	18.7	5.3	3.4
2000	CIN	36	102	12.6	12.1	2.2	1.0
2001	CIN	37	45	5.4	5.0	1.0	0.5
2002	CIN	38	145	14.2	15.5	0.7	-0.8
2003	CIN	39	70	7.2	7.2	0.9	0.2
2004	CIN	40	111	10.8	10.5	1.7	0.6
			------	------	------	------	------
CAREER (reg. season)			2,180	287.0	253.9	69.1	42.8
			------	------	------	------	------
PostSeason (career)			17	2.2	1.8	0.6	0.5
			------	------	------	------	------
COMBINED			2,197	289.3	255.8	69.7	43.2

Barry Larkin: Elite Shortstop

Barry Larkin was named to 12 All-Star teams in his 19-year career and he was the starting National League shortstop 5 times during that time period. All-Star games can be a misleading measure of how good a player was for a number of reasons. One criticism that I frequently hear of Barry Larkin's All-Star game appearances is that the number is exaggerated because Larkin played in the National League instead of the American League. At the start of Barry Larkin's career, the American League featured three Hall-of-Famers who are remembered as shortstops - Robin Yount, Alan Trammell, and Cal Ripken (less well-remembered, Robin Yount played his last major-league game at shortstop two seasons before Larkin made his major-league debut). At the end of Larkin's career, the AL was again blessed with three shortstops with Hall-of-Fame level talent (although perhaps as few as one may end up actually making the Hall of Fame) - Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Nomar Garciaparra. Meanwhile, over in the National League, the only truly great shortstop whose career overlapped with Larkin's was Ozzie Smith.

For his career, however, Barry Larkin was, in fact, one of the best shortstops in major-league history.

The next table presents the top 10 shortstops, measured by career (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) eWins over positional average earned as a shortstop, for all players for whom I have calculated Player won-lost records.

		Wins over Positional Average, Shortstop Top 10 Players
	Player	Wins	Losses	WOPA
1	Cal Ripken	306.7	278.2	47.3
2	Arky Vaughan	231.6	192.6	44.3
3	Alex Rodriguez	179.5	144.4	43.1
4	Barry Larkin	281.8	252.6	38.8
5	Pee Wee Reese	271.8	241.6	38.2
6	Alan Trammell	266.5	247.6	36.5
7	Joe Cronin	266.8	238.1	36.2
8	Ernie Banks	167.1	137.3	35.2
9	Derek Jeter	347.4	330.5	34.5
10	Lou Boudreau	215.6	188.0	33.6

Barry Larkin: Elite Baserunner

One of Barry Larkin's greatest skills on baseball field - perhaps his greatest skill - was baserunning. Larkin's career stolen base total was good, but not great - 379 career stolen bases (89th alltime), top 10 in his league five times (including a 2nd with 51 steals in 1995). While his raw SB total was only good, not necessarily great, his stolen-base success rate was elite: 83.1% (379 SB, 77 CS). Basestealing is Component 1 of Player won-lost records. For his career, Barry Larkin ranks among the top 25 players in Component 1 baserunning wins over non-pitcher average.

		Top 25 Baserunners (Basestealing only)
		eWins	eLosses	eWinPct	eWOPA
1	Rickey Henderson	31.9	20.1	0.613	11.7
2	Tim Raines Sr.	18.6	9.3	0.666	9.0
3	Willie Wilson	14.7	7.1	0.675	7.6
4	Joe L. Morgan	17.1	10.2	0.627	6.6
5	Bert Campaneris	20.1	13.5	0.597	6.2
6	Vince Coleman	17.8	11.2	0.613	6.2
7	Lou Brock	22.9	16.3	0.584	6.0
8	Paul Molitor	12.0	6.2	0.660	5.8
9	Davey Lopes	12.9	7.0	0.650	5.8
10	Luis Aparicio	12.7	7.6	0.626	4.8
11	Ozzie Smith	13.9	9.2	0.601	4.3
12	Ron LeFlore	11.6	7.5	0.608	4.1
13	Eric Davis	8.8	4.6	0.657	4.0
14	Amos Otis	8.0	4.2	0.654	3.7
15	Cesar Cedeno	13.6	9.6	0.587	3.7
16	Rajai Davis	9.9	6.2	0.615	3.7
17	Otis Nixon	14.1	10.3	0.577	3.6
18	Jacoby Ellsbury	6.9	3.4	0.669	3.5
19	Kenny Lofton	12.2	8.6	0.585	3.5
20	Marquis Grissom	10.4	6.7	0.606	3.4
21	Jimmy Rollins	9.4	5.8	0.618	3.4
22	Tommy Harper	10.4	6.8	0.604	3.4
23	Johnny Damon	8.1	4.8	0.630	3.3
24	Stan Javier	5.7	2.4	0.707	3.3
25	Billy Hamilton	7.0	3.6	0.659	3.3

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

In addition to basestealing, baserunning decisions are accumulated in four other components of Player won-lost records: Component 2, advancing on wild pitches and passed balls; Component 7, avoiding double plays on ground-ball outs; Component 8, baserunner outs; and Component 9, baserunner advancement.

While Barry Larkin was very good at basestealing, he excelled in all of the other aspects of baserunning as well. The next table shows the top 25 players in career (context-neutral, teammate-adjusted) baserunning, excluding Component 1 (Stolen Bases).

		Top 25 Baserunners (excluding Basestealing)
		eWins	eLosses	eWinPct	eWOPA
1	Robin Yount	16.7	12.8	0.565	3.9
2	Bert Campaneris	15.4	11.3	0.577	3.8
3	Willie Mays	19.1	15.2	0.557	3.3
4	Max Carey	12.6	9.0	0.583	3.3
5	Willie Davis	14.8	11.2	0.571	3.3
6	Lou Whitaker	14.8	11.5	0.562	3.2
7	Tim Raines Sr.	15.5	12.0	0.564	3.2
8	Red Schoendienst	13.9	10.2	0.575	3.2
9	Willie Wilson	12.5	9.2	0.574	3.2
10	Johnny Damon	14.3	11.1	0.564	3.2
11	Kenny Lofton	13.6	10.5	0.564	3.0
12	Mickey Mantle	13.5	10.2	0.569	2.9
13	Al Kaline	16.8	13.6	0.554	2.8
14	Rickey Henderson	20.0	17.1	0.539	2.8
15	Kiki Cuyler	12.3	9.3	0.569	2.6
16	Paul Molitor	17.2	14.6	0.541	2.6
17	Charlie Gehringer	14.0	10.9	0.561	2.6
18	Dick McAuliffe	11.2	8.3	0.574	2.6
19	Davey Lopes	10.7	7.9	0.576	2.6
20	Bill Bruton	10.1	7.3	0.582	2.6
21	Ozzie Guillen	9.9	7.3	0.576	2.6
22	Mookie Wilson	9.1	6.4	0.589	2.6
23	Barry Larkin	13.3	10.4	0.561	2.5
24	Elvis Andrus	10.2	7.7	0.570	2.5
25	Rod Carew	18.0	15.3	0.540	2.5

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

In terms of career rank, Larkin ranks higher in non-basestealing baserunning than in basestealing, although he was excellent at both.

And finally, putting it all together, the top 25 players in total career baserunning wins (over non-pitcher average), among all players for whom I have calculated Player won-lost records.

		Top 25 Baserunners
		eWins	eLosses	eWinPct	eWOPA
1	Rickey Henderson	55.7	38.5	0.591	17.0
2	Tim Raines Sr.	35.8	21.5	0.625	13.7
3	Willie Wilson	28.6	16.6	0.633	12.0
4	Bert Campaneris	37.3	25.0	0.599	11.7
5	Davey Lopes	24.8	15.0	0.623	9.3
6	Paul Molitor	31.3	22.0	0.587	9.3
7	Joe L. Morgan	36.7	27.0	0.576	8.7
8	Luis Aparicio	31.3	21.9	0.588	8.6
9	Vince Coleman	27.9	18.8	0.598	8.5
10	Willie Davis	25.4	17.4	0.593	7.3
11	Lou Brock	41.7	33.1	0.557	7.3
12	Willie Mays	31.0	22.9	0.575	7.2
13	Kenny Lofton	26.5	19.2	0.580	7.1
14	Johnny Damon	23.2	16.1	0.590	7.0
15	Max Carey	26.5	18.9	0.583	7.0
16	Ron LeFlore	20.7	13.8	0.599	6.8
17	Tommy Harper	22.3	15.5	0.590	6.3
18	Barry Larkin	21.8	15.0	0.593	6.3
19	Mookie Wilson	18.6	12.0	0.609	6.3
20	Otis Nixon	24.6	18.1	0.576	6.2
21	Robin Yount	24.9	18.9	0.569	6.1
22	Cesar Cedeno	27.0	20.3	0.571	6.0
23	Mickey Mantle	19.3	12.9	0.600	6.0
24	Jimmy Rollins	23.4	16.9	0.580	5.9
25	Amos Otis	19.4	13.6	0.588	5.6

Positional Average excludes pitcher offense

Barry Larkin: Elite Baseball Player of his Generation

So, what does one of the best shortstops and best baserunners of the past 100 or so years translate into, in terms of overall player value?

Barry Larkin's major-league career ran from 1986 through 2004. The next table shows the top 10 players over this time period in pWins over both positional average and replacement level.

		pWins over Positional Average Top 10 Players						pWins over Replacement Level Top 10 Players
	Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL		Player	pWins	pLosses	pWOPA	pWORL
1	Barry Bonds	434.2	285.6	130.4	165.5	1	Barry Bonds	434.2	285.6	130.4	165.5
2	Roger Clemens	276.7	198.0	83.4	115.5	2	Roger Clemens	276.7	198.0	83.4	115.5
3	Greg Maddux	279.8	219.4	78.8	109.6	3	Greg Maddux	279.8	219.4	78.8	109.6
4	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	233.2	176.2	65.9	92.9	4	Randy 'Big Unit' Johnson	233.2	176.2	65.9	92.9
5	Pedro J. Martinez	158.2	104.6	59.0	76.8	5	Barry Larkin	291.5	249.5	51.6	77.9
6	Barry Larkin	291.5	249.5	51.6	77.9	6	Pedro J. Martinez	158.2	104.6	59.0	76.8
7	Jeff Bagwell	273.5	199.4	50.9	74.1	7	Jeff Bagwell	273.5	199.4	50.9	74.1
8	J. Kevin Brown	200.2	159.6	49.0	72.5	8	J. Kevin Brown	200.2	159.6	49.0	72.5
9	Mark McGwire	221.2	158.3	48.7	67.2	9	Tom Glavine	237.9	208.7	44.5	72.2
10	Chipper Jones	215.3	160.7	48.4	67.0	10	Mike Mussina	179.2	134.4	47.6	69.2

Barry Larkin was one of the 10 best players, 2 best position players (2 best Barrys), and the single best infielder of his generation. Not bad at all and an easily deserving Hall-of-Famer.

Article last updated: November 3, 2019

All articles are written so that they pull data directly from the most recent version of the Player won-lost database. Hence, any numbers cited within these articles should automatically incorporate the most recent update to Player won-lost records. In some cases, however, the accompanying text may have been written based on previous versions of Player won-lost records. I apologize if this results in non-sensical text in any cases.

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