The Hall of Fame honors Barry Larkin and the late Ron Santo as players Sunday afternoon.

Larkin’s prime lasted a very long time, probably five years more than most players. Shortstop is a young man’s position, but at age 34 Barry posted a 5.5 rWAR, and in his 11 years of dominance never fell below 3.4, averaging over five rWAR a season. He only played six games away from shortstop, three at second base early in his career and three at designated hitter late. It was a remarkable run.

Santo was not voted in by the writers during his eligibility. His WAR numbers show he deserved the honor. The problem was multi dimensional:

1. Santo played for a series of Cubs teams that went from bad to good but not great.
2. His ballpark tended to make people think Ron’s numbers were inflated.
3. His career ended very early.

Ron came up at a very young age, 20 years old, but when his career fell apart, it fell apart quickly. He went from 4.8 rWAR in 1972 at the age of 32 to 2.1 in 1973 to -1.8 in 1974 and then did not play again. Hall of Fame voters did not see him as a Koufax, where his career was so great the early exit didn’t matter. Part of that was seeing Wrigley as a band box. That was true, but without the better measures we have today, they couldn’t see Santo’s greatness. It’s good the veterans committee corrected the mistake.