47-year old former Reds’ shortstop Barry Larkin has been elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame.  He got 86% of the vote from the Baseball Writers and he will be inducted along with Ron Santo who was elected by the Veteran’s Committee.  Larkin played all 19 of his seasons with the Cincinnati Reds.  He played in 2,180 games for the Reds in which he was 2,340 of 7,937 (.295 avg, .815 OPS) with 1,329 runs scored, 198 homers, 960 RBIs and 379 stolen bases.  Larkin was the MVP of the National League back in 1995.  He played in 131 games in 1995 for the Reds and he was 158 of 496 (.319 avg, .886 OPS) with 98 runs scored, 15 homers, 66 RBIs and 51 stolen bases.  Larkin was a 12-time N.L. All-Star.  He also won six Silver Slugger Awards and 3 Gold Gloves in his 19 years in the majors.  Larkin is deserving of his election to the Hall of Fame, but his overall numbers are not that much better than Tim Raines or Alan Trammell’s.

3B Ron Santo has been elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame by the Veteran’s Committee.  Unfortunately, they waited too long for him to enjoy it, as he died at the age of 70 in 2010, due to complications from diabetes.  Santo played 15 years in the majors leagues (14 with the Cubs, 1 with the White Sox).  He played in 2,243 games in his major league career and he was 2,254 of 8,143 (.277 avg, .826 OPS) with 1,138 runs scored, 342 homers, 1,331 RBIs and 35 stolen bases.  Santo played in 9 All-Star Games with the Cubbies and he won 5 Gold Gloves at the hot corner.  Santo was a good all-around player, and he deserves his place in Cooperstown, New York, where he will live forever.

40-year old righty starting pitcher Pedro Martinez has officially retired from Major League Baseball.  He last pitched in 2009 with the Philadelphia Phillies.  He signed late in the season with the Phillies in 2009, working in 9 games (all starts) in which he was 5-1 with a 3.63 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP.  Martinez pitched in 476 games (409 starts) in his 18 years in the majors and he was 219-100 with 3 saves, a 2.93 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP.  Martinez only gave up 2,221 hits in his 2,827 1/3 innings pitched, while whiffing 3,154 batters and walking 760 batters….and those are very, very impressive numbers.  Martinez finished his career tied for #76 in wins with Kenny Rogers (219), #146 in ERA (2.93), #5 in WHIP (1.05 WHIP) and #13 in whiffs (3,154) in major league history.

Martinez won 3 Cy Young Awards in this career (1997 with the Expos and 1999+2000 with the Red Sox).  In those three years, Martinez pitched in 91 games (89 starts) in which he was 58-18 with a 1.90 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP.  Martinez led the major leagues in ERA 5 times in his career.  He also won 20 games or more in a season twice and he also whiffed over 300 batters twice in his career.  Martinez made it to 8 All-Star teams, which is pretty impressive because the manager of the All-Star team picks the pitching staff.  Martinez should be a first ballot Hall of Famer five years from now as he was one of the two most dominant pitchers of his time, along with Randy Johnson.

Veteran lefty starting pitcher Jamie Moyer is going to be 49 years old on November 18th and he is almost all the way back from Tommy John Surgery, which caused him to miss the 2011 season. Pitchers coming back from Tommy John Surgery usually gain a few mphs on their fastball, which could get him back into the mid-80’s with his fastball. He last pitched in the majors in 2010 with the Phillies and he worked in 19 games (all starts) in which he was 9-9 with a 4.84 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP. It’s hard to bet against Moyer getting all the way back, as experts have tossed dirt on his career way too many times and he keeps coming out on top. Here is a pitcher who has won 20+ games twice in his career (2001 + 2003) when he was 39 and 41 years old! He has won at least 15 games 5 times in his career and he has reached double digits in wins 14 different years. Moyer has now pitched 24 seasons in the majors, working in 686 games (628 starts) in which he is 267-204 with a 4.24 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. Here’s to hoping that Moyer sticks around for 33 more wins and a rubber stamp to Baseball’s Hall of Fame!

67-year old manager Tony LaRussa has gone out on top after deciding to retire after winning the World Series for the third time in his career in 2011.  LaRussa retires as the #3 manager in wins with 2,728 of them.  He is only behind Connie Mack (3,731) and John McGraw (2,763) in career wins.  Tony LaRussa managed 33 years in the major leagues and he compiled a 2,728 - 2,365 (53.6%) record during the regular season.  He was also 70-58 (54.7%) in the post-season in his career as he won 6 pennants and 3 World Series.  His World Series wins game in 1989 with the Oakland A’s and in 2006 and 2011 with the St. Louis Cardinals.  LaRussa will be inducted into the Hall of Fame, five years from now.