After just falling short of the Hall of Fame in 2011, Barry Larkin got the call he was waiting for today. Larkin, who played 19 seasons with the Cincinnati Reds received 86.4 percent of the vote and was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Larkin had a career .295/.371/.444 slash line with 198 HR’s, 379 SB’s, 2,340 hits, and he was the 1995 National League MVP. He had a career 70.6 WAR according to Fangraphs.

Considering this year’s weak candidate pool, it should come as no surprise that Larkin got into the HOF. There was no clear-cut favorite to land in the Hall, so when that happens players who normally wouldn’t get in as soon as they should, get in. I didn’t think Larkin would get in on just the third try. I thought he would be a 5-to-10 year guy.

Other serious candidates for induction were Jeff Bagwell, Jack Morris, and Tim Raines. And while none of them got in, it was a good day for all three of them.

Morris went from 53.5 percent of the vote in 2011 to 66.7 percent of the vote in 2012. With that leap, there is a very good chance he gets the call in 2013.

Bagwell went from 41.7 percent last year to 56 percent this year. I thought Bagwell should already be in the Hall, but he will most likely get the call in 2014. Bagwell had some monster seasons in Houston and if he didn’t play the majority of his career in the Astrodome, he would have had even better numbers.

Raines might be the biggest travesty in regards to the HOF vote. Yes, he went up to 48.7 percent this year, but I doubt he ever gets in. Like Bagwell, Raines should already be in the Hall. From 1981 to 1989, there were few, if any in the National League better than Raines.

If someone is going to tell me Jim Rice got into the HOF because he was the most feared player in the American League for a period of time in the 70′s, then I can say the same for Raines in the National League during the 80′s.

Next year’s candidate pool will go down as the most debated in history. Next year’s candidates include Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Curt Schilling, and Craig Biggio. The debate as to who is going to get in next year is going to be nuts.

You can follow The Baseball Index on Twitter @ basebllindex