Larkin played 19 seasons, all with his hometown Cincinnati Reds. A 12-time All-Star, he won the National League’s most-valuable-player award in 1995 and a year later became the first shortstop with 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in a season.
Larkin received 495 votes and was named on 86 percent of the ballots — a 24.3 percent jump from his 2011 numbers, the largest one-year leap since Herb Pennock’s election in 1948. A 75 percent vote is required for entry.
McGwire, who briefly held baseball’s single-season home run record, got 19.5 percent of the vote, down from 19.8 percent last year. He received 23.7 percent in 2010 — before he admitted that he had used performance-enhancing drugs, or PEDs.
Palmeiro, who had a positive PED test in 2005, saw his percentage rise to 12.6 from 11 in his second appearance on the ballot. He is one of four players with 500 home runs and 3,000 hits in his career. The others — Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Eddie Murray — are already Hall of Fame members.
With no major contenders among first-time eligibles, several holdovers saw increases from last year: first baseman Jeff Bagwell (42 percent to 56 percent), closer Lee Smith (45 to 51), left fielder Tim Raines (38 to 49), shortstop Alan Trammell (24 to 37) and designated hitter Edgar Martinez (33 to 37).
Next year, voters from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will face several more controversial choices when pitcher Roger Clemens and sluggers Barry Bonds and Sammy Sosa appear on the ballot for the first time.
Allegations of PED use by seven-time Cy Young Award winner Clemens, career home run king Bonds and Sosa, who is sixth on the career home run list, create a dilemma for those who consider morality and sportsmanship in their votes.
ANGELS’ KENDRICK SIGNS NEW DEAL
All-Star second baseman Howie Kendrick has agreed to a $33.5 million, four-year contract with the Los Angeles Angels, passing up a chance to hit the free-agent market after next season.
The move is the latest in a busy offseason spending spree for the Angels and new general manager Jerry Dipoto.
The 28-year-old Kendrick batted .285 with a career-best 18 homers and 63 RBI in 140 games last season, making his first All-Star team. He was eligible for arbitration this offseason.
SHORT HOPS
The Blue Jays have finalized a $4 million, one-year contract with left-hander Darren Oliver. The 41-year-old spent the past two seasons with the American League champion Texas Rangers, going 5-5 with two saves and a 2.29 ERA in 51 innings last year. … Andy Carey, a third baseman for the New York Yankees during the 1950s dynasty of winning four straight American League pennants and two World Series, has died at 80. Daughter Elizabeth Carey told The New York Times he died Dec. 15 in California of Lewy body dementia. Joining the Yankees in 1952, Carey became a regular at third two years later on a team that included Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Elston Howard.
