Who will the Hall eventually call?

Monday, after waiting three years for his name to be called, former Cincinnati Reds shortstop Barry Larkin got the news every former player yearns to hear. He had been given the highest honor baseball can bestow upon someone. Barry Larkin was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The call to Cooperstown has only been heard by 296 men. Of those, 208 were former major league players (there are also 35 Negro League players enshrined along with 27 executives, 19 managers and nine umpires). Of the almost 18,000 players that have played Major League Baseball, roughly 0.011 percent reach the hallowed halls of Cooperstown.

That's probably too many. Someday, there will be questions about those that played here in Milwaukee. Time will tell if players such as Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, CC Sabathia and others get in. Trevor Hoffman is a virtual lock, but of course he will be enshrined as a San Diego Padre.

By its own definition, the Hall of Fame should celebrate only the very best of the very best. And while Larkin had a fine career and was a swell guy, his career falls far short of "the very best of the very best."

Larkin was elected simply on the basis of a weak ballot. How else can you explain his garnering only 51.6 percent of the vote two years ago when Andre Dawson was elected? Dawson, one of the best two-way players of his generation, had to wait nine years before he finally got the nod and he was a far superior player than Larkin.

Last year, Larkin got 62.1 percent of the vote when Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven got in. Alomar, arguably the best second baseman of all-time, had to wait one year as a sort of punishment for spitting in the face of umpire John Hirschbeck in 1996.

Blyleven, meanwhile, was one of the most underrated pitchers of all-time, striking out over 3,700 batters and winning 287 games while pitching for mostly mediocre teams that gave him little run support. According to Baseball-Reference.com, his career ranks most similarly with Don Sutton, Gaylord Perry, Ferguson Jenkins, Robin Roberts, Early Wynn, Tom Seaver and Steve Carlton. All of them are also similarly enshrined in Cooperstown.

Who is Larkin most compared to? Alan Trammell, Edgar Renteria and Ray Durham are the top three on his similarity score list.

Looking at Larkin's Hall credentials, they do not indicate that of someone worthy of the same honor as Ruth, Gehrig, Aaron, Mays, Cobb, Spahn, and Bench.

In 19 seasons, Larkin hit sub .300, had fewer than 200 home runs, under 2,500 hits and less than 1,000 RBI. As a shortstop, he won three Gold Gloves. He was a very good player. There is no shame in that. He should be very proud of what he accomplished in his hometown. He respected the game and played it with dignity and honor.

But was he one of the top 0.011 percent of baseball players all-time? Hardly.

We just went through this with Ron Santo, another painfully nice man who died one year before his election by the crony-laden Veteran's Committee, whose sole purpose is to apparently make sure that all of their buddies get a plaque.

Santo was a brilliant defender and the face (along with Ernie Banks) of the mostly moribund Chicago Cubs. He had some success, absolutely. He was rightfully proud of his career.

But was he one of the top 0.011 percent of baseball players of all-time? Hardly.

The Baseball Writers Association of America takes the process of selecting who should and should not be in the Hall of Fame quite seriously. For this, they should be commended. However, their exclusionary practices have made them drunk with power. I am not lobbying on behalf of myself, but for other traveling writers and broadcasters because they know the game as well as anyone; they too should have a say.

Particularly with the daily newspaper on life support in this country, outstanding internet reporters such as MLB.com's Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy should have a vote while others, particularly editors that never cover games, should not.

Similarly, longtime voices of the game like Bob Costas, Marty Brennaman, Vin Scully and Bob Uecker don't get to vote either. How is that right? It is a horribly backward way of thinking, but baseball lets the writers get away with it.

But I'll get off of my soapbox about that. For now.

In the case of Larkin, he benefited from a weak ballot. This shouldn't mean his career is now considered worthy of Cooperstown. During a time when he was the best shortstop in the National League, he was overshadowed by his American League counterparts Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and for a time, Nomar Garciaparra. Even Garciaparra was overlooked by the future Yankees teammates, despite being a two-time batting champion who knocked in 100-plus runs four times (and almost did two additional times, coming up just short).

Garciaparra was a better player, albeit for a shorter amount of time because of nagging injuries, than Larkin. But the only way Nomar is getting into the Hall of Fame is by purchasing a ticket.

Lest I decry only modern players that have been passed through the system, there are others, such as Chuck Hafey, Tommy McCarthy, Jim Bottomley and High Pockets Kelly to name just a few that have no more business being enshrined in Cooperstown than Yuniesky Betancourt. However, once a player is in, there is no taking him out. In Canton, they kept O.J. Simpson in the Hall of Fame despite the fact he murdered two people. Allegedly.

In the case of the stiff parade that already resides in Cooperstown, what's done long ago is done long ago. Because there will be years such as 2012, where there are no legitimate candidates, writers feel the need to reward guys who were good to them during their careers. This is how a Barry Larkin gets in.

Next year, Craig Biggio will likely be elected. His 3,080 hits alone put him in Cooperstown, but his case is supplemented that he also hit 668 doubles, good for fifth-place all-time. He, like Larkin, benefited from a weak competition pool for Silver Slugger awards. However, his four Gold Gloves at second base after beginning his career as a catcher is quite remarkable, as was his willingness to switch to outfield later in the twilight of his playing days.

What will hurt Biggio is that he played in almost total obscurity in Houston. The Astros are not one of the "sex appeal" teams regularly featured on the major networks despite the fact that they were regular postseason participants. Biggio played in nine postseason series, but really only stood out in the three the Astros won.

For what it's worth, Biggio's most similar players to compare him to, according to Baseball-Reference.com are Robin Yount, Derek Jeter, Joe Morgan, Paul Molitor, Roberto Alomar, Brooks Robinson and George Brett.

Smells like a Hall of Famer to me.

The real test for the writers will be how they handle the steroid abusers. On the 2013 ballot for the first time will be Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, and Roger Clemens.

The sad truth of the matter is that both Bonds and Clemens were well within that 0.011 percent before they ever took performance-enhancing drugs. How they will be punished for their sins by the writers is unclear, but considering Mark McGwire's 19.5 percent and Rafael Palmeiro's 12.6 percent of this most recent vote suggests that they will not be first-ballot electees.

So who, if not the steroid cheats, does that leave for enshrinement in Cooperstown? Will the doors of sport's most hallowed hall swing open for a new generation of good-but-not-great players? Will the steroid cheaters allow good but not great players like Alan Trammell and Tim Raines to get in while Bonds and Clemens wait out a punishment of undetermined length?

Fortunately not. At least not for several years.

In everyone's fantasy world, we all have our way. In my world, I get to help decide who gets into Cooperstown. This year, my ballot would have remained blank. However, we are coming up on a rash of truly worthy candidates. If I had a ballot, this is what it would look like:

2013: Craig Biggio, Mike Piazza

2014: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine

2015: Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez

2016: Ken Griffey, Jr., Trevor Hoffman

2017: Frank Thomas, John Smoltz

2018: Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens

The common thread is that all of those individuals squarely fit into the top 0.011 percent of baseball players all-time. Who does not? Among those that fit into the "not quite good enough" category are; Carlos Delgado, Curt Schilling, Jeff Kent, Mike Mussina, Billy Wagner, Jim Edmonds, and Gary Sheffield. Sheffield will never get my vote for what he did in Milwaukee as well as his alleged steroid history. It's my fantasy world; it's my fantasy vote.

Unfortunately, also in that category of "not quite good enough" is Barry Larkin.

This time, the writers blew it.