Featured autograph - Barry Larkin

Barry Larkin - I got the autograph card signed through the mail 'via venue' c/o the Atlanta Braves during the 2000 All-Star break.

I remember writing to Larkin and then Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star catcher Jason Kendall - Larkin responded with my card signed in blue ballpoint pen.

If I had a vote in the 2012 Hall of Fame ballot - I'd only vote for Larkin to be inducted with Ron Santo into the Hall of Fame this year.

While I've assumed he was a very good player, I don't think I've seen him as anything but a borderline Hall of Famer - however, Larkin was a 'one-team' guy who spent his entire 19-years as a MLB player for the Cincinnati Reds.

Looking at the shortstop position, Larkin was as good as you were going to get before guys like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra came onto the scene in the late 1990s - Larkin got on-base, hit for average, hit for some pop, stole bases and play pretty good defense.