Astros icon Jeff Bagwell took a giant step forward Monday toward potentially getting into the National Baseball Hall of Fame one day.
Bagwell, a four-time All-Star first baseman, finished third on this year's ballot by receiving 56 percent of the vote from the Baseball Writers' Association of America in his second year of eligibility.
It officially marked a 14.3 percent improvement for Bagwell, who received 41.7 percent during his debut on the ballot in 2011.
Also, Bagwell surpassed Lee Smith on this year's ballot after the former standout closer finished 3.6 percent ahead of him last year.
Reds icon Barry Larkin was the only candidate on the ballot to be elected to the Hall of Fame after receiving 86.4 percent of the vote.
Five-time All-Star and four-time World Series champion Jack Morris finished second on the ballot with 66.7 percent of the vote.
Players must be named on 75 percent of ballots in order to be elected.
Larkin will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on July 22 along with Golden Era Veterans Committee electee Ron Santo, in addition to Ford C. Frick Award winner for broadcasting Tim McCarver and J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun.
The 47-year-old Larkin becomes the 207th former ballplayer (112th on the BBWAA ballot) out of the 297 to be elected to Cooperstown.
He's the 24th shortstop to be elected to the Hall of Fame and the 48th player to have played his entire career for one team (Cincinnati Reds).
Larkin hit .295 with 198 homers, 960 RBI, 441 doubles, 2,340 hits and 1,329 runs scored over his 19 career major league seasons.
The 12-time All-Star, nine-time Silver Slugger Award winner and three-time Gold Glove Award winner won a World Series championship with the Reds in 1990 and was voted the 1995 NL MVP.
He was in his third year of eligibility and ultimately tallied 495 votes out of 573 for a total of 86.4 percent after earning 62.1 percent of the vote last year and 51.6 percent the previous year.
For Bagwell, he continues to head in the right direction.
Sources told Examiner.com Sunday that the expectation for Bagwell revolved around topping the 50 percent mark and moving past Smith for third on the ballot behind Larkin and Morris.
That's exactly what happened.
Although Bagwell possesses the statistics to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, the ballot will get more crowded in the next few years.
Barry Bonds, Rogers Clemens, Sammy Sosa, Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio and Curt Schilling join the ballot for the first time next year.
This makes it tougher for Bagwell to be enshrined in 2013.
However, alleged performance-enhancing drug use may hurt the candidacy of Bonds, Clemens and Sosa and could open the door to controversy on how the voting will unfold for the trio.
Four-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove Award winner Rafael Palmeiro, a member of the 3,000 hit and 500 home run club, finished with 12.6 percent of the vote in his second year of eligibility.
Mark McGwire received 19.5 percent in his sixth year on the ballot.
Their alleged performance-enhancing drug use has severely hampered any chance of being elected to the Hall of Fame, thus serving as potential foreshadowing to Bonds, Clemens and Sosa.
In 2014, Bagwell would have to compete with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Jeff Kent, Mike Mussina and other holdovers.
Voters are limited to 10 selections on their ballots.
An MLB source told Examiner.com that they believe Bagwell will eventually get into the Hall of Fame, but he'll likely have to be patient.
The following represents the 2012 Hall of Fame voting:
Barry Larkin -- 495 votes (86.4 percent)
Jack Morris -- 382 votes (66.7 percent)
Jeff Bagwell -- 321 votes (56.0 percent)
Lee Smith -- 290 votes (50.6 percent)
Tim Raines -- 279 votes (48.7 percent)
Alan Trammell -- 211 votes (36.8 percent)
Edgar Martinez -- 209 votes (36.5 percent)
Fred McGriff -- 137 votes (23.9 percent)
Larry Walker -- 131 votes (22.9 percent)
Mark McGwire -- 112 votes (19.5 percent)
Don Mattingly -- 102 votes (17.8 percent)
Dale Murphy -- 83 votes (14.5 percent)
Rafael Palmeiro -- 72 votes (12.6 percent)
Bernie Williams -- 55 votes (9.6 percent)
Juan Gonzalez -- 23 votes (4.0 percent)
Vinny Castilla -- 6 votes (1.0 percent)
Tim Salmon -- 5 votes (0.9 percent)
Bill Mueller -- 4 votes (0.7 percent)
Brad Radke -- 2 votes (0.3 percent)
Javy Lopez -- 1 vote (0.2 percent)
Eric Young -- 1 vote (0.2 percent)
Jeromy Burnitz -- 0 votes
Brian Jordan -- 0 votes
Terry Mulholland -- 0 votes
Phil Nevin -- 0 votes
Ruben Sierra -- 0 votes
Tony Womack -- 0 votes
-Morris, Bagwell, Smith, Tim Raines, Alan Trammell, Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff, Larry Walker, Mark McGwire, Don Mattingly, Dale Murphy, Palmeiro and Bernie Williams will remain on the ballot.
-Ex-slugger Juan Gonzalez (4.0 percent) falls off the ballot in his second year of eligibility, while 13 candidates didn't make the five-percent cut, including 12 of the 13 first-time eligible players.
-Players may remain on the ballot for a 15-year period, as long as they receive at least five percent of the vote in any year.
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