#IFWT Wishes ESPN Baseball Analysts: Barry Larkin “Happy Birthday”

Barry Louis Larkin (born April 28, 1964 in Cincinnati, Ohio) is a retired Major League Baseball player. Larkin played shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds from 1986 to 2004 and was one of the pivotal players on the 1990 Reds’ World Series championship team. Bill James has called Larkin one of the greatest shortstops of all time, ranking him #6 all time in his Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. He played college baseball at the University of Michigan and had his number retired by the school on May 1, 2010.

Barry Larkin Currently Works For Espn’s Baseball Tonight

Posted By: @djmikesessions & @gametimegirl

1986-1989: Early years

After arriving in the majors, Larkin battled fellow prospect Kurt Stillwell for the starting shortstop spot, but soon established himself as the starter.

In 1988 Larkin led all major leaguers by striking out only 24 times in 588 at bats.

1990: World Series winner

Larkin batted .353 in the 1990 World Series to help lead the Reds to a four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics.

1991-1994: Mid-career

On June 27–28, 1991 Larkin became the first shortstop ever to hit five home runs in the span of two consecutive games. In 1993 he won the Roberto Clemente Award.

1995: Most Valuable Player

In 1995, Larkin was sixth in batting (.319) and second in stolen bases (51) to win the National League’s MVP award, the first by a shortstop since Maury Wills in 1962. He led the Reds to a central division title and the 1995 National League Championship Series, where he batted .389, as they lost to the eventual champion Atlanta Braves.

1996-2004: Reds captain and later career

In 1996, Larkin hit a career-high 33 home runs. Larkin was named the Reds’ captain before the 1997 season (the first player to hold the honor since Dave Concepción’s retirement). On September 27, 1998 Barry, his brother Stephen Larkin, second baseman Bret Boone, and third baseman Aaron Boone were all playing the infield for the last game of the 1998 season at the same time making it the first time in Major League Baseball that two sets of siblings were on the field at the same time.

Retirement

Larkin called off a planned retirement ceremony scheduled for October 2, 2004, because he was not sure if he would retire, but indeed he did. The Reds have not issued his #11 jersey since he retired. Larkin was eligible for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame for the first time in 2010. He received 51.6% of the vote.

He finished third out of 33 on the 2011 Hall of Fame ballot, receiving 361 votes for a 62.1% total. This high increase in votes likely means he will make it in 2012.

Accomplishments

Larkin learned Spanish in order to build a rapport with his Hispanic teammates. Despite being injury-prone, missing significant playing time in six of his nineteen major league seasons, he won the Gold Glove Award from 1994–1996, and was a 12-time All-Star: in the 1988-1991, 1993–1997, 1999, 2000, and 2004 seasons. He became the first major league shortstop to join the 30-30 club when he had 33 home runs and 36 stolen bases in 1996.

In his 19-year career with Cincinnati, Larkin batted for a .295 batting average, with 2340 hits, 198 home runs, 960 RBI, 1329 runs scored and 379 stolen bases. Baseball historian and expert Bill James has called Larkin one of the greatest shortstops of all time, ranking him #6 all time in his New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract.