On Sunday, Barry Larkin will become the eighth member of the Cincinnati Reds inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The 12-time All-Star shortstop played 19 seasons, all with the Reds, hitting .295 with 2,340 hits, 1,329 runs scored and 379 stolen bases. He also won an MVP award and a World Series championship.

Although not one of the loudest players to ever take the field, Larkin had a colorful career worthy of a few highlights:

Remembering The Career Of New Hall Of Famer Barry Larkin Slideshow

 

Michigan Man

An honor student at Moeller High School in Cincinnati, Larkin accepted a football scholarship at Michigan, where he also played baseball. When coach Bo Schembechler redshirted Larkin as a freshman, he focused more on baseball. Larkin quit football and led Michigan to two College World Series (sliding into second here against New Orleans in 1984) as a two-time All-American. He was also a member of the 1984 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team, which won a gold medal in Los Angeles. Larkin was the fourth overall pick by the Reds in the 1985 MLB Draft (the Reds also drafted Larkin in the second round of the 1982 MLB Draft, but he chose to attend Michigan instead).

 

Minor League Star

Larkin spent just 175 games in the minor leagues in less than two seasons before his MLB debut. In 1985, at Double-A Vermont, Larkin hit .267 with a .331 OBP. He was also part of a Vermont Reds team that won the Eastern League Championship over the New Britain Red Sox. The following season, Larkin played for the Denver Zephyrs in Triple-A, hitting .329 with 10 home runs, 51 RBI and a .373 OBP. He was named the Triple-A American Association MVP and Rookie of the Year. Larkin played with future 1990 world championship teammates Rob Dibble, Chris Sabo and Paul O'Neill at the Zephyrs' home park, Mile High Stadium.

 

Major League Prodigy

Larkin made his major league debut on Aug. 13, 1986, as a pinch-hitter against the Giants' Terry Mulholland. He recorded an RBI groundout. Two days later, Larkin made his first MLB start, as the second baseman and leadoff hitter against the Padres. Larkin hit a single in his first at-bat, the first of his 2,340 career hits. He only played in 41 games in 1986, but with a .283 average and eight stolen bases, Larkin still managed to garner the seventh-most Rookie of the Year votes. Larkin spent the 1987 season battling fellow youngster Kurt Stillwell for the Reds' shortstop job, a position he won and held until his 2004 retirement.

 

World Series Season

In 1990, Larkin hit .301 with 67 RBI and 30 stolen bases en route to his third All-Star Game, third Silver Slugger Award and seventh-place finish in MVP votes. The Reds finished 91-71 to win the NL West, and they defeated the Pirates in six games to reach the World Series. Larkin hit .353 (6-17) with three runs scored in a 4-0 World Series sweep of the A’s. It was Larkin's only world championship and he is the only Hall of Famer on the 1990 Reds roster.

 

MVP Season

After winning the Roberto Clemente Award in 1993 and the Lou Gehrig Award in 1994, Larkin claimed the Most Valuable Player award in 1995. He batted .319 with a .394 OBP, 51 stolen bases and 66 RBI and he only struck out 49 times. The Reds won the Central Division, and Larkin hit .385 in an NLDS sweep of the Dodgers. He followed by hitting .389 in the NLCS, although the eventual world champion Braves swept the Reds.

 

Pre-Griffey Days

The face of Cincinnati sports, Larkin followed his MVP season with career highs of 33 home runs and 89 RBI. He also hit .298 and stole 36 bases for a 12th place finish in MVP voting. Larkin became the first MLB shortstop to reach the 30 home runs-30 stolen bases plateau. The Reds named Larkin their captain before the 1997 season, making Larkin the team’s first captain since Dave Concepción’s retirement in 1988. Larkin also received a treat at the end of the 1998 season when his brother, Stephen (on the left), joined him in the Reds' lineup on Sept. 27. With the Larkins at first base and shortstop and the Boone brothers at second base (Bret) and third base (Aaron), the Reds started twos sets of brothers in the infield for the only time in MLB history. Stephen went 1-for-3 in his only MLB game.

 

Griffey Days And Retirement

By trading for Ken Griffey Jr. before the 2000 season, the Reds added another future Hall of Famer to their lineup. But 2000 was also the beginning of the end for both players' careers. While Griffey battled injuries in eight and a half years in Cincinnati, he also witnessed a fading Larkin. The shortstop batted .313 for another All-Star appearance in 2000, a year he also declined a summer trade to the Mets, but the 2001-2003 seasons were not as favorable to Larkin. He played in only 260 games with only 11 home runs, 18 stolen bases and 140 runs scored in those three seasons. Larkin's highest batting average over that period was .282 in 2003. In 2004, Larkin made one last lounge for the gas, hitting .289 with 44 RBI in 111 games to make his 12th and final All-Star Game at age 40. He retired after the season.

 

Post-Retirement

Soon after his retirement, Larkin was hired by former Reds general manager and then-Nationals GM Jim Bowden to work as a special assistant. In 2008, the Nationals offered him a job as their first base coach, but Larkin turned it down and changed post-baseball career career paths. He left the Nationals to sign on as a studio analyst for the MLB network. Larkin spent three years at the MLB Network before moving to ESPN to work as a Baseball Tonight analyst, his current job. The Hall of Famer was also the bench coach for the U.S. at the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

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