Barry Larkin

Born and raised in the Cincinnati suburb of Silverton, Ohio, and raised Catholic, Larkin attended Archbishop Moeller High School. Larkin's number 16 was retired by the school on May 1, 2010. ==Minor league career==

Barry Larkin played with the Vermont Reds on their team that won the 1985 Eastern League Championship and in 1986 was the Rookie of the Year and Triple-A Player of the Year with the Denver Zephyrs. In all, he played only 177 minor league games in his professional career. ==MLB career==

1986–1996 After arriving in the majors, Larkin battled fellow prospect Kurt Stillwell for the starting shortstop spot before establishing himself as the starter in 1987. In 1988, Larkin led all major leaguers by striking out only 24 times in 588 at-bats. Larkin was not selected as an All-Star in 1992, but he won his fifth consecutive Silver Slugger Award. In 1995, Larkin finished 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 the National League Central division title and the National League Championship Series, where he batted .389 during the series loss to the eventual champion Atlanta Braves. He arguably had a better season in 1996 than he had in his MVP year of 1995, as his on-base percentage and slugging percentage were both improved. 1997–2000 Larkin was named the Reds' captain before the 1997 season, making him the first player to hold the honor since Dave Concepción's retirement. Beginning that season, Larkin suffered a series of injuries throughout the last few years of his career. He missed 55 games that year due to injuries to his calf and Achilles tendon. About three weeks before the opening of the 1998 season, Larkin decided to undergo neck surgery for a perforated disk. He was not in severe pain, but he was unable to lift his arm enough to play defense. On September 27, 1998, Barry, his brother Stephen Larkin, second baseman Bret Boone, and third baseman Aaron Boone all played the infield at the same time for the last game of the 1998 season, making it the first time in MLB history that an infield was composed entirely of two pairs of brothers. In 1999, Larkin was nearly traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He later said that he was approached by a Los Angeles clubhouse attendant, who gave him a Dodgers jersey with his name on it. The jersey had been prepared as trade negotiations advanced so that the teams could be prepared for a press conference about the trade. Also in 1999, Larkin served as a pre-game analyst for NBC's coverage of the World Series alongside host Hannah Storm. In July 2000, Larkin blocked a trade to the New York Mets to remain with the Reds. The trade would have sent three players, top minor league outfielder Alex Escobar, pitcher Eric Cammack and pitcher Jason Saenz, from the Mets to the Reds in exchange for Larkin. Larkin said that he would have gone to New York, as he enjoyed playing there, but the Mets did not want to sign him to a multi-year contract. The Reds signed him to a three-year contract extension worth $27 million. In the 2000 season, Larkin missed 59 games after he injured his finger twice and he suffered a knee sprain. He underwent finger surgery in April and knee surgery in September. 2001–2004 Larkin struggled with a groin injury in 2001, prompting criticism of his play. Broadcaster Joe Nuxhall said on air that Larkin had "lost it". By August, the injury had limited Larkin to 45 games. He underwent season-ending surgery for a hernia that had been diagnosed during an evaluation of the groin injury. In 2003, Larkin had spent two stints on the disabled list with calf injuries by late May. Commenting on Larkin's retirement after such a strong season, sports columnist Terence Moore drew a comparison to the retirement of Ted Williams. He wrote, "Barry Larkin wasn't quite Williams at the end, but he was in the vicinity when it comes to the big picture... After years of injuries, he showed what a healthy Larkin still could do, but he also showed that he preferred to leave the game more like Williams than just about anybody else you can name in baseball history." In his 19-year career with Cincinnati, Larkin hit .295 with 2,340 hits, 198 home runs, 960 RBI, 1,329 runs scored, and 379 stolen bases. Baseball writer 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. Despite missing significant playing time in six seasons, Larkin won the Gold Glove Award three times (1994–1996) and was a 12-time All-Star (1988–1991, 1993–1997, 1999, 2000, and 2004). ==Post-retirement==

{{MLBBioRet After his retirement, Larkin was hired as a special assistant to the general manager in the Washington Nationals organization. With the Nationals, he worked under former Reds general manager Jim Bowden. Larkin had hoped to work for the Reds, but USA Today reported that his 2003 contract disagreement with Allen eliminated that opportunity. He was the bench coach for the United States at the 2009 World Baseball Classic and managed the United States' second-round game against Puerto Rico when U.S. manager Davey Johnson left to attend his stepson's wedding. On July 20, 2008, he was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. In 2009, he was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2012, Larkin was voted into the Hall of Fame with 86.4% of the vote. He was the eighth Reds player and 24th shortstop inducted to the Hall of Fame. On August 25, 2012, his number 11 was retired in an official ceremony at Great American Ball Park. In 2010, his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame, Larkin had received 51.6% of the vote (75 percent is needed for election). In 2011, he received 62.1% of the vote, the highest of non-inducted players and third overall. He was invited by the Brazilian Baseball Federation to manage their national team in the qualifiers for the 2013 World Baseball Classic. Brazil beat host country Panama in Brazil's first time to qualify for the event. Larkin said Brazil was originally scheduled to play in Puerto Rico, but because of the huge Japanese baseball influence in Brazil, they played in Japan. The team played Cuba and China besides the home country. The team went winless in its WBC debut and was eliminated after the first round. In November 2013, Detroit Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski confirmed that the organization had intended to interview Larkin for its open managerial position. Larkin declined the interview due to the time commitment associated with the job. Brad Ausmus was named the new Tigers manager on November 3, 2013. In November 2014, the Tampa Bay Times reported that Larkin was among 10 candidates interviewed for the Tampa Bay Rays' managerial job. Larkin was not among the team's three finalists, and the job ultimately went to Kevin Cash. Larkin joined the Cincinnati Reds as a minor-league roving infield instructor in May 2015. He helped out the big-league club during spring training 2016. When asked whether he hoped to manage in the future, he said, "Never say never. The conditions have to be right and, you know, the manager's job, at least in my opinion, is not about just having the manager's position. It's about having the support system to support that manager's position." In September 2016, Larkin managed Brazil at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualification, where the team failed to qualify for the final tournament after losing to Great Britain. On February 16, 2021, it was announced that Larkin joined the Reds' television broadcast team on Fox Sports Ohio. In July 2022, Larkin became an executive partner of the newly formed United International Baseball League, the first professional baseball league in the Middle East and South Asia; == Sports diplomacy ==

Larkin has also been an active participant in the SportsUnited Sports Envoy program for the U.S. Department of State. In this function, he has traveled to Colombia, Ecuador, India, Lithuania, Taiwan, where he worked with to conduct baseball clinics and events that reached more than 2,200 youth from underserved areas. In so doing, Larkin helped contribute to SportsUnited's mission to reach out to youth populations in order to promote growth and a stable democratic government. ==Personal life==

Larkin's brother, Stephen Larkin, was also a professional baseball player; he made it to the major leagues for one game with the Reds in 1998. Another brother, Byron Larkin, was a second-team All-American basketball player at Xavier University and is the color commentator on Xavier basketball radio broadcasts. Larkin's eldest brother, Mike, was a captain of the Notre Dame football team in 1985. They were all raised Catholic. Larkin and his wife have two daughters and a son, Shane. The family lives in Orlando, Florida. Shane played two seasons at the University of Miami before being a first round draft pick in the 2013 NBA draft. He played for four NBA teams in 4 seasons, starting 41 times. Larkin's daughters play lacrosse. His oldest daughter, Brielle D'Shea, is named in honor of Shea Stadium, as Larkin enjoyed playing there. ==See also==