Top 10 moments of Barry Larkin's career
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CINCINNATI -- A Cincinnati native, Hall of Famer Barry Larkin did special things as a shortstop for the Reds over 19 seasons -- all for his hometown club.
Larkin was the 1995 National League Most Valuable Player, a 12-time All-Star, and the winner of three Gold Glove Awards and nine Silver Slugger Awards during a career that lasted from 1986-2004.
Overall, Larkin slashed .295/.371/.444 for his career with 2,340 hits, 1,329 runs scored and 379 stolen bases. Of course, he was a key member of the 1990 “wire-to-wire” World Series-winning team.
Here are 10 moments that defined Larkin’s career.
1) First 30-30 shortstop
On Sept. 22, 1996, vs. the Cardinals, Larkin extended a career high when he hit his 30th home run of the season. It made him the first shortstop in AL/NL history to become a “30-30” player with 30 homers and 30 stolen bases in a single season. He finished ’96 with 33 homers and 36 steals.
Larkin was part of a new wave of shortstops that could hit, and hit for power. Three others would eventually join him in the 30-30 shortstop club -- Alex Rodriguez, Jimmy Rollins and Hanley Ramirez.
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2) World Series winner
In 1990, the Reds led the NL West from Opening Day through the final day as “wire-to-wire” winners of their division. Larkin batted .301/.358/.396 with seven homers, 67 RBIs and 30 steals during the regular season.
After Cincinnati dispatched the Pirates in six games during the NL Championship Series, it shocked the heavily favored A’s with a four-game sweep in the World Series. Larkin batted .353 with two extra-base hits and three runs scored.
3) A 5-for-5 game
Until June 24, 2000, Larkin had never enjoyed a five-hit game during his career. That changed at Cinergy Field against the Padres. His first hit was a line-drive single to center in the first, while his second hit came just an inning later, this time to right field, during a four-run, two-out rally.
In his third at-bat, Larkin added a solo homer against Padres starter Matt Clement. He added a single to left field in the sixth inning. In the seventh inning, he drove a two-run homer to center field for his fifth hit. He also had four RBIs and four runs in the 11-5 win over San Diego.
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4) Three homers, six RBIs
On June 28, 1991, vs. the Astros at Riverfront Stadium, Larkin hit three home runs in his first three at-bats vs. pitcher Jim DeShaies for his first and only three-homer game and also had a career-high six RBIs in an 8-5 win.
Larkin, who also hit two homers in his previous game, tied a Major League record with five homers combined over back-to-back games.
5) MVP
The Reds returned to the postseason in 1995, and it was Larkin who led the team there. He batted .319/.394/.492 with 15 homers, 66 RBIs and a career-high 51 stolen bases and was voted as the NL’s MVP Award winner as Cincinnati claimed the NL Central title.
Larkin batted .385 vs. the Dodgers as the Reds advanced and .389 in the NLCS against the Braves as his team fell short of reaching the World Series.
6) Walk-off homer
Fresh off the disabled list and used as a pinch-hitter on May 6, 2003, Larkin delivered a two-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against reliever Kiko Calero that gave the Reds a 6-5 walk-off win over the Cardinals. The ball landed in the left field seats at Great American Ball Park and ended a seven-game winning streak for St. Louis.
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7) 2,000 in 2000
With an RBI double to left field in the bottom of the third inning, Larkin reached milestone hit No. 2,000 for his career on Aug. 21, 2000. After he reached second base, the crowd of 21,558 fans at Cinergy Field gave him a standing ovation. Dmitri Young also hit a grand slam in the game during a 7-4 win over the Phillies.
Larkin became the first Major League shortstop to have at least 2,000 hits, 170 homers and 350 stolen bases. He was also the fourth Reds player in the modern era to reach 2,000 hits -- behind Pete Rose (3,358), Dave Concepcion (2,326) and Johnny Bench (2,048). Joey Votto joined Cincinnati’s 2,000-hit club in 2021.
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8) Finally, a grand slam
Larkin was 15 seasons into his career and had yet to connect for a grand slam. On April 20, 2000, at Cinergy Field with the bases loaded vs. the Mets, he hit an Al Leiter pitch and cleared the left-center-field fence. It came during the 6,735th at-bat in Larkin’s career and boosted Cincinnati to a 9-6 victory.
Teammates had teased Larkin about lacking a grand slam, and he pointed to them in the first-base dugout during his home run trot. A bottle of champagne from those teammates was waiting at his locker postgame.
9) Fond farewell
On Oct. 3, 2004, at age 40, Larkin played his final Major League game during a 2-0 loss to the Pirates at Great American Ball Park. Before the top of the fourth inning, he was replaced at shortstop by Anderson Machado and received a standing ovation from fans. At the time, Larkin had not decided whether or not he would play another season after his contract with the Reds ended.
An inning later, Larkin visited the radio booth and said thank you to the fans over the public-address system from an open spot in the upper deck.
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10) Welcome to Cooperstown
In 2012, Larkin was enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame -- a validation of his spectacular resume -- in his third year of eligibility on the BBWAA ballot. He received 86.4 percent of the vote. His No. 11 was also retired during that summer by the Reds as the club used the whole year to honor its hometown great and former team captain.
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