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Hall of Fame baseball writer Hal McCoy has retired from the Dayton Daily News after covering the Cincinnati Reds for 37 years. Hal's blog, though, will continue to be a must-read for Reds fans. He'll share his thoughts on the team this season and will file updates from Great American Ball Park. You also can catch Hal in print every Sunday in his popular Ask Hal columnHome > Blogs > The Real McCoy | Cincinnati Reds baseball news > Archives > 2012 > January > 09
Monday, January 9, 2012
Barry Larkin: The humble Hall of Famer
Be he ever so humble, there is nobody like Barry Larkin.
On his mammoth day, the day he was introduced as the only 2012 inductee into the Baseball Hall of Fame, when he should have been eating filet mignon, he was chewing humble pie.
But that always has been Larkin’s credo and modus operandi.
How many Hall of Famers have you heard say, “I always considered myself a complementary player, somebody who would do things beyond the X’s and O’s of hits, homers or stolen bases, somebody who did what it took to help the other players on my team.”
HOW MANY Hall of Famers have you heard say, when asked what defines him, say quickly, “Not one single thing pops up, not one single image. Maybe if somebody took a picture of me talking to players on the field or in the clubhouse or in the hotels about how to be a professional, they might say, ‘Oh, that was another part of his game.’”
And it was, a deep part of his contribution over 19 years with the Cincinnati Reds. He was the player teammates followed, respected and admired — as a person and as a player.
“The people I admire most starts at home — my mom and my father,” he said. “They both had strong character and strong morals and they are the reason I am the type of person and player that I am.”
WHAT MOST people don’t know is that Larkin went to the University of Michigan on a football scholarship, ostensibly to play for legendary Bo Schembecher.
“Bo recruited my older brother, Mike, and was in my house,” said Larkin. “Mike went to Notre Dame with Coach Gerry Faust and Bo told my mother, ‘I’m taking your next son to Michigan.’”
And he did. But he told Larkin he would be red-shirted his freshman year and gave Larkin permission to play baseball. Larkin never played a down of football.
“That was the first time I ever concentrated on one sport instead of three,” he said. “I was a better football player than baseball player, but concentrating that one full year on baseball and that made me a better player.”
SCHEMBECHLER TOLD him, “I could strike you out. And you’ll be back. You’ll miss football. Nobody comes to Michigan to play baseball.”
He didn’t and didn’t.
Larkin was born a shortstop and will die as a shortstop, but there was a short period when the Reds wanted to change him to second base.
It lasted two games at Triple-A Indianapolis and when two balls rolled through his legs Larkin said, “That’s it. No more second base.”
Larkin said he was Triple-A Rookie of the Year and Triple-A Player of the Year at Indianapolis, but one day former farm director Chief Bender called him to his office.
“I was excited. I thought I was being promoted to the big leagues,” said Larkin. “Instead, he told me, ‘We don’t think you have the tools for shortstop and want you to play second base.”
The real reason was that a couple of years before they signed Larkin, telling him, “You’ll be a shortstop,” they drafted another shortstop No. 1. His name was Kurt Stillwell and the Reds thought he was the shortstop of the future.
LARKIN PROVED them wrong, wrong, wrong. The Reds eventually traded Stillwell to Kansas City, “And that showed me the Reds really did want me,” he said. “And there was a nice gesture, too. I was wearing No. 15 at the time and Stillwell had No. 11, the number I’d always worn. When he was traded, he gave me a piece of gold jewelry with the No. 11 on it. That was a nice gesture.”
LARKIN WAS ASKED if he thinks his predecessor, Dave Concepcion, belongs in the Hall of Fame and as he did so often during his stay in Cincinnati Larkin took the diplomatic high road.
“I don’t have a vote, so I’ll leave that to others,” he said. “I’m a rookie (Hall of Famer) myself.”
But Larkin then extolled Concepcion.
“The first time I met Concepcion was when I was still at Michigan and the Reds drafted me,” he said. “The Reds were in Detroit for an interleague game and I visited the clubhouse in old Tiger Stadium.”
“Dave Parker (another Cincinnati native and a Reds outfielder at the time) grabbed me by the arm and led me to Concpecion’s Larkin and said, ‘Here’s the guy who is going to take your job.’
“I didn’t know about Parker’s sense of humor and thought, ‘What is this guy doing?’ Davey asked to see my hands, which were rough and calloused and he said, “He won’t be taking my job.”
THEN CONCEPCION helped Larkin take his job.
“I idolized Davey growing up,” said Larkin. “He was part of The Big Red Machine that I grew up with.”
When Larkin showed up at spring training, Concepcion took him aside and taught him things, “Especially how to make that bounce throw that he made famous. I will say this. Davey was the best shortstop I ever saw. And he took time out of his day to help me when he knew that some day I might take his job. It is incredible to realize that two guys, Concepcion and I, were the only two shortstops the Reds had for almost 40 years.”
THERE IS ANOTHER off-beat story about Larkin. He had no Latin background whatsoever, but he went to school to learn Spanish.
“Becayse I idolized Concepcion and Tony Perez, I thought, ‘The only things they can do that I can’t do is speak Spanish, So I learned Spanish.”
As one of only two team captains in Reds history (Concepcion was the other), Larkin used his Spanish to converse with Latino teammates, gaining him even more respect.
And it helped on the field, too.
“Second baseman Mariano Duncan and I used to converse in Spanish when there were runners on second base,” said Larkin. “Some of them would look at me funny, wondering, ‘Is he really speaking Spanish?’ A couple of times it enabled Duncan to sneak behind the runner and pick him off.”
Asked who they were, Larkin said, “I’d rather not embarrass them.”
That, in a Hall of Fame nutshell, is Barry Larkin.
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This news release just in from the National Baseball Hall of Fame:
Barry Larkin Elected to the Hall of Fame
— Larkin will be Inducted on July 22nd in Cooperstown along with Golden Era Committee Electee Ron Santo —
(NEW YORK, NY) - Barry Larkin, a 12-time All-Star, nine-time Silver Slugger and three-time Gold Glove winning shortstop, was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America in balloting verified by Ernst & Young.
Larkin, 47, will be inducted into the Hall July 22 at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y., along with the late third baseman Ron Santo, who was elected last month by the Golden Era Committee. Also to be honored over Induction Weekend will be Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun with the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing and television analyst Tim McCarver, the former major league catcher, with the Ford C. Frick Award for broadcasting.
A total of 573 ballots, including nine blanks, were cast by BBWAA members with 10 or more consecutive years’ service. Players must be named on 75 percent of ballots submitted to be elected. This year, 430 votes were required.
Larkin, who was in his third year of eligibility, received 495 votes, for an 86.4-percent plurality. His vote total reflected a 24.3-percent gain from the 2011 ballot, the largest jump in one year to gain election since 1948 when pitcher Herb Pennock received 77.7 percent of the vote after having tallied 53.4 percent in 1947. Larkin’s jump is the largest for any Hall of Fame election in which at least 400 ballots were cast. The previous highest was the 16.4-percent jump by first baseman Tony Perez from 1999 (60.8) to 2000 (77.2).
Larkin’s election brings to 297 the number of elected Hall members. Of that total, 207 are former major-league players, of which 112 have been through the BBWAA ballot. Larkin is the 24th shortstop elected to the Hall and the 11th by the BBWAA. He is also the 48th Hall of Famer who played his entire career with one club and the third to do so for the Cincinnati Reds, joining catcher Johnny Bench and 19th-century second baseman Bid McPhee.
A Cincinnati native, Larkin played 19 seasons for the Reds and batted .295 with 2,340 hits, including 441 doubles, 76 triples and 198 home runs. He drove in 960 runs, scored 1,329, stole 379 bases and had more walks (939) than strikeouts (817). Larkin became the first shortstop to join the 30-30 club when he had 33 home runs and 36 steals in 1996. He was voted the National League Most Valuable Player in 1995 by the BBWAA and hit .353 in the Reds’ World Series sweep of the Oakland Athletics in 1990.
The only players other than Larkin to gain more than 50 percent of the vote were pitcher Jack Morris with 382 votes (66.7%), first baseman Jeff Bagwell with 321 (56.0%) and reliever Lee Smith with 290 (50.6%).
Players may remain on the ballot for up to 15 years provided they receive five percent of the vote in any year. There were 13 candidates who failed to make the cut this year (30 votes), including 12 of the 13 players who were on the ballot for the first time. The only first-year candidate who received sufficient support to remain was outfielder Bernie Williams with 55 votes (9.6%). Two-time American League MVP Juan Gonzalez got 23 votes (4.0%) and fell off the ballot in his second year of eligibility.
Other holdovers that will remain on the ballot in addition to Morris, Bagwell, Smith and Williams are first basemen Mark McGwire, Fred McGriff, Don Mattingly and Rafael Palmeiro; outfielders Tim Raines, Dale Murphy and Larry Walker; designated hitter-third baseman Edgar Martinez and shortstop Alan Trammell.
The vote:
Barry Larkin 495 (86.4%), Jack Morris 382 (66.7%), Jeff Bagwell 321 (56.0%), Lee Smith 290 (50.6%), Tim Raines 279 (48.7%), Edgar Martinez 209 (36.5%), Alan Trammell 211 (36.8%), Fred McGriff 137 (23.9%), Larry Walker 131 (22.9%), Mark McGwire 112 (19.5%), Don Mattingly 102 (17.8%), Dale Murphy 83 (14.5%), Rafael Palmeiro 72 (12.6%), Bernie Williams 55 (9.6%), Juan Gonzalez 23 (4.0%), Vinny Castilla 6 (1.0%), Tim Salmon 5 (0.9%), Bill Mueller 4 (0.7%), Brad Radke 2 (0.3%), Javy Lopez 1 (0.2%), Eric Young 1 (0.2%), Jeromy Burnitz 0, Brian Jordan 0, Terry Mulholland 0, Phil Nevin 0, Ruben Sierra 0, Tony Womack 0.
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is open seven days a week year round, with the exception of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day. The Museum observes regular hours of 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. from Labor Day until Memorial Day Weekend. From Memorial Day Weekend through the day before Labor Day, the Museum observes summer hours of 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Ticket prices are $19.50 for adults (13 and over), $12 for seniors (65 and over) and for those holding current memberships in the VFW, Disabled American Veterans, American Legion and AMVets organizations, and $7 for juniors (ages 7-12). Members are always admitted free of charge and there is no charge for children 6 years of age or younger. For more information, visit our Web site at baseballhall.org or call 888-HALL-OF-FAME (888-425-5633) or 607-547-7200.
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