About Me
Barry Larkin s a former Major League Baseball player, who spent his entire 19-year career with his hometown Cincinnati Reds. He won three Gold Glove awards in consecutive years (1994-96) and was a 12-time All-Star. Barry also became the first major league shortstop to join the 30-30 club when he hit 33 home runs and had 36 stolen bases in 1996. Barry finished with a career batting average of .295, 2,349 total hits, 198 home runs, 960 RBIs, 1329 runs scored, and 379 stolen bases.
Before joining the major leagues, Barry played college ball at the University of Michgan. After ending his college carrer, he was drafted by the Cinncinatti Reds in the 1985 amatuer draft.
After his selection, Barry spent the majority of the next two seasons as a standout in the minor leagues. In 1985, Barry helped the Vermont Reds win the Eastern League Championship. The following season, he was named both Rookie of the Year and AA Player of the Year with the Denver Zephyrs. He made his major league debut on August 13, 1986.
Barry quickly established himself as one of the top shortstops in the league. In 1988, he led all major leaguers by striking out only 24 times in 588 at bats. Two seasons later (1990), Barry helped lead the Reds to a World Series Championship, batting .353 in the Reds four-game sweep of the Oakland Athletics. The following season, Barry made history by becoming the first shortstop to hit five home runs in consecutive games. In 1993, Barry won the Roberto Clement Award, given to the player who best represents baseball, sportsmanship, community involvement and individual contribution to a team. In 1995, Barry won the National League MVP award hitting .319 and finishing second in stolen bases (51). He was the first shortstop to accomplish this feat since Maury Wills in 1962. That same season, Barry led the Reds to a central division title and turned in another strong playoff performance, batting .389 during their NLCS matchup against the future World Series Champions, the Atlanta Braves.
Barry returned next season to hit a career high 33 home runs and was named team captain during the 18997 season.
Although his playing career is over, Barry has continued to collect honors and accolades. He was elected into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum on July 20, 2008, was a member of the 2009 National College Baseball Hall of Fame induction class, and had his number retired by the University of Michigan on May 1, 2010. He has also been called one of the greatest shortstops of all time by baseball historian and expert Bill James. James ranked Barry sixth all time in the New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract.
Since his retirement, Barry has remained involved with the game of baseball. He served as a special assistant to the general manager for the Washington Nationals organizatio and also joined the MLB network as a studio analyst on December 23, 2008. He was also the bench coach for the U.St. team at the 2009 World Baseball Classic, managing the team’s second-round game against Puerto Rico.
Barry also released a charity wine called "Barry Larkin's Merlot" in 2008. All of the proceeds support the Champions Sports Foundation, a foundation that built the Champions Sports Complex to harness the power of sport and use it to prepare youth for social, emotional, and educational success.
See all
Reply
Retweet
Favorite
