Age: 31 (Apr. 28)
10th
season with Reds
Bats – Right,
Throws – Right
Height: 6’0” Weight: 185
Prior to 1995:
A Cincinnati
native, Larkin starred in football as well as baseball at that city’s
Archbishop Moeller High School. Selected by the Reds in the 1982 amateur draft
he decided to attend the Univ. of Michigan where he anticipated playing both
sports. Larkin was advised to redshirt his freshman year in football and
concentrated on baseball, where he became a two-time Big 10 Baseball Player of
the Year. He also earned a spot on the US Olympic Baseball team in 1984 and was
again drafted by the Reds, this time fourth overall in 1985. He was first
assigned to Vermont of the Class AA Eastern League in ’85 and batted .267 in 72
games. Advancing to the Denver Zephyrs of the Class AAA American Association in
1986 Larkin hit .283 and was named to the league’s All-Star team. Receiving an
August call-up to the Reds, he hit .283 in 41 games and made enough of an
impression to receive a vote in NL Rookie of the Year balloting. Larkin
overcame an early-season knee injury in 1987 to beat out another top prospect,
Kurt Stillwell, as the starting shortstop. He batted .244 but the line-drive
hitter began to exhibit some power with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs. He also stole
21 bases. He was an All-Star for the first time in 1988 on the way to improving
his batting average to .296 along with 32 doubles, 5 triples, 12 home runs, and
56 RBIs while stealing 40 bases. He had a rough season in the field due to hand
injuries and committed 29 errors. Larkin got off to a strong start in 1989 and
was batting .340 at the All-Star break. Once again an All-Star selection, he
injured his elbow while participating in an All-Star skills competition and
missed most of the second half of the season. He ended up appearing in just 97
games and hit .342 with 22 extra base hits. Cincinnati topped the NL West and
won the World Series in 1990 and Larkin contributed a .301 batting average with
25 doubles, 6 triples, 7 home runs, and 67 RBIs, along with 30 stolen bases. In
the field he led all NL shortstops with 469 assists and 86 double plays. In
addition to being an All-Star he received a Silver Slugger and finished seventh
in NL MVP voting. In the post-season he hit .353 in the World Series sweep of
Oakland. Larkin followed up in 1991 with a .302 average and 20 home runs along
with 69 RBIs. Another solid season in 1992 was followed by a 1993 season in
which he was limited to 100 games by injuries (a common problem with the Reds
that year), but he still batted .315 with 8 home runs and 51 RBIs and remained
a stellar performer in the field. He also received the Roberto Clemente Award
in recognition of his team leadership and work within the community as well as
on-field achievements. In the strike-shortened 1994 season Larkin hit .279, due
to a slow start, and received his first Gold Glove. By 1995 he was widely considered
to be the best all-around shortstop in the NL.
1995 Season Summary
Appeared in 131
games
SS – 130
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Batting
Plate
Appearances – 567
At Bats – 496
Runs – 98 [5]
Hits – 158 [10]
Doubles – 29
Triples – 6
[12, tied with five others]
Home Runs – 15
RBI – 66
Bases on Balls
– 61 [19, tied with Eric Karros]
Int. BB – 2
Strikeouts – 49
Stolen Bases – 51
[2]
Caught Stealing
– 5
Average - .319
[6]
OBP - .394 [9]
Slugging Pct. -
.492 [17]
Total Bases – 244
[19]
GDP – 6
Hit by Pitches
– 3
Sac Hits – 3
Sac Flies – 4
Midseason
snapshot: HR - 6, RBI – 29, SB – 22, AVG – .289, SLG PCT - .458
---
Most hits, game
– 4 (in 6 AB) at Pittsburgh 8/26
Longest hitting
streak – 13 games
HR at home – 8
HR on road – 7
Most home runs,
game – 2 (in 3 AB) at Atlanta 5/13, (in 6 AB) at San Francisco 7/27
Multi-HR games
– 2
Most RBIs, game
– 5 at San Francisco 7/27
Pinch-hitting –
No appearances
Fielding
Chances – 544
Put Outs – 192
Assists – 341
Errors – 11
DP – 72
Pct. - .980
Postseason
Batting: 7 G (NLDS vs. LA Dodgers – 3 G; NLCS vs. Atlanta – 4 G)
PA – 33, AB – 31,
R – 3, H – 12, 2B – 2,3B – 1, HR – 0, RBI – 1, BB – 2, IBB – 0, SO – 3, SB – 5,
CS – 1, AVG - .387, OBP - .424, SLG - .516, TB – 16, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF
– 0
Awards & Honors:
NL MVP: BBWAA
Gold Glove
Silver Slugger
All-Star (started
for NL at SS)
Top 5 in NL MVP
Voting:
Barry Larkin,
Cin.: 281 pts. - 11 of 28 first place votes, 72% share
Dante Bichette,
Col.: 251 pts. – 6 first place votes, 64% share
Greg Maddux,
Atl.: 249 pts. – 7 first place votes, 64% share
Mike Piazza, LAD:
214 pts. – 3 first place votes, 55% share
Eric Karros, LAD:
135 pts. – 34% share
(1 first place
vote for Ron Gant, Cin., who ranked 11th)
---
Reds went 85-59,
in the strike-shortened season, to finish first in the NL Central Division by 9
games over the Houston Astros while leading the league in doubles (277), and stolen
bases (190). Won NLDS over the Los Angeles Dodgers, 3 games to 0. Lost NLCS to
the Atlanta Braves, 4 games to 0.
Aftermath of ‘95:
Larkin followed
up with yet another All-Star season in 1996 in which he batted .298 with a
career-high 33 home runs and 89 RBIs. He missed the final month of the 1997
season with a heel injury but still hit .317 with a drop-off in power. Larkin
played his entire major league career with the Reds, finishing in 2004,
although injuries were more of an issue in his last few years with the club. He
batted .295 with 2340 hits that included 441 doubles, 76 triples, and 198 home
runs. He also accumulated 960 RBIs and 379 stolen bases. A 12-time All-Star he
also received 9 Silver Sluggers and three Gold Gloves. The Reds retired his #11
and he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2012. He was inducted
into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2008. His brother Stephen appeared in
one game with the Reds in 1998.
--
MVP Profiles feature players in the National or
American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award
(1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present)
as Most Valuable Player.
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