Posted on 07/20/2012 4:02:59 PM PDT by Raymann
The newspaper clips are yellowed and crinkly with the passage of two decades. They've survived moves from Cincinnati to Denver to the Philadelphia suburbs, not to mention the great sump pump disaster of 2004 and the residual basement dust from a kitchen remodeling in 2011.
The Barry Larkin who stares back at me now from those old Cincinnati Post sports sections is lithe, athletic and capable of energizing a crowd with a flick of a switch. He can drive the ball over the fence or shoot it the opposite way on a hit-and-run. He'll steal a base when it matters most or range into the hole and gun a throw to first to beat the runner by a step.
During the 1989 season, St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog chose Larkin and Will Clark as the two players he would most like to build a team around. Herzog had a pretty good shortstop of his own at the time in Ozzie Smith, but the combination of Larkin's youth and versatility was enough to make the White Rat's bristle cut stand at attention.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
Larkin always struck me as a Class Act. I only wish I could have remained in SW Ohio longer so as to be able to see more Reds games during his run.
Greatest team ever.
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