Monday, September 13, 1999
Larkin makes the play of day
Spends time with sick child
BY SCOTT MacGREGOR
The Cincinnati Enquirer
For a few precious minutes Sunday afternoon, Cinergy Field became a field of dreams for a sick young boy.
Four-year-old Alex Porta, stricken by a chronic lung disease that could be terminal, had one wish: To meet Reds shortstop Barry Larkin, his favorite player. But in his wildest dreams, Porta never imagined what was to come.
A personalized tour of the Reds' clubhouse given by Larkin himself. A baseball signed by every Red in sight. A pair of Larkin's No.11 wristbands. A Sean Casey batting glove presented to him by a smiling Casey.
And the highlight: A game of catch in the clubhouse with Larkin. All of it was a surprise to Porta.
“These kind of days, whenever you can give him something like this ... ” said his father, Greg, before tailing off to choke back tears. “He's probably gone through more in four years of his life than most people do in their whole lives.
“There's certain things that make him happy, and baseball's one of them. You live for these days.”
Larkin meets a lot of sick kids, but this was the first time he'd taken one on a tour of the clubhouse. The meeting was arranged by Jen Bieber, an employee at Children's Hospital who heard of Porta's wish and worked through her connections with the Reds to make it come true. Buddy Bell placed a personal call to Larkin to ask the favor.
Larkin didn't have to take such gentle care, or the time at all — he was busy preparing for the game just a few minutes before its start — but did so because he sees how it touches lives.
His teammates felt the same way. Denny Neagle stopped to do his famous “Woo-woo” train whistle. Dmitri Young smiled and tapped the bill of Porta's cap. Jeffrey Hammonds, Eddie Taubensee and Pete Harnisch, among others, signed his ball.
“It's special. You can see it in his eyes,” Larkin said. “Each time, it's touching. It really puts things in perspective.”
When manager Jack McKeon walked by, Alex said hello. “I just thought I should say hi,” Alex said.
Alex knew all the players by face and jersey number. He's such a huge fan, his dad says, he'll call him at work to tell him the score of day games. But Larkin's his favorite. “Ba-rry,” Alex said when asked about the best part of the day.
Alex and his family watched the game from the garden area behind left field with a group of other kids from Children's Hospital. He looked like any other kid at a ballgame, his Reds cap slightly askew on his head, his Reds jersey untucked from his shorts, his hands thrust in the air for a good play.
Except unlike any of the other kids in the stands, Alex had a clear plastic tube running from an oxygen tank into a mask around his nose — his lifeblood.
“He doesn't realize there's anything different about him,” said his mother, Dianne. “Unless he's sick with a cold, he doesn't think he's sick.”
“He used to be able to run and play baseball,” said Alex's nurse, Suzette Baumgartner. “Now he can't tolerate activity. But he loves baseball.”
The Portas left the game early to take a flight to St. Louis, where Alex will be evaluated on his fitness for a lung transplant, his best chance to survive.
“He's in heaven today,” Dianne said.
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