Wednesday, March 29, 2000
Larkin remains captain, leader
BY JOHN FAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SARASOTA, Fla. — Ken Griffey Jr. was searching the Reds media guide for material when he found something to use.
“No grand slams! It says "none.' Zero would sound better.”
“That's a sore subject,” said Barry Larkin, the target of Griffey's verbal abuse. “I did have one in Little League.”
“Doesn't count,” Griffey said, looking for more fodder.
Larkin and Griffey stayed behind Tuesday while the rest of the team took the 11/2-hour bus trip to Fort Myers to play the Boston Red Sox. That they skipped the trip is not a surprise. The stars don't come out for spring training road games very often.
But if one would have gone, the other probably would have gone, too.
Larkin and Griffey have been just short of joined at the hip this spring. Griffey is one the new Reds, but he's one of Larkin's old friends.
“We're tight,” Larkin said. “We're Cincinnati guys. We live in Orlando. We're family-oriented. We have a lot in common.”
Griffey is the power hitter (he has 12 grand slams) and the bigger star.
But the Reds remain Larkin's team. He is the captain, the leader.
“Nothing's changed with Junior coming here,” Larkin said. “Even when Vaughnie (Greg Vaughn) and Eric Davis were here, I was never the guy who carried the offense. I'm not a home run hitter.”
“But I'm still the captain. I'm the strongest personality. I'm the loudest.”
Dante Bichette has seen that in his short time with the club.
“Barry's always been the leader here,” said Bichette, in his first season with the Reds. “He has the respect of everyone in the clubhouse. The role as leader fits him well.”
Griffey keeps the captain humble.
After the gland slam comment, Grif fey was back a minute later asking Larkin how he could go from 33 homers in 1996 to four in '97. (Larkin was hurt that season, but he takes the good-natured ribbing in stride).
Vaughn brought a serious, workman-like attitude to the clubhouse last year. Griffey brings fun and games.
And Larkin, who is about to begin his 14th year as the Reds' shortstop, is having a lot of fun. He's looking forward to Opening Day as much as he ever has.
“Absolutely,” he said. “There's always excitement going into Opening Day. But there's a little more this year because of all the bullets we have, because of all the studs we have and the fact that we did as well as we did last year.”
The biggest bullet of all, of course, is Griffey, who is widely considered the best player in baseball.
But the key to the Reds is how the young players perform. That's why Larkin's leadership is especially important. Half of the Reds' starting eight have three or fewer years in the big leagues.
“I know he's meant a lot to me,” third baseman Aaron Boone said. “Obviously, he has a lot of experience and knowledge of the game. But it's more than that. When you're a young player, you're so eager. You want to do well so badly. ... He's showed me you can fun up here too. We've developed that kind of relationship, where he can joke around out there.
“He keeps you loose.”
Larkin may be the Reds' loudest player, but he's not a yell-and-scream leader.
“He leads more by example,” second baseman Pokey Reese said. “I've learned so much by watching him play. I still learn from watching him at the plate. I can't watch him in the field anymore, because I'm out there playing alongside him.”
Larkin, at 35, is still one of the game's top shortstops. His batting average last year — .293 — was his lowest since 1994. But he scored 108 runs, 10 more than he did in his MVP year of 1995, and he played in 161 games, the most of his career.
He isn't having a great spring as far as results, hitting .216 with one home run and five RBI. But he is healthy and says he feels like he's 25.
“I feel great,” he said. “I really do. Physically, I feel very good. Being healthy is always my main goal for spring.”
Last year and this year are bonuses for Larkin.
He was convinced at one time that the Reds would not contend until the new stadium opened in 2003.
“Yeah, this is definitely a bonus,” he said. “It's great for everyone. I didn't think we'd contend this soon.”
There was a time when it looked like Larkin might not be part of the opening of the stadium. He asked to be traded in 1998 when it became clear the Reds were going with younger players and a smaller payroll.
The Reds tried to grant his request, but the trade never happened. Then, last year, the Reds brought in Vaughn and Denny Neagle to add to the mix of young talent. The young players came through, and the Reds won 96 games.
This offseason brought Griffey and Bichette. Most experts consider the Reds the favorites to win the NL Central.
Larkin is among them.
“If we get the pitching, it's not whether we win the division,” he said, “it's by how many games we win the division.”
But his future as a Red remains uncertain.
This is the last year of his contract. Larkin said his agent, Eric Goldschmidt, has submitted a proposal to the Reds, but the team hasn't responded yet.
Reds General Manager Jim Bowden would not comment on the negotiations but said: “We want Barry to end his career in a Reds uniform. But we want a situation where we can keep our young players and keep Barry and Ken Griffey Jr.”
It's hard to imagine Larkin playing anywhere else.
He needs 116 hits to go over the 2,000 mark for his career. Only Pete Rose, Dave Concepcion and Johnny Bench have 2,000 hits in a Reds uniform.
Larkin needs 62 stolen bases to pass Joe Morgan to take over the all-time team lead.
With 29 runs scored, he'll move past Bench into second, behind only Rose.
Larkin visited with Concepcion, his mentor, this week. Concepcion and Bench played their entire careers for the Reds. That's something rare these days.
But it's something Larkin would like to do.
“Oh, sure,” he said. “It would be a wonderful thing.”
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