Tuesday, February 19, 2002
Larkin aims to turn two this year
Shortstop works to stay healthy, regain his status
By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SARASOTA, Fla. — Barry Larkin arrived at spring training with a lot more meat on his bones and a little bit of a chip on his shoulder.
Last season may have been the toughest of Larkin's 16 in the big leagues. Injuries — a torn groin and a sports hernia — limited him to 45 games. But what really stung was the talk that Larkin had lost it, that he was a step slow, that he no longer could play shortstop.
He's out to prove them all wrong.
“I have a lot of motivation,” Larkin said. "The biggest motivation is people talking all that noise when I was injured.”
Larkin spent the offseason making sure he was completely healthy. He worked for the first time with a personal trainer. He added seven to 10 pounds to his 6-foot frame. He'll play at 195 pounds this year.
“I tried to get stronger,” he said. “I did a lot of exercises to strengthen my overall body. I did a lot of core work to get my base nice and strong.”
Both of Larkin's injuries were to areas which generate speed and quickness. The hernia made it difficult for Larkin to bend down and field ground balls.
Larkin generally reports to camp early as he did this year — position players don't have to arrive until Thursday and don't work out until Friday — but this year, he was even more anxious than normal.
“It's been a long time since I've been able to get out there and compete,” he said. “That's a factor.”
Reds manager Bob Boone has been saying all offseason that Larkin is a player with something to prove.
“He really attacked this training regimen,” Boone said. “He's on a mission.”
Larkin's only mission, he says, is to stay healthy. He knows the numbers will come if he plays enough games.
That hasn't been the case the last two years. In 2000, he had surgery to repair a tendon in his left hand, sidelining him for three weeks. A knee injury ended his season on Aug.28.
Then came last year.
“The goal's to stay healthy,” he said.
The Reds arranged for the personal trainer, but Larkin was considering it anyway.
“The Reds set that up because of my injury,” Larkin said. “Had I not been injured, I probably would have done it anyway. A lot of my friends down in Orlando, including Bret (Boone), had been using them.”
Bret, Bob's son and the Seattle Mariner star, made personal trainers much more popular among baseball players by hitting .331 with 37 home runs and 141 RBI last year.
“I've always trained pretty good in the offseason,” Larkin said. “But working out by yourself on the last set, you go, "Ah, no.' With a trainer, he's pushing you: "Let's go. Let's go.”'
Larkin worked with Dave Oliver from Sports Specific in his Orlando offseason home. As the name implies, the drills and exercises are designed for a specific sport. Larkin ran the bases and did exercises designed to mimic the motion of taking a ball in the hole at shortstop. He tested the groin to the point where he's confident he can make any play on the field.
With Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken retired, Larkin has the longest tenure among active players. He's won an MVP award, made 11 All-Star teams and won nine Silver Slugger awards.
With two or three more good years statistically, he'll be a strong candidate for the Hall of Fame. But, he says his only personal goal is to stay healthy.
Larkin's health and winning certainly go hand in hand for the Reds. For the Reds to have a chance, they need Larkin to put up numbers like he did in 1999 — a .293 average, 12 home runs, 75 RBI, 30 steals.
“He wants to show the world what he can do when healthy,” Boone said, “which is what we all want.”
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Larkin aims to turn two this year
