SARASOTA, Fla. - At some point, we all believe we'll be 22 forever. It's a hope used to sell everything from clothes to cars. Baseball encourages the myth. Baseball depends on it. It's a kids game.

Yet in baseball, years are like comets. Time steals from you and before you know it, you're almost 39 years old and competing for your job with someone named Felipe Lopez, who was 15 when you were the Most Valuable Player of the National League.

One fine spring you are sitting in a clubhouse in Tampa and staring slack-jawed as Davey Concepcion introduces himself to you. The next, you are Davey Concepcion, old man river, dealing with all manner of old-man things: Injury, doubt, pride, reflection and ultimately, if you're lucky and wise, gratitude.

"I don't feel too terribly old," Barry Larkin said. "I feel wise."

You guessed Barry Larkin would get the gratitude part. The Reds oldest kid never was one to take the game for granted, or to assume the All Star invitation would always be in the mail. "Livin' a dream, bro,' " Larkin said Monday, after all this time.

You could like Larkin or not. Some past and present members of the Reds organization have seen him as a clubhouse politician who has had the ear of management, and bent it. I think lots of great players have done that for lots of years, and so be it.

Regardless, this is likely Larkin's last year as a Red, one last season to watch a guy you've been watching since 1986, when you were younger, too. And you will miss No. 11 when he isn't taking away base hits on the outfield grass or taking a fastball the other way, for a double down the right-field line. No active major leaguer has been with his team longer than Larkin has been with the Reds. That is something, given the gypsy-mercenaries ballplayers have become.

In sports, the letting-go is harder, for the jocks and for you, because of the youth that we are watching and celebrating. When your heroes leave, it's hard to tell if you feel worse for them, or for you. "I realize I'm going to be leaving pretty soon," Larkin said.

Larkin has a clear head this spring, something he said he didn't have in 2002. Coming off a year of injuries and public doubt, Larkin ached to show the world last season that he wasn't finished and that he merited the $9 million he was being paid.

He played angry. "I was bitter. I took a lot of things personally," said Larkin. He tried too hard. "Pressed, definitely."

Out of wisdom or necessity or both, "I learned some things last year. Turning the page. Letting go. I am not going to go out and try so hard this year. I'm not going to lollygag, either. But last year, I set statistical goals for myself. I normally don't do that. I tried to make things happen as opposed to letting them happen."

Larkin's play will dictate how he's used. He had a poor year last year - "statistically, one of the worst of my career," he said - even though he was healthy enough to play in 145 games, his most since 1999. The questions are fair and inevitable. Does he have enough pop left in his bat? How much range has he lost?

The answers will be obvious to everyone. Including Larkin. "You're more of a realist the closer you get to the end," he said. "I know we're living in a fantasy world. I know I'm close to stepping into the real world.

"I've thought about it. This is what I've done my entire life. I'll miss being in the clubhouse, the relationships in there. It will be tough, but I've got other things going on."

There is still this year, though, and the notion that most athletes look better at sunset. It has something to do with the way the light hits them when the day is almost done. They pause to admire the view and the ride they've had. And they're suddenly very grateful.

"I remember being around the fragments of the Big Red Machine," Barry Larkin said. He was back in 1986. It was March, he was 21 years old. Sunrise. "I was in awe, starting to live a dream. I looked across the way, and I saw Pete Rose. Davey Concepcion was right here talking to me . . ."

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Old man and the "C"

Barry Larkin has the most seasons played with one team of any active player:

17: Barry Larkin, Reds
16: Edgar Martinez, Mariners
15: Craig Biggio, Astros
15: John Smoltz, Braves

Remnants of the machine: When Larkin made his major league debut as a 22-year-old in 1986, Pete Rose, Tony Perez and Dave Concepcion were still on the team.

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Opening Day, Part 16

Larkin figures to make his 16th Opening Day start March 31 at Great American Ball Park. Here's a look at the lineup for Larkin's first Opening Day start, in 1987:

• Kal Daniels LF
• Barry Larkin SS
• Dave Parker RF
• Eric Davis CF
• Buddy Bell 3B
• Bo Diaz C
• Terry Francona 1B
• Ron Oester 2B
• Tom Browning P

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E-mail pdaugherty@enquirer.com