By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Reds shortstop Barry Larkin, left, works with shortstop Felipe Lopez during spring training. (AP photo) | ZOOM |

Barry Larkin clearly sees a worthy successor in 22-year-old teammate Felipe Lopez. "He's going to be the man for years to come," vowed Larkin, who turned 39 Monday.

Shortstop has been, by far, the strongest continuous Reds position over the past half-century.

Larkin knows his Reds history. He knows that the man who began the Reds' 50-year run at shortstop was the great Roy McMillan (1951-1960).

But Larkin didn't want to get positively Jurassic on Lopez. So, in a recent conversation, Larkin led off his primer to Puerto Rican native Lopez by mentioning Cuban native Leo Cardenas (1960-68), then introduced the name of Venezuelan native Davey Concepcion (1970-88), and, of course, brought up himself (1986-today), a Silverton native.

"I was trying to convey to Felipe that it's a tremendously prideful thing," Larkin said. "There have only been a select few."

Concepcion never had a similar conversation with Larkin, although he did teach Larkin a lot.

"Davey was still trying to play; he wanted his 20th year here, and unfortunately" never got it, Larkin said.

The thing Larkin wanted to avoid "at all costs" was the controversy that involved Ozzie Smith toward the end of Smith's great career in St. Louis.

"I was very good friends with Ozzie, and very good friends with (then-backup) Royce Clayton," Larkin said. "Ozzie had been there for a long time, and he wasn't ready for things to be changed by (incoming St. Louis manager) Tony La Russa, who'd come in from the A's. And Royce didn't appreciate being put in a difficult situation, either.

" I told (Reds general manager) Jim Bowden that as regards Felipe Lopez, I didn't want either of us to be put in that situation."

Larkin is strongly inclined to finish his playing career in Cincinnati, but laughingly said he could be enticed to go elsewhere "If there was something after playing - like front office, GM, CEO, stock options, owner," he said, laughing.

He added he'd be interested in a position with the Reds after his playing days are over. He said he hasn't had any such discussions with the team yet.

In the immediate future, Larkin represents an intriguing possibility for the Reds as a utility player next year. He no longer has the quick first step any more that gave him such good range at shortstop. But, he still has the great hands and is a strong candidate in the outfield.

And, he still has bat speed.

"Billy Wagner was pitching to me in Houston, right before I hurt my calf, and he threw me 98-99 (miles an hour) and I hit a triple to left-center," Larkin said. "A coach said to me, 'Well, that ball was only 99 and up high and you got on top of it. Hmmm. Maybe you can still hit the fastball,' " said Larkin, smiling.

---

E-mail jerardi@enquirer.com