By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer

PHOTO GALLERY

18 Larkin photos

Barry Larkin is regarded by baseball historians as the best Reds shortstop since 1900 - and that takes in a lot of ground.

The team's unparalleled run of great shortstops began with Roy McMillan in 1952 and continued through Leo Cardenas and Dave Concepcion and into Larkin, who began his full-time career at the "6" position in 1988. On the field, in his prime, Larkin was regarded as the walking embodiment of what a baseball player should be: all-around, heady, a terrific base runner ... and the player Reds pitchers most wanted the batters to hit the ball to when the game was on the line. When the Reds were at their recent best - the 1990 World Championship season - Reds starting pitcher Jose Rijo pointing to Larkin at shortstop as his final act before taking the mound symbolized the best of Cincinnati baseball.

Former Pirates superscout Howie Haak called Larkin "the greatest clutch hitter I have seen since Stan Musial."

Here are some other accolades and features of the Cincinnati native's career as a Red:

Superlatives

Barry Larkin is "one of the 10 most complete players in history," according to baseball historian Bill James, who also rates him as the sixth-greatest shortstop of all time, behind: Honus Wagner, Arky Vaughan, Cal Ripken Jr., Robin Yount and Ernie Banks. James ranks Larkin ahead of Ozzie Smith, a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Author and former Hall of Fame researcher Bill Deane included Larkin in his children's book, The Top Ten Baseball Shortstops of All-Time.

Hall of Fame chances

Borderline. Realistically, his best chance might be with the veterans' committee, after his 15 years of eligibility with the baseball writers has expired. A player must be retired five years before being considered by the writers. The 600-plus voters of the Baseball Writers Association of America give great weight to career production. The big drawback to Larkin's career is that he was injured so much that he couldn't put up the career numbers of such recent great shortstops as Yount and Ripken.

2003 highlight

His game-winning, pinch-hit home run in the bottom of the ninth inning against St. Louis May 6 at Great American Ball Park was arguably the top individual highlight of the ballpark's inaugural season.

Career highlights

He won the National League's MVP award in 1995, the last time the Reds played in the postseason.

In 1996, he became the first shortstop to hit at least 30 home runs and steal at least 30 bases ("30-30 club") in a single season.

Career lowlights

In early July 1998, he stripped the captain's "C" off his jersey and replaced it with the uniform numbers of recent Reds tradees Dave Burba, David Weathers, Lenny Harris, Jeff Shaw and a question mark to indicate "Who's next?" TV analyst Chris Welsh referred to the graffiti as "bush league."

In July 2001, Reds radio analyst Joe Nuxhall said on the air that Larkin had "lost it," that is, he had lost his skills. The following spring, Larkin said he had a "lot of motivation" to do well, but he hasn't been able to stay healthy.

The tipping point

Larkin has been paid $9 million each of the last three seasons - $27 million total - and largely has been unproductive because of injuries. It has been impossible for fans to separate the issue of their financially strapped team from Larkin's rich contract.

The quote

"Hopefully, he'll finish his career here and get his number retired and put up on that wall. He's meant that much to this city. I don't think he's given the city as much as I felt he should have - as far as himself and his time - but as far as the game itself? He's given this city everything he's had. Everything." - Eric Davis, 2001.