Barry Larkin There are not many players in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame that went in without ney-sayers. This past week the only people that were able to judge Barry Larkins’ body of work in Cincinnati and have it count were the baseball writers association.

In school, 70 percent is passing. In MLB, 70 percent of the writers’ vote leads you to baseball’s Promised Land. Barry Larkin got that 70 percent and then some. He can now be mentioned with the most elite players to ever play the game. He is the newest member of MLB’s Hall of Fame.

When Larkin started out in Cincinnati, he was asked to take the place of a legend. Dave Concepcion manned the shortstop position for the Reds for 15 seasons (1970-1985). Concepcion’s not being in the MLB’s Hall of Fame, is one of the most hotly debated issues among baseball fans.

When the multiple sports star took over in 1986, fans and the baseball world had no idea that Concepcion’s successor would reach the Hall before Concepcion. Larkin would go on to play 18 seasons with the Reds.

He would accumulate a countless number of awards, including the Roberto Clemente Award and the Lou Gehrig Award. Larkin would also go on to play in 12 All Star games as a Red. While his early days were slightly overshadowed by the popularity of now Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith, Larkin would go on to be considered one of the best all around shortstops of the modern era.

After the 2004 season, then GM John Allen said the team was going in another direction and did not offer Larkin a contract. Larkin, at the time, contended that he still wanted to play. The former Moeller product went on to admit he wouldn’t have felt right putting on another uniform.

Larkin’s career was not without its share of controversy. He came very close to being traded to the New York Mets in 2000. Had the now Hall of Famer not used his veto power on the trade, he would have been. Larkin was also very vocal during his career with the Reds that he wanted to play for a contender which was something the Reds rarely were in Larkin’s playing days.

The now baseball analyst Larkin was one of the last of a dying breed of players who spend an entire career with one team. For many years the native Cincinnatian played for under market value in a sport that was handing out multi-million dollar contracts like brochures in a department store.

When all was said and done he had more than enough money to retire down in Florida and live comfortably with his family. Larkin will be the first native born Cincinnatian to play his entire career with the Reds to be inducted into the Hall in July.

Playing in an age where higher numbers usually were the result of steroids, Larkin was never linked with the performance enhancers. His 2,340 hits, 198 homers, .295 average, and 960 RBI’s over 18 seasons were all done on his hard work and talent.

Larkin will no longer just be a local icon. He will now be cemented in baseball lore in Cooperstown, New York with the game’s greatest players.