Barry Larkin, shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds will be enshrined in the major league baseball hall of fame on 07/22/12. Larkin best known for being the first 30/30 shortstop Home Runs/Stolen Bases(that's right long before Jeter) 33/36 in 1996 played his entire career with the Reds. Longtime friend and former Reds and Nationals GM Jim Bowden asked Barry to play for the Nationals after his Reds career was over. Barry put on the Nationals uniform and proclaimed he could not walk onto the field and play for the Nationals. He promptly retired. He was the National League MVP in 1995 and World Series champion in 1990. Larkin was also born and raised in Cincinnati and preceeded Ken Griffey Jr. and Cincinnati's famed Archbishop Moeller High School. After high school, Larkin attended the University of Michigan where he played baseball for 3 years before leaving early for the MLB draft. He was drafted fourth in 1985 two places ahead of Barry Bonds. Larkin was first inserted into the roll as starting shortstop by Pete Rose, player manager. Larkin was also noted to be one of the most intelligent players frequently hitting behind runners to advance them, positioning himself correctly to take advantage of scouting reports and player stats, being a great leader and was one of the only captains in Reds history. Here is his hall of fame article from the NY Times and his player stats. Larkin is also from an athletic family including an older brother Mike that played linebacker for Notre Dame and another brother Byron who is the career leader in points from Xavier University in Cincinnati. Barry also had a younger brother Steven who played major league baseball and I think had one major league at bat. He played for the Reds farm system for a couple of years.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/sports...-fame.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Larkin

http://www.baseball-reference.com/player...ba01.shtml

Congratulations, Mr. Larkin! Well deserved. Long overdue, if you ask me.