Man I miss watching Barry Larkin play. What I miss the most is him taking a fastball on the outside part of the plate and lining it into the right field corner for a double. He was famous for that. But his signature play I remember him most for is him ranging far to his left robbing a single from going into center field and then spinning and firing a strike to the first baseman to steal a hit. I miss those days.
“Whether you want to or not, you do serve as a role model. People will always put more faith in baseball players than anyone else.”
Brooks Robinson
"I want all the kids to do what I do, to look up to me. I want all the kids to copulate me."
Andre Dawson (outfielder for the Chicago Cubs), when asked about being a role model to the youth of America Andre Dawson was an at the time.
I don't believe professional athletes should be role models. I believe parents should be role models.
Charles Barkley
Absolutely. The sight of him in a Nats jersey makes me sick.
Would love to see him on the bench or in the FO.
I also think a lot of the stuff he did in his last couple of years was over-blown. He never went public with any of it from what I re-call.
Not sure if he'll be called out on the field for the HOF ceremony - but the fans should give him a roaring standing O.
I view him as a great role model. He won both the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award and the Roberto Clemente Award for his character and charity work. He never did drugs or had any problems off the field. He was a great teammate by all accounts...he even learned Spanish in order to communicate with younger players. On the field he was a great leader and team captain and one of the best players in the game. I honestly can't think of a better role model than Barry Larkin.
Last edited by OnBaseMachine; 07-18-2008 at 03:02 PM.
I don't really understand that quote. The only "yawning" I can think of was Barry's signal of opening his mouth to indicate to pitcher and the catcher that he would be taking the throw to second on a steal or pickoff attempt. If that's what this guy is thinking of, then it's just another example of an uninformed Reds fan failing to understand one of the Reds' best players.
Wear gaudy colors, or avoid display. Lay a million eggs or give birth to one. The fittest shall survive, yet the unfit may live. Be like your ancestors or be different. We must repeat!
That could just as easily be "I don't care which FO I work in, I just want to work in a FO." I doubt he's in a hurry to get back to Cincinnati.“It doesn’t matter where I play, I just want to play ball,” whenever people asked him how he felt about playing ball in his hometown.
/r/reds
The old saying, "abscence makes the heart grow fonder" would probably apply here. There are a minority of fans that don't like Larkin but you could say that about any ballplayer. There were probably Yankee fans who didn't like Babe Ruth. Guaranteed he'll get a hero's welcome tomorrow night and if he chooses to come back to the Reds in whatever capacity, he will be treated how Bench, Perez, Browning, et. al. are treated. More than likely he won't be a manager or coach so he will not be held responsible for the play of the team if they play badly and may even get credit if they play well. Even someone like Adam Dunn - a few years after he leaves - will be treated very well when he comes back for whatever reason.
I have no issues if you don't see athletes as role models....however if you do see some athletes as role models, then what did Larkin do to be removed from the list?
Nice person [as much as any of us know personally about athletes anyway]. Good citizen. Generous. Hard worker.
If I had a kid who chose to strive to be like Barry Larkin [the Larkin image we know anyway] I'd be a happy parent.
Championships for MY teams in my lifetime:
Cincinnati Reds - 75, 76, 90
Chicago Blackhawks - 10, 13, 15
University of Kentucky - 78, 96, 98, 12
Chicago Bulls - 91, 92, 93, 96, 97, 98
“Everything that happens before Death is what counts.”
― Ray Bradbury, Something Wicked This Way Comes
I just googled Barry Larkin looking for some videos and somehow come across his MySpace page...which is full of Reds photos and logos. Just a little FWIW.
Serving as ringleader of the clubhouse coup that led to Jack McKeon's departure would be on the list. The microphone stunt at his last game would also be there.
I have no doubt he's a smart guy. I have no doubt he can be a nice guy. I just think that if you don't respect authority that you have no business being put in authority.
/r/reds
I was one of those people that thought signing Larkin for a huge sum at the end of his career wasn't in the best interest of the Reds. Nor did I believe that Larkin handled it properly. It was like he was trying to garner pity from the fan base in order to pull in another $20+ million even though he was no longer able to play his position well.
I was a Larkin fan, to be sure, but I just thought that the Reds would have been better off to not re-sign him and spend the money elsewhere.
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