Barry Larkin made official what most Reds’ fans already knew. He announced his retirement, and ended one of the best careers that a Cincinnati Red has ever had. Nineteen seasons and career marks of .295/.371/.444 are nothing to scoff at. Also, according to Lee Sinins, Barry Larkin is fourth all time in runs created above average by a shortstop.

While I don’t think Barry Larkin will be a first ballot Hall of Famer, I do hope he gets in. He definitely was the total package, and he did it in a time when shortstops weren’t hitting fifty homers a season. Heck, he was a productive player when nobody was hitting fifty homers in a season. The HOF Monitor seems to agree with me, but he comes up a tad short in the HOF Standard.

I don’t think the “stuff” that took place this offseason was played well by either side. First Larkin said he was retiring, then he changed his mind. The whole Aurilia signing, which I think will be helpful, didn’t help matters out much either. And now Barry throws it in our face (somewhat justifiably) by joining up with Bowden over in D.C.

Regardless, I wish Barry the best of luck, and maybe someday, he’ll come back home.

Cincinnati.com is supposed to have their spring training special tomorrow. Be sure to check it out.

***UPDATE***

You can check out the spring training special here. And also, The Cutting Edge was mentioned, along with a few other Reds blogs you’ve probably heard of.

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