On This Day in History: Barry Larkin Says Goodbye After Hall of Fame Career with Cincinnati Reds

On this day, February 13, 2005, Cincinnati Reds' legend Barry Larkin announces his retirement from Major League Baseball.

Larkin retired as an active player to pursue a Special Assistant role with Washington Nationals General Manager, Jim Bowden. He is currently a color commentator with the Reds.

A Cincinnati native, Larkin was drafted by the Reds with the fourth-overall pick in the 1985 MLB draft out of the University of Michigan. He played in just 175 minor league games before making his Major League debut on August 13, 1986, against the San Francisco Giants. At 22 years old, he slashed .283/.320/.403 with 11 extra-base hits and eight stolen bases.

By his second full season in 1988, he made his first All-Star team and won a Silver Slugger, slashing .296/.347/.429 with 49 extra-base hits and 40 stolen bases. This was the beginning of a 10-year streak of being named an All-Star while winning eight Silver Slugger Awards, three Gold Glove Awards, and the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in 1995.

From 1988 through the 2000 season, Larkin slashed .305/.383/.463 with 164 home runs, 330 stolen bases, 341 doubles, and 65 triples. In the 1990 season, Larkin led the way for the Reds to win their fifth World Series title, sweeping the Oakland Athletics. He hit .300 with a .803 OPS and four extra-base hits in the postseason.

Larkin became the first shortstop in Major League history to compile a 30-home run, 30-stolen base season. He won his third and final Gold Glove Award that season as well. In the 1997 season, Larkin was named captain, the first player to have that honor since Dave Concepcion's retirement in 1988. He is also the last player to have that honor.

Injuries and age caught up to him. From 2001 through 2004 (age 37-40), he played in 364 games and was a below-league-average hitter. He hit .266 with a .719 OPS and 105 extra-base hits. His final game was on October 3, 2004, versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In his post-playing career, he spent time with the Washington Nationals as a Special Assistant to General Manager Jim Bowden, was a bench coach for Team USA in the 2006 World Baseball Classic, worked as an analyst in 2008 for MLB Network, and worked on ESPN's Baseball Tonight in 2010.

In 2012, Larkin was inducted into the Pro Baseball Hall of Fame with 86.4 percent of the vote, and his number 11 was retired that season in Great American Ballpark. For his career, Larkin is 17th in Reds' history in batting average, 11th in home runs with 198, 11th in triples with 76, third in doubles with 441, and is third in runs scored with 1,329. His 19 seasons with the Reds are tied for the most in team history with Dave Concepcion.

Nowadays, Larkin is a color commentator with the Reds for home games alongside John Sadak and is heavily involved with the club in spring training, along with Eric Davis and others, to mentor the younger players in the organization.

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