The Highest Journey

Image courtesy of shawnvoelker.com

Yesterday’s National Baseball Hall of Fame announcement confirmed what Cincinnati Reds fans have known for the last 25 years — Barry Larkin was a damn good baseball player.

I lived in England as a kid and didn’t move back to the States until 1984 (I was 9-years-old). I have no memory of my first baseball game, nor do I remember when I decided that I loved baseball and the Cincinnati Reds. What I do remember is that Barry Larkin quickly became my favorite baseball player.

Whether it was the ridiculous amount of ground Larkin was able to cover at shortstop, his MVP award in 1995, or the double-play ballets he performed with Brett Boone or Pokey Reese (no offense, Juan Samuel and Bill Doran), #11 knew how to make the routine–and anything-but-routine–look exciting.

To put it simply, Barry was a lot of fun to watch.

I’ll turn 37-years-old this year, and I’ve never been to Cooperstown. It’s not for a lack of interest; I just never found a reason to go. I always told myself that if Barry Larkin or Pete Rose ever got elected to the Hall of Fame, that’s when I’d go. Let’s just say that I’m thankful for the former, because I probably would’ve never made it to Cooperstown if I waited for the latter.

So, this July, the entire staff of Chris Sabo’s Goggles (read: me) will be heading to Cooperstown to watch the festivities. There are a few logistics left to figure out, but rest assured I’ll be covering the ceremony on this blog in one way, shape, or form. And I can’t wait.

CSG NOTE: My place of employment has some seriously wonky firewall settings, making it next to impossible for me to access the blog’s dashboard and post new content during the day. I apologize for any formatting issues that may pop up while I try to figure out a work-around. I make no excuses about the content itself, though. I have no one to blame for that but myself.