Today is the day when the long-time shortstop of the Cincinnati Reds Barry Larkin is inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Larkin was never my favorite player during my fandom. I always enjoyed the smaller guys who lacked the amazing talent and athletic ability that Larkin possessed. Yes, I enjoyed the Nick Esasky’s and Hal Morris’s more.

But I always knew Larkin was one of the best shortstops in the history of the game. And it was always a pleasure to watch him. I definitely took special notice of him anytime I caught a Reds game in person in his last few years. It was something special to see Larkin on the field with Ken Griffey Jr and know I was watching two future Hall of Famers.

And Larkin is a Hall of Famer. A no-doubt-about-it one for me. He was overlooked in the small-market of Cincinnati, but he was amazing, balancing excellent defense with excellent offense. He contributed mightily to the 1990 World Series win and the playoff appearance in 1995, when he won the National League MVP.

There’s been a lot written about Larkin, by many who knew him better and watched him play more than I did–I missed 1995, having given up on baseball after the horrendous strike–and it’s really cool to see the Reds get some positive attention.

I’ll raise a glass to Larkin for his induction into the Hall. And I’ll hope he can return to the Reds sometime in the future and pass on his knowledge.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Brewers	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	6	1
Reds	4	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	-	6	10	0

Boxscore

It was a nice, easy win for the Reds yesterday: they scored big early and led the whole time.

Bronson Arroyo finally got his fifth win of the season last night. He put in 6.0 innings of work, allowing 2 runs (earned) on 5 hits and 2 walks. Jose Arredondo, Sean Marshall, and Sam LeCure each got two outs without allowing a run. Logan Ondrusek pitched a hitless ninth.

The majority of the scoring happened in the first inning. With one out, Zack Cozart, Brandon Phillips, and Jay Bruce each singled, with that last single bringing in Cozart. Scott Rolen hit a sac fly to bring in Phillips, which just took him off base for Ryan Ludwick’s 2-run home run. Phillips hit a 2-run homer in the seventh for the rest of the scoring.

The win brings the Reds record to 54-40. Four guys went 2-for-4, which is the sort of thing that helps makes the absence of Joey Votto a little easier. The Reds are 4-2 since Votto has been out for arthroscopic surgery on his knee. He has already stopped using his crutches after the surgery and will probably be back in less than the 4 weeks initially suggested. Hopefully the team can keep this going even when they have him back.

The Reds go for the sweep against the Brewers today at 1:10 p.m. Johnny Cueto (RHP, 11-5, 2.28 ERA) defends against Mike Fiers (RHP, 3-3, 2.01 ERA).