Funny Bo story
Was reading a story about Baseball in The Daily and this just made me laugh.
In case you don't know, Barry Larkin is in the Baseball Hall of Fame and his number is retired here.
As Larkin grew to be a standout football player in Cincinnati, he caught the eye of legendary football coach Bo Schembechler, who gave him a spot on the football team at Michigan.
When an unexpected player returned for his fifth year on the team at Larkin’s position, Schembecher allowed the freshman to take a redshirt year and play baseball during spring season instead of working with the football team.
“By the end of that season I decided I just wanted to play baseball,” Larkin said. “I had to go tell Bo that … and the meeting didn’t go too well. He reminded me, ‘Larkin, this is the University of Michigan. Nobody comes to the University of Michigan to play baseball.’ ”
Schembechler told Larkin to go home and come back the next day when he had come to his senses, but nothing would change in his mind.
“I thought that was the end of it,” Larkin said. “But we were out there taking ground balls in spring baseball practice and this guy in a parka comes walking inside the stadium and stops on the third-base line. He says, ‘Larkin, you sissy! Come hit a man that can hit you back instead of that baseball.’ It was Coach Schembechler.”
So Bo.
That's great. The funny thing is Bo played baseball himself I believe.
It's a good story. Odd thing: Barry's brother Byron was also an All-American in High School in football at Moeller. Byron also skipped out on football entirely at the next level, instead playing hoops at Xavier. Though he never made the NBA, Byron is arguably he most impactful hoops player ever in Xavier's relatively storied history.
On a side note: If Barry is in Cooperstown, there is no reason Alan Trammell isn't either. Barry made it with ease, whereas Trammell isn't even close. Honestly, that still baffles me.
Hey WD, do you know who the returning CB was? It would interesting to know what Michigan football player was responsible for sparking a HOF baseball career.
There were three senior cornerbacks on the 1982 roster, Jerry Burgei, John Lott, and Marion Brody who started games, so I assume it was one of them, or perhaps Keith Bostic who was a saftey.
I still cannot believe that Bo let a player skip spring ball. That was either a rare moment when Bo was not thinking clearly or a moment of claryoiance, I'm not sure which.
Larkin was on the '79 and '80 Moeller Ohio state championship teams (and mythical HS NC) and the '81 Ohio state runner-up. Gerry Faust was the coach for the '79 and '80 teams and recruited Larkin hard for ND.
I am not a fan of the helmut stickers, but I will tolerate them to keep JH in the fold. I just pray this does not happen.
I believe Larkin was a starting safety on those Moeller teams of note in the late 1970s / early 1980s, but I am remembering that from an article from a few years ago, so I could be wrong there. If that is the case, Barry Larkin as a safety would have probably been an interesting sight at Michigan, especially in a Bo-coached team. Either way, I think the decision to play baseball definitely worked well for Larkin.
According to this article, you are correct he did play safety for Moeller.
I never get tired of hearing old stories about Bo.