When recent baseball hall of fame shortstop Barry Larkin joined the Cincinnati Reds in 1986, he was fortunate enough to learn from one of the best in Dave Concepcion. Concepcion had been the teams starting shortstop since 1970 and set a high standard for Larkin to follow.
Concepcion knew what lay ahead for Larkin, because he had once been in his shoes. The Venezuelan born Concepcion and Larkin were both 22 when they were called up for good to the Reds. And both came with high expectations.
At the time of his call up, Dave Concepcion joined a Cincinnati team on its way to their greatest era. The Big Red Machine was led by future hall of famers at catcher and third base in Johnny Bench and Tony Perez respectively. The all-time hits king Pete Rose played right field. And all-star Lee May manned first base. Concepcion became a starter and played in 101 games, 93 at short. He helped the Reds to the first of four National League pennants that they would win in the 1970’s.
Cincinnati was called ‘The Big Red Machine’ because of their prowess at the plate. Though a lifetime .260 hitter, Dave Concepcion’s value to the team was with his glove. Once hall of fame second baseman Joe Morgan came to Cincinnati in a trade with the Houston Astros in 1972, Rose moved to third and Perez to first Concepcion’s career took off.
In 1973 he was named team captain and selected to his first all-star team. But a broken fibula suffered on July 22, 1973 against the Montreal Expos threatened to end his career. The Reds won the pennant in 1972 with Concepcion at short. Without him in 1973 they lost in the league championship series to the New York Mets.
Fortunately for Cincinnati and all of baseball Dave Concepcion came back at full strength in 1974. From that season to 1979 he was considered one of the best shortstops in the game. He won four consecutive Gold Glove Awards and five in six years from 1974 to 1979. Concepcion was selected to the National League All-Star team for eight consecutive years from 1975 to 1982. He was the game’s Most Valuable Player in 1982.
The captain was a stabilizing force in an infield that won back to back world’s championships in 1975 and 1976. An infield which included three hall of famers and a fourth, in Rose, with hall of fame credentials.
Dave Concepcion wore his captaincy well and led by word and deed. His fielding continued to be phenomenal and his hitting improved to the point where he won back to back Silver Slugger Awards at shortstop in 1981 and ’82. In a 19 season career all spent with Cincinnati, Concepcion finished with a .267 batting average and 2,326 hits.
Before retiring he helped mentor a young man who joined the Reds in 1986 by the name of Barry Larkin. In a 19 season career all spent with the Reds, Larkin played defense, put up numbers and showed leadership that would have made any mentor proud.
He carried himself like his mentor, Dave Concepcion.