Former Michigan baseball player Barry Larkin, who went on to star for the Cincinnati Reds, was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame on Monday. Larkin hit .295 and totaled 2,340 hits, 198 home runs and 960 RBI in his 19-year career, all with the Reds. A 12-time All-Star, Larkin won one World Series (1990), one NL MVP (1995) and three Gold Gloves.

It was a great first season for Michigan State product Kirk Gibson as manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks. The former two-sport Spartan star guided Arizona to a worst-to-first finish this season, and he was rewarded for his efforts by being named the NL Manager of the Year on Wednesday. Gibson received 28 of the 32 first-place votes. Read the full story on ESPN.com.

On Tuesday, the Big East and Big Ten conferences, in conjunction with the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Sports Commission, released the schedule for the fourth annual Big Ten/Big East Baseball Challenge on Feb. 17-19. This year’s event will feature 10 Big Ten teams and nine Big East teams playing 30 games over three days to open the college baseball season. See the entire release and the full schedule at BigTen.org.

Luke Rasmussen’s baseball career at the University of Minnesota may be over, but the left-handed pitcher certainly went out on a high note. If you didn’t catch his hilarious lineup introductions during the 2011 Big Ten Baseball Tournament on BTN, you probably don’t know what I’m talking about. Well, here’s the video of it. Pretty classic, huh? Clearly, Rasmussen has a bright future beyond the baseball diamond.

Life is good when you are the defending World Series champion. BTN spent some time with current Yankees skipper Joe Girardi and Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher to find out how competing in the Big Ten helped shape their careers as competitors. Watch now as Girardi talks about his time as a Northwestern Wildcat and Swisher recalls his days in Columbus as a Buckeye.