Duane Carl Larson (born December 6, 1948) is an American former

minor league baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and is currently a Major League scout and special assistant to the

General Manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

in the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

organization. Larson came to the Braves organization in 2003 from the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

, where he worked in scouting and player development for 26 years. Larson joined the Blue Jays organization in 1977, working as a minor league scout and manager of Utica in the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. The former infielder played in the

Padres {{About, the Roman Catholic priests' organization, other uses, Padres (disambiguation) ''Padres Asociados para Derechos Religiosos, Educativos, y Sociales'' ( Spanish for "Priests Associated for Religious, Education, and Social Rights") is a Chica ...

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

from 1972 to 1976, and began coaching as a player/coach with Reno of the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

during the 1975-76 seasons. Larson was the skipper for the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

Kinston Eagles in 1979. From 1982 to 1984, Larson managed at Medicine Hat, where he led the team to a Pioneer League championship in 1982. In 1985 Larson became a scouting supervisor and was named a special assignment scout in 1994. Larson was honored in 1996 with the Toronto Blue Jays Al LaMacchia Award for excellence in scouting. Larson graduated from the

University of Santa Clara Santa Clara University is a private university, private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California, United States. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university' ...

, majoring in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. He played with the

Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks The Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks are a collegiate summer baseball team which was founded in 1960 as an independent barnstorming team. The Goldpanners were charter members of the Alaska Baseball League at the league's inception in 1974, but le ...

during the summer seasons of 1970 and 1971. In 1970, he hit .335 and was named the team MVP. In 1971, Larson hit .310 and set the team's single-season stolen base record with 47, beating the previous record of 35 by Doug Hunt in 1969. He also helped the Goldpanners to a runner-up finish at the 1971

National Baseball Congress World Series National Baseball Congress World Series or NBC World Series is an annual collegiate and semi-pro baseball tournament held in Wichita, Kansas, United States. The next series will happen on July 24 to August 2, 2025. It will be held at Eck Stad ...

. In 1973, Larson was selected to the all-time Goldpanner all-star team by a fan vote. He lives in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

References

External links

Alaska Goldpanners Scrapbook

Official bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Duane 1948 births Living people Alexandria Aces players Atlanta Braves scouts Hawaii Islanders players Minor league baseball managers New York Mets scouts Reno Silver Sox players Toronto Blue Jays scouts Santa Clara Broncos baseball players Walla Walla Padres players Alaska Goldpanners of Fairbanks players