Brandon John Larson (born May 24, 1976) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds. Larson won the

MVP In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

for the 1997 College World Series.

Career

After his successful college season with the

LSU Tigers The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in NCAA Division I, Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Associat ...

, he was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1st round (14th overall) of the 1997 amateur entry draft. He had one of the most prolific years in college baseball history, his one year of NCAA Division 1 Baseball, where he hit 40 home runs and had 118 RBIs with a .381 batting average. (1997) Larson had success in the minor leagues, reaching Triple-A in . In that year, he was nearly traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for future Hall of Fame third baseman

Scott Rolen Scott Bruce Rolen (born April 4, 1975) is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays and Cincinnati Reds. He was an eight-t ...

. The proposal was dropped due to financial reasons after Reds president John Allen intervened. Larsen had two outstanding following years (he was the All-Star 3B for the International League in and , and was the Cincinnati Reds Minor League Player of the Year in 2003), but he never had success in the Major Leagues. He played in 40 games for the Reds in ,

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

.212, and became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

after the season. He was signed by the

Tampa Bay Devil Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home ve ...

, then released at the end of spring training, and then signed by the Texas Rangers, and batted .289 at Double-A, before being released mid-season. He was signed by the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

before the season, and batted .286 at Triple-A

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

. In , he was in Double-A

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

, batting .232 and on June 27 was released. On July 20, 2007, Larson signed with the Somerset Patriots of the Atlantic League, batting .333 with 27 RBI the rest of the season. In , he was selected to participate in the Atlantic League Home Run Derby and was elected to the

All-star game An all-star game is an exhibition game that purports to showcase the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or d ...

References

External links

Sportsnet player statsMiLB.com player stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Brandon 1976 births Living people Cincinnati Reds players Major League Baseball third basemen Sportspeople from San Angelo, Texas Baseball players from Texas Blinn Buccaneers baseball players LSU Tigers baseball players Chattanooga Lookouts players Burlington Bees players Rockford Reds players Louisville RiverBats players Louisville Bats players Frisco RoughRiders players New Orleans Zephyrs players Somerset Patriots players Harrisburg Senators players College World Series Most Outstanding Player Award winners All-American college baseball players