Duane Carl Larson (born December 6, 1948 at

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

) is an American former minor league baseball

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

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 (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

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) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

, 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 The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

farm system In sports, a farm team, farm system, feeder team, feeder club, 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 players can move on to a higher ...

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 Leag ...

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 Alfred Anthony LaMacchia (July 22, 1921 – September 15, 2010) was a professional baseball player and scout. He was a right-handed pitcher who spent 14 years in the minor leagues where he accumulated a record of 159–117 and spent parts of thr ...

Award for excellence in scouting. Larson graduated from the

University of Santa Clara Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mis ...

, majoring in

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

. 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. The G ...

during the summer seasons of 1970–1971. During his Fairbanks career, he set the single-season stolen base record with 47, beating the previous record of 35 by Doug Hunt in 1969. He owns a career .323 batting average with the club. He lives in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. Larson is the son of ShirleyAnn and Duane Larson, Sr. and has four siblings. His three sisters are Sandra, Debra, and Linda and his brother is Robert Larson. He shares his birthday with Sandra, who was born December 6, 1955. Both his father and his sister Sandra served in the US Navy.

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