By Nick Gerhardt
What started almost as a whim 50 years ago fostered a lifetime passion for amateur baseball and the North Star League for Brian “Bookie” Larson.
Larson stepped away from his duties as league secretary for the North Star League following the conclusion of the 2025 season. He’s worked in some capacity for the league since 1975 as a 19-year-old. The Wright Star League held a scheduling committee meeting in January that year and Larson found himself at the meeting. The sincerity of the invitation remains in question but there’s no doubt Larson took it seriously and arrived with a completed league schedule in tow.
He went on to complete the schedule every year for the next 50 years. Larson already established himself as having a knack for numbers and stats as a student manager and stat keeper for Dassel and Dassel-Cokato High School. He also did the book and stats for the Saints and Delano Athletics before adding more to his plate with the league.
The labor of love evolved through the years as he became secretary for the league, served as a Minnesota Baseball Association director and became the resident historian for the MBA. He’s kept book at the state tournament for more than 30 years and holds all the scorebooks from those years and many more. He also served as a region commissioner for 12 years.
“It’s really not love, it’s passion,” Larson said.
He’s earned several awards through the years, including a Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame selection in 2005, the Michael Downes Award for lifetime service to amateur baseball and induction into the North Star League Hall of Fame.
Larson compiled all of the state tournament records found on the MBA website and state tournament programs. He relentlessly pursued scores and box scores by visiting historical societies across the state and even tracked down the groundskeeper at Parade Stadium for Class A results he couldn’t find — twice.
His drive for accuracy extended into his role as the North Star League secretary. Long-time league president Herb Koch recalled times where Larson drove around to different addresses to verify player contracts if any whispers of player ineligibility came into question.
“As president, he makes my job real easy,” Koch said. “He’s just awesome.”
Prior to Larson taking over scheduling duties, the league often drew cards to set the league schedule, Koch said. It resulted in some teams playing a string of home games early in the season or late in the season.
“He started doing the schedule in November for the next season,” Koch said. “He’d have it all done at the January meeting. He’d have two or three different schedules ready to go.”
MBA President Mark Forsman worked with Larson through the years as manager of the Dassel-Cokato Saints and as a board member with the MBA. He’s seen what Larson’s dedication has meant for the MBA and the North Star League.
“I think he’s been the pivotal force in the North Star League just by his consistency and management of the league and how he looks out for the best interest of the teams in the league,” Forsman said.
Some might call it fanaticism, but baseball and record-keeping have provided a helpful diversion during times of grief. Larson has endured the deaths of two wives and a son in the last 50 years.
“Baseball helped me get through that …,” he said. “I had something good in my life.”
Larson also got into publishing books about amateur baseball. He first wrote a book on the history of Dassel-Cokato baseball. He also wrote a book about the early years of Minnesota townball from 1857-1973 and one for the 50th anniversary of the North Star League. He, Armand Peterson and Dave Kelly also put together a booklet ahead of the MBA 100th anniversary state tournament.
Larson won’t go too far away from amateur baseball. He plans to continue keeping the state tournament records and scoring state tournament games for the MBA.
North Star League Vice President Mike Rippberger will take on Larson’s secretarial duties for the 2026 season. He will also update stats and standings for the league’s website.
Dennis Johnson, who updated the league website for 18 years, is also stepping down from his role. He also put together the North Star Spectator, a season preview newsletter for the website.
“It’s kind of fun and nice to keep the scores up to date,” Johnson said.
The website became a reliable source of up-to-date information for fans through the years. Rippberger, who designed the latest iteration of the website, will also take on Johnson’s duties.
