About Gregory Larson
Gregory Larson, an author and former minor league clubhouse attendant, discussed his experiences in a September 2021 interview on CBS Sports Radio's *The DA Show*. He described living in an equipment closet at Ripken Stadium for a season, trading beer caps and broken bats for extra income, and said that after his second season his relationship ended because he became deeply immersed in the clubhouse culture. Larson noted that he was making about $15,000 per summer while players in short-season Single A earned roughly $4,500 per season, and he described the cognitive dissonance he felt upon seeing the salary scale. He also recounted interactions with former major league pitcher Alan Mills, who told Larson after reading his book *Clubbie* that any disagreements were "all in love and none in malice."
In earlier appearances, Larson spoke about his experience with a 93-day flood in Bismarck, North Dakota, in 2011. He said the flood was caused by dams on the Missouri River being overloaded, and that his house was affected for 93 days. He described evacuating with belongings on a raft in waist-deep water and losing a recently rescued English bulldog. Larson praised the Realtors Relief Foundation for providing a grant within 10 days of the flood's start, contrasting it with an insurance settlement that did not arrive until January 2012. In a separate testimonial, Larson commended PyraMax Bank for its flexibility, responsiveness, and customized credit facilities, stating that the bank's support allowed him to accomplish things he could not have done otherwise.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Gregory Larson's recent appearances.
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Transcript (13 segments)
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Interviewer0:03
I'm speaking to Greg Larson. I'm going to ask you a few questions. You are not only the 2015 president of the North Dakota Association of Realtors, but you are also a victim of the floods that took place in your state in 2011. Tell us what you remember about the devastation and how it affected members of your community.
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Gregory Larson0:20
Okay, obviously well that flood was an unusual flood. It's sort of like a cousin you don't like who comes and stays and won't leave. This flood was caused because the dams that were supposed to prevent flood occurrences on the Missouri River got overloaded, and so they had to let the water out. So the water started rising. It affected my house, and 93 days later the water went away and we could walk into my house. So we had a 93-day flood, which is very unusual.
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Interviewer0:54
Obviously it's personal for you and your community. You were saying that things happen that you don't realize will happen when these kinds of devastations occur.
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Gregory Larson1:00
Yeah, well to jump back a bit, they kept saying your house is okay, we won't be releasing that much. Your house is okay, we won't be releasing that much. Okay, we got to open a wide open, your house is going to get washed away. And we did watch part of it start to wash away. But what happened was the current was so strong that it dug out the bottom of the river and it didn't rise as high as they thought it would. So even though we had a seven mile an hour current going by both sides of our house, the foundation pretty much held. We lost the sunrooms, all so that was good. But the things you don't expect, things you don't get back, things you have to evacuate. By the time we realized we had to leave, everything we took out of our house we took out in waist deep water on a raft. Somewhere in there we had just rescued an English bulldog and he didn't make it out through that whole flood process. He didn't survive it. We just couldn't find him. And that's the stuff you don't recover from.
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Interviewer1:56
That's right, you don't. It's those losses.
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Gregory Larson2:00
And during this there was a flood north of us in Minot. It was a typical flood. Since we could do nothing with our house and my daughter was also flooded in our flood, we ran up to Minot and we're helping people sandbag and stuff. And when you move back in, there's just things you don't know where they are, you can't find. We've lost our wedding book, you know. We've lost, I'm a hobby chef, we lost some of my favorite cooking stuff. We don't know where they're at. But you know, that's a small thing. We're healthy, we're happy, we're home. It's all good in the end.
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Interviewer2:33
Just like you helped other people, you also got a lot of help in your community. How did the Realtors Relief Foundation play a role in getting the community back on its feet?
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Gregory Larson2:40
Well, in Bismarck they gave grants just to help you with your upfront expenses, and that's what I got. And the really interesting thing is I got a grant from the relief fund within two weeks. I think it was 10 days after the flood started, I got a grant. Yeah, and my daughter got a grant. I didn't get another check or an insurance settlement. I got this one like June 10th. I didn't get another insurance settlement check until January of 2012. It took that long for them to decide what was covered and what wasn't covered, and how I met the legal definition of flood, and if I didn't meet the legal definition of flood. So the rapidity of the response, then we're here, we're here for you, here it is, was just overwhelming. And it made a difference. I mean, how could you have survived otherwise, right?
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Interviewer3:38
What items has the North Dakota Association of Realtors donated for the silent auction? We're talking about something happy now.
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Gregory Larson3:45
We donated two gift boxes of gift cards. There's Barnes and Noble, I think there's Starbucks, there's Best Buy, and an American Express gift card. So bet on it, get it, and go Christmas shopping.
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Interviewer4:00
And what are you bidding on?
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Gregory Larson4:03
Actually, I hope nobody bids but me on the Roost crisp gift card that's out there. But if you have competition, that's not a bad thing, right? I'll take them to it. It's a good cause. I do most of my Realtor relief things with my dues billing, but yeah, you can't lose.
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Interviewer4:22
Fantastic. Thank you very much, Mr. Larson. It was great talking to you. Nice meeting you.
