By: Frankie Benvenuti

After spending 38 hours in a chair across a calendar year, Ottawa Titans’ southpaw Grant Larson has some fresh ink. 

A fully armoured samurai holds a katana among myriad other elements in a traditional Japanese art style, marking his second piece, with the previous works denoting a Volkswagon bus with a surfboard on a beach, San Diego style. 

Both have ties to how he grew up. He says going forward, he wants to find a way to represent the different corners of his heritage, including Italian and Irish. It’s an important piece of who he is. 

“People don’t know I’m a quarter Japanese,” Larson said. “My father was born in Japan, and he’s half Japanese, with his mother being 100 percent. I’ve always just liked traditional Japanese artwork, and I wanted to incorporate it, and show off my heritage.” 

Larson’s father, Gus, was one of the big reasons he got into baseball in the first place. His dad was his coach, mentor, and biggest supporter, but as Larson moved into high school baseball, he was given the heartbreaking news of his father’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis. 

His father was forced to take a step back from coaching, but continued to support Larson in every way he could. At the age of 16, Larson had to reckon with a new reality - one where his father wouldn’t be there in the physical world, succumbing to his illness in 2013. 

Both tattoos show Larson’s love for his father. Whether it’s his dad’s favourite surfboard and his van, or his heritage, the ink has unquestionable ties that help serve as reminders of the support he feels. 

Even though it has been 10 years since Larson has been able to have a heart-to-heart chat with his dad, he knows what he would hear. 

“He would be unbelievably proud of me, there’s no doubt in my mind,” Larson said. “He was the one who taught me the game from a young age, he was my coach all the way up until eighth or ninth grade. He’d be proud of me, but I don’t even have to be doing well, I know he’d be proud of me wherever I’m at.” 

“I don’t need to have all the accolades, like being an All-Star last year, he’d just be proud of me, and I know that.” 

On the mound, Larson is able to continue living his dream, and express who he is. After switching from the bullpen to the rotation for his second season with the Titans, the towering lefty put up some good numbers, earning a spot in the All-Star game. 

When the Titans were eliminated from postseason contention, Larson says he would have been content to head into the offseason and rest, but Manager Bobby Brown approached him with the option to continue playing. He was traded to the Gastonia Honey Hunters of the Atlantic League, where they reached the finals, but fell one game short. 

“I had a great time,” Larson said. “It’s really different to Ottawa - there’s a million people here, compared to Gastonia, there’s only about 90,000. The Atlantic League is a lot more experienced league, so it was fun to play some new teams and see their lineups.” 

Larson sees it as a sign of respect that Brown would be so keen on allowing the end-of-season trade to happen. 

“It means the world that he thinks I can go compete with the older and more experienced guys in that league,” Larson said. “It’s a comforting feeling that he trusts me, and knows I can do well. Before I left, he made it a point that he wanted me back in Ottawa, and I’m really pumped about it.” 

Already, he’s looking forward to next season, keeping tabs on the Frontier League’s transaction page, and finding excitement in the team’s potential. 

“I have no question about Bobby’s recruiting, he always brings good guys in,” Larson said. “I’m really excited to see some new faces, and make another run for it.”