Amazing Baseball Quote #12

"Winfield goes back to the wall, he hits his head on the wall, and it rolls off! It's rolling all the way back to second base! This is a terrible thing for the Padres!" - Jerry Coleman 

Jerry Coleman had a reputation for saying odd things from time to time. Someone watching the game would have understood what he said, but imagine if you'd heard this on the radio. 

Johnny Bassler

    Johnny Bassler was a notable Major League player. He played 811 MLB games across nine seasons, batting .304 with a .416 career OBP. Bassler finished among the top ten in the American League MVP Award voting for three consecutive seasons, 1922-24. Despite these accomplishments, he is perhaps best known among trivia buffs as one of the most unlikely batters in MLB history to hit a home run, accumulating only one in 2,319 Big League at bats. What you probably didn't know about him was that he had a long, successful career in the minor leagues. After his time in the Bigs, Bassler played in the PCL (a quasi-Major league) until he was 42, batting .333 in a 10 season post-career. 

    John Landis Bassler started his career in 1913, splitting time between the PCL and the Cleveland Indians as an 18 year old. He played 43 games for the Tribe in 1914, but wasn't ready for the Majors just yet, and was sent back down to the minors. He hit his stride in 1916, batting .304 for the Los Angeles Angels, and made his return to the Majors in 1921, hitting .307 with a .401 OBP for Detroit. This performance earned Bassler a firm hold on the Tigers' starting catcher spot, and he improved to .323 in 1922 en route to a sixth place finish in the MVP voting. His average peaked at .346 in 1924, which was good enough for fifth in the league. While Bassler made most of his waves with the bat, he was also a fine defensive catcher, throwing out 350 of 757 potential base thieves for a career caught stealing percentage of .462. Bassler played three more years in the Majors before his contract was sold to the PCL's Hollywood Stars. He shone in his first season back on the West Coast, batting .300 for Hollywood in 1928. From 1930 through 1934 (his age 35 - 39 seasons), he batted .365, .354, .357, .336, and .351, respectively. He suffered a heart attack early in 1935, and announced his retirement from baseball a few months later. 

    Bassler made a comeback in 1936, hitting .354 in 111 games for the Seattle Indians. On May 25, 1937, he was hired as the manager of the Seattle club. He played himself in 56 games that season, batting .313. However, he wouldn't last long in Seattle as a player or the skipper. You see, on the last day of the 1937 season, pitcher Dick Barett (who may appear in this section of this blog at some point) needed two more wins to reach 20 and thus a $500 bonus. He beat the first place Sacramento Solons, 4-1, in the first game of a doubleheader. Bill Klepper, the Seattle team owner, told Bassler to pitch Marion Oppelt in the nightcap, but Bassler decided to go with Barrett again. Barret pitched a complete game, winning 11-2, earning his 20th victory and the bonus. The next day, September 20, 1937, Klepper fired Bassler for insubordination. Thus ended a 24 year professional career. 

    Back in the day, it was common for quality Major Leaguers to hop to the PCL. Many of them actually got a pay raise, and some enjoyed the mild California climate. Because of these things, the Pacific Coast League was a high caliber league in those days, and was considered almost equivalent to the Major Leagues. If Bassler had stayed in the MLB (which the Hall of Fame actually cares about), then he could have been a Hall of Famer. One could only imagine what would have happened if he had stayed in the Majors. As it is, he is a rather obscure player who definitely deserves to be remembered. 

Second Round Of Cuts

In September 2021, I published a post (https://thecooperstownadvocate.blogspot.com/2021/09/i-take-it-back.html) rescinding my arguments for some players I had written about on this blog. As I got a clearer understanding of what the Hall of Fame is and what it takes to earn a plaque, I have decided not to publish certain players in my book. Some more players who have appeared on the blog but will not (as of now) be advocated for in the book: 

Dave Foutz 

Mike (Elmer) Smith 

Mel Parnell 

Duke Farrell 

Jim Gilliam 

George Gore 

Pete Browning 

Mike Griffin 

Charlie Buffinton 

Guy Hecker 

Hardy Richardson 

Cupid Childs 

Bob Caruthers 

Tip O'Neill 

Vern Stephens 

Ed McKean 

John Franco 

Frank Howard 

Robb Nen 

Allie Reynolds 

Al Rosen 

Bobby Mathews 

Ted Kluszewski 

Dick Groat 

Hal Trosky 

Charlie Keller 

John Wetteland 

Spud Davis 

Roger Peckinpaugh 

Fred Dunlap 

Herman Long 

Ginger Beaumont 

Glenn Wright 

Rudy York 

Mort Cooper 

Walker Cooper 

A.J. Pierzynski 

Bob Boone 

Jack Taylor 

Bobby Thomson 

Roger Maris 

Many of these guys are 19th century players who had impressive statistics, but compiled them mostly in inferior leagues, like the AA, NA, or UA. All the players on this list were good - some were very good - but probably not Hall of Famers. This isn't the end of the line for these players, however: I am constantly revising the players on my list, looking for the very best outside of Cooperstown. Let me know if you think I should include one of these guys in my book. 

Clarence "Big Boy" Kraft

    Clarence Kraft is a name you seldom hear today. He only appeared in three MLB games, all as a member of the Miracle Boston Braves in 1914. Despite his unremarkable MLB career, Kraft was a fantastic player, one of minor league baseball's best power hitters in the 1920's, and a successful two way player. 
    Clarence Kraft got his start in professional baseball in 1910, playing first base and pitching in three different minor leagues. He played 126 games for Flint in the Southern Michigan League in 1911, batting .316 with 19 home runs, and impressed again in 1912 with 15 homers and a .277 average (I guess he did so well because he didn't drink the water). After reaching double digits in home runs again in 1913, Kraft's path to the Majors started to straighten, and he was up with Boston by May 1. He played his final game on the 14th, having gone 1-for-3 and playing four innings at first base. Kraft spent the remainder of the season with the Newark Indians, posting an .825 OPS in 96 games. He played for a handful of different teams in the following three years, and found stability in 1918 with the Fort Worth Cats in the Texas League. He hit .308 during his first season in Texas and .275 in the next. In 1921, when the live ball era started rolling, so did Kraft. He batted .352 with 31 home runs in 154 games, earning his nickname "Big Boy." From 1922 through 1924 (his age 35-37 seasons), Kraft batted .339, .324, and .349 while belting 32, 32, and 55 home runs, respectively. In 1924, Kraft set Texas League records for RBI's, runs scored, total bases, and extra-base hits. After his historic season, Kraft retired from baseball to open an auto dealership. He later served as a judge in Tarrant County until his death in 1958, at the age of 70. 

    All told, Kraft batted .316 with 170 homers in seven seasons in the Texas League. He had over 2,000 career hits in the minor leagues. As a pitcher, he had 29 wins in 71 milb games, including a 13-2 mark in 1910. Clarence Kraft's career was very successful, and one that should be remembered.