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.