Evaluating Minor League Feats

While the minor leagues today exist solely to feed the Majors, that was not always the case. From the dawn of the 20th century until the 1950's, the quality of play in the high minor leagues, particularly the Pacific Coast League, was comparable with the Major Leagues. Many high-profile MLB players, including Ed Konetchy and Del Pratt, chose to play in these leagues for a number of reasons, including better location, competitive pay, or a longer season, when they were still quite productive in the Majors. Despite continuing their highly successful careers against quality competition, these years in the minors are often forgotten by history and the common fan. 

    This all begs the question: how important are minor league achievements in the Hall of Fame discussion? As I recently wrote in my piece on Konetchy, I don't believe these feats should count for nothing. For one thing, they provide evidence that these players could still play at a high level, and for another, the players were still helping their teams win, even if they were not Major League teams. Local leagues had pride, and players genuinely cared about representing their local clubs and helping them win (unlike today, when any players of meaningful talent use collegiate and minor league teams merely as a path to the high-paying Majors). After all, the shrine at Cooperstown is the National Baseball Hall of Fame, not the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, and leagues like the Pacific Coast League and the Texas League used to be a major part of baseball in America (especially considering that there were no MLB clubs West of St. Louis until 1957). If baseball back then were what it is today, then very few, if any, Major League stars would jump to rival leagues, but would instead compile their career statistics in the Majors, where the Hall of Fame would pay attention to them. 

    When evaluating Hall of Fame candidates who continued playing well in the high minors, I tend to use their Major League records as the baseline for their cases and look to their minor league numbers to fill in the cracks. For example, I would not advocate for Johnny Bassler due to a short MLB career, but Konetchy and Pratt could be considered borderline candidates for their Major League achievements alone, and their minor league feats can provide an extra boost to their cases. Although I give precedence to MLB statistics, being more mainstream and of somewhat higher quality, the records of the minor league stars are truly significant, both historically and statistically, and they should be recognized as such by the Hall of Fame. 

A New Wing To The Hall Of Fame

How many of you have heard of Jigger Statz? Anyone? How about Paul Strand? Buzz Arlett? Come on people, how do you not know who Buzz Arlett is? 

    The National Baseball Hall of Fame is supposed to recognize the best baseball players who have ever taken the field. The common baseball fan may think they've done a reasonably good job (except for Tommy McCarthy), but in reality they've overlooked a great many players who didn't have long MLB careers. Back in the day, there were leagues almost as good as the Majors, such as the Pacific Coast League, that often rivaled MLB for the best players. The PCL routinely attracted MLB stars with higher paychecks and a mild climate. The best players from the PCL ought to be remembered and honored as the greats they were, and adding a new wing to the Hall of Fame would be a great way to honor them. 

   I've published a couple articles on this blog about minor league greats, such as Johnny Bassler and Big Boy Kraft. I'll likely publish more in the future, and may consider including them in my book. 

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. 

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.