Johnny Bassler
| Johnny Bassler | |||
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Bassler in 1924
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| Catcher | |||
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Born: June 3, 1895 Mechanics Grove, Pennsylvania |
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Died: June 29, 1979 (aged 84) Santa Monica, California |
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| MLB debut | |||
| July 11, 1913, for the Cleveland Naps | |||
| Last MLB appearance | |||
| September 30, 1927, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .304 | ||
| Home runs | 1 | ||
| Runs batted in | 319 | ||
| Teams | |||
John Landis Bassler (June 3, 1895 – June 29, 1979) was an American baseball catcher. He played professional baseball for 26 seasons between 1911 and 1937, including nine seasons in Major League Baseball with the Cleveland Naps in 1913 and 1914 and the Detroit Tigers from 1921 to 1927.
Bassler had a career batting average of .304 and an on-base percentage of .416 in his nine major league seasons. His on-base percentage ranks as the second highest in major league history for a catcher. His .346 batting average in 1924 was the highest by a catcher to that point in American League history and the highest by any major league catcher since 1912. He finished in the top seven in the voting for the American League Most Valuable Player award three straight years: sixth in 1922, seventh in 1923, and fifth in 1924.
Bassler also played 15 seasons in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) with the Los Angeles Angels (1915–1917, 1919), Seattle Rainiers (1920), Hollywood Stars (1928–1935), and Seattle Indians (1936–1937). He appeared in 1,525 games in the PCL, compiling a .321 batting average in those games. In 1943, he was one of the inaugural inductees into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame. After his playing career ended, Bassler lived in Southern California.
Bassler was born in 1895 in Mechanics Grove, Pennsylvania. He was one of 13 children born to a Mennonite family in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His father Jacob Bassler (born 1866) was a Pennsylvania native who worked in a paper mill in 1900 and as a motorman on a street car in 1910. His mother Fianna Bassler (born 1868) was also a Pennsylvania native. By 1920, Bassler's family had moved to 2434 Bundy Drive in West Los Angeles, where his father was working as a motorman for the electric railroad.
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