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John Landis Bassler (June 3, 1895 – June 29, 1979) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher. Bassler played professional baseball from 1913 to 1937, including nine seasons in the major leagues with the Cleveland Naps and Detroit Tigers. Bassler had a career on-base percentage of .416 in his nine major league seasons, the second highest all time among major league catchers. He was considered the best catcher in baseball from 1921 to 1925, finishing in the top seven in the American League's Most Valuable Player voting three straight years: sixth in 1922, seventh in 1923, and fifth in 1924. In addition to his major league career, Bassler played 15 years in the Pacific Coast League and has been inducted into the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame. After his playing career ended, Bassler lived in Southern California. ==Early life== Bassler was born in 1895 to a Mennonite family in Mechanics Grove, Pennsylvania. He was one of 13 children. He left the Mennonite community in 1912 at age 17 and moved, on his own, to California. Bassler worked as an usher at one of the big theaters in Los Angeles. When two major league teams held a series of exhibition games in Los Angeles, Bassler attended. One of the team's catchers was injured during the game. In a stroke of luck, Bassler later told his family that the manager of the team came to the theater that night, and Bassler asked him what he was going to do for a catcher. Bassler told the manager he was a catcher, and the manager told Bassler to "come on out."〔 That turned out to be Bassler's big break, as he was playing his first major league game for the Cleveland Naps on July 11, 1913. Just one month after his 18th birthday, Bassler was in the major leagues, playing on the same team as Nap Lajoie and Shoeless Joe Jackson. Bassler played only one game for the Naps in 1913 – an 11–5 loss to Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics. Bassler went hitless in two plate appearances and committed an error in that game. He did not play again until 1914. In 1914, Bassler played in 43 games for the Naps but hit only .182. After a disappointing start with the Naps, Bassler returned to Los Angeles and played for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League. Bassler played six seasons with the Angels from 1915 to 1920. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Johnny Bassler」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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