Charley Bassett, Utility Infielder

Bassett was born in industrial Central Falls, Rhode Island in 1863, the son of William H. Bassett and Frances (Smith) Bassett.  He enrolled at Brown University in Providence in the fall of 1882, and starred for the school's baseball team in his sophomore year, playing third base and batting third in the lineup.  In July of 1884, after his school year was over, he signed on to play ball for the local professional team, filling in as the rarely used twelfth man.  His first official game was on July 22, filling in for the regular second baseman.  This was the famous game where Charley Sweeney stormed off the field, forcing the Grays to finish the last inning with only two outfielders.  While the rest of the team crumbled in this final inning, one sharply hit ball "was cleverly stopped by Bassett behind second, before reaching the unprotected centre field."

Bassett did not play much more until late August, when he filled in for several games for the injured shortstop Art Irwin.    He was lauded after the August 28 game for being "given some lively grounders and handling them very creditably", and he helped the team on September 6 with his "splendid" baserunning.  He filled in at third base for four games in mid-September when Jerry Denny fell ill, and then played third for all of the meaningless October games after the Grays had clinched the pennant.  His play on October 4 caused the Journal to exclaim that "Bassett again proved himself a jewel at third."  Of course, he never did make it back to Brown for the fall semester, and did not finish up his degree.

At 5'10", Bassett was one of the tallest Grays, but rail-thin at 150 pounds.  The favorable accounts of his play in the press never hint that he hit miserably for the World Champs in 1884.  Though he had a few big hits, he finished with a batting average of .139 in 27 games, but showed enough promise to be brought back the next year.  Seeing more action in 1885 as a utility infielder, he improved his average to .144.  Despite this awful record for Providence, he went on to have a decent career with several National League teams, playing for five years as a starting second basemen opposite third baseman Denny in Indianapolis and New York.  He finished up his career in Louisville in 1892, having raised his lifetime batting average to a mighty .231.  He apparently played minor league ball for a few years, as the city directories list him as a baseball player through 1897. 

In 1899, he returned to Pawtucket for good, and embarked upon a second career as a policeman.  He enjoyed regaling members of the force with stories of his friendships with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Wilbert Robinson, and Judge Kenesaw Landis.  These stories may have been exaggerated, but he did maintain a friendship with his contemporary opponent, the legendary evangelist/ballplayer Billy Sunday.  Sunday held a revival meeting at the Star Theatre in Pawtucket in the 1910s.  Afterwards, he followed Bassett back to the police headquarters to talk ball with the officers.  Bassett always insisted that Sunday was a better ballplayer than Ty Cobb.

After receiving his pension from the force, Bassett worked as a guard at Rhode Island Hospital Trust in Providence until about 1932.  He then retired to 364 Power Road in Pawtucket with his second wife Florence Sprague.  He died at Memorial Hospital on May 28, 1942, aged 80 years old.  He is buried in the Moshassuck Cemetery.

In November of 1884, just after the big championship, Bassett married Ethel Gertrude Esten of Lincoln, R.I.  They had a son named Francis Esten Bassett on March 22, 1899.  Francis worked as an inspector for the railroad, and settled in the Auburn neighborhood of Cranston, raising a son named Charles and a daughter named Marion.  These two grandchildren of Charley Bassett would be in their eighties if they were still living.

copyright Rick Stattler 2002

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