Kevin Charles Bass (born May 12, 1959) is a former

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

who played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

(1982),

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

(1982–1989, 1993–1994),

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

(1990–1992),

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

(1992), and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

(1995).

Career

The

selected Bass in the second round of the

1977 MLB Draft First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1977 Major League Baseball draft. Other notable Selections ''*'' Did not sign Background The White Sox surprised some when they passed on right-handed pitcher Bill ...

. His MLB debut came on April 9, 1982. Bass was traded to the

from Milwaukee with

Frank DiPino Frank Michael DiPino (born October 22, 1956) is a former American professional baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, and Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). On Sep ...

and

Mike Madden Michael Anthony Madden (born January 13, 1958) is an American former professional baseball player who pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983–1986 for the Houston Astros. Madden played college ball at University of Northern Colorado ...

for

Don Sutton Donald Howard Sutton (April 2, 1945 – January 19, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 23 seasons as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland ...

on August 30, 1982. He played his final MLB game on October 1, 1995. Bass had his best year in for an Astros team that narrowly missed a

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

appearance. Bass was named to the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

All-Star team, pacing the Astros with a .311 batting average, 20

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, 22 steals, and sterling defensive play. In Game 6 of the epic 1986 NLCS, he struck out swinging with men on first and second in the 16th inning, sealing a 7–6 victory for the Mets, allowing them to advance to the

1986 World Series The 1986 World Series was the World Series, championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1986 Major League Baseball season, 1986 season. The 83rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National Lea ...

. On August 3, 1987, versus the

, Bass became the 15th

switch hitter In baseball, a switch hitter is a player who bats both right-handed and left-handed, usually right-handed against left-handed pitchers and left-handed against right-handed pitchers. Characteristics Right-handed batters generally hit better aga ...

in major league history to hit a home run from each side of the plate in the same game. In 1989, the Astros right fielder hit two grand slams in the season. The first homer stunned Cubs closer

Mitch Williams Mitchell Steven Williams (born November 17, 1964), nicknamed "Wild Thing", is an American former relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for six teams from 1986 to 1997. He was also a studio analyst for the MLB Network from 2009 to ...

, turning a 4–4 tie into an 8–4 Astros victory. The second homer, against

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

reliever

Mark Eichhorn Mark Anthony Eichhorn (born November 21, 1960) is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher best known for his tenure with the Toronto Blue Jays in the late 1980s and the early 1990s when he often served as a middle reliever/set-up man for All-Star ...

on September 20, created a tie game that the Astros won in 14 innings.

Career statistics

In 1571 games over 14 seasons, Bass posted a .270

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(1308-for-4839) with 609 runs, 248 doubles, 40

triples TripleS (stylized as tripleS; Help:IPA/English, /ˈtɹɪpəl:ɛs/; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by MODHAUS. They aim to be the world's first decentralized K-pop idol group. The members will rotate between the group, sub-unit, and solo ac ...

, 118

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

, 611 RBI, 151

stolen bases In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

, 357

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

, .323

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

and .411

slugging percentage In baseball statistics, slugging percentage (SLG) is a measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats, through the following formula, where ''AB'' is the number of at bats for a given player, ...

. He recorded a .982

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

at all three outfield positions.

Personal life

He is a cousin of former American football player

James Lofton James David Lofton (born July 5, 1956) is an American former professional football player and coach. He is a former coach for the San Diego Chargers but is best known for his years in the National Football League as a wide receiver for the Gre ...

. Bass is also the nephew of the late Stan Johnson, a former professional baseball player who played for the White Sox and the Athletics organizations. Two of Kevin's sons were selected in the

2007 MLB Draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the fi ...

. Garrett (

Jacksonville State University Jacksonville State University (JSU) is a public university in Jacksonville, Alabama. Founded in 1883, Jacksonville State offers programs of study in six academic schools leading to bachelor's degree, bachelor's, master's degree, master's, educati ...

) was selected by the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

in the 42nd round and played a couple of seasons in their organization and then spent time in the independent minor leagues. Justin (

Clements High School William P. Clements High School, more commonly known as Clements High School, is a public high school in First Colony and in Sugar Land within the U.S. state of Texas that is named after former Texas governor Bill Clements, and is a part of the Fo ...

) was taken by the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

in the 21st round and spent several seasons in Rookie and A League baseball.

References

External links

RetrosheetVenezuelan Professional Baseball League
: {{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Kevin 1959 births Living people African-American baseball players People from Redwood City, California Baseball players from California American expatriate baseball players in Canada Major League Baseball right fielders Baltimore Orioles players Burlington Bees players Holyoke Millers players Houston Astros players Leones del Caracas players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Milwaukee Brewers players National League All-Stars Newark Co-Pilots players New York Mets players Phoenix Firebirds players San Francisco Giants players San Jose Giants players Tucson Toros players Vancouver Canadians players 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople

Career

Career statistics

Personal life

See also

References

External links