John Aloysius "Buddy" Hassett (September 5, 1911 – August 23, 1997) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brook ...

, Boston Bees / Braves, and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

."Buddy Hassett "Statistics and History"
"baseball-reference.com. Retrieved on 2017-05-12. Hassett started his professional baseball career in 1933 with the

Wheeling Stogies The Wheeling Stogies was a minor league baseball team based in Wheeling, West Virginia, that played under several different names at various times between 1877 and 1934. They played mostly in the Central League (baseball), Central League and the M ...

and batted .332. In 1934 he played for the

Norfolk Tars The Norfolk Tars were a minor league baseball team that existed on and off from 1906 to 1955. Based in Norfolk, Virginia, they played in the Virginia League from 1906 to 1918 and from 1921 to 1928, in the Eastern League (1916), Eastern League from ...

and hit .360. He also set the league record at the time for stolen bases. In 1935 he played for the Columbus Redbirds and hit .337 in the American Association and won a starting job in the majors for the next seven seasons. His major league career was cut short by World War II. In 1936 he set the record for fewest strikeouts by a rookie. He struck out just 17 times in 635 at bats. This record still stands. After serving in the Navy from 1943 to 1945, Hassett played in the minor leagues for a few years. He also managed for the Yankees farm team, the

Newark Bears The Newark Bears were an American independent league professional baseball team based in Newark, New Jersey. They were a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball and, later, the Canadian American Association of Professional Bas ...

in the minors until 1950. Hassett was player coach of a team of players from the US Navy Pre-flight training program in

Chapel Hill, North Carolina Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, Orange and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties, North Carolina, United States. Its population was 61,960 in the 2020 United States census, making Chapel Hill the List of municipa ...

that went to New York to play a War Chest benefit against a team of All Stars from the Yankees and

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

, coached by

Babe Ruth George Herman "Babe" Ruth (February 6, 1895 – August 16, 1948) was an American professional Baseball in the United States, baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball (MLB) spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Nickna ...

. The Navy team won the game and included

Ted Williams Theodore Samuel Williams (August 30, 1918 – July 5, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox from 193 ...

Johnny Sain John Franklin "Johnny" Sain (September 25, 1917 – November 7, 2006) was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who was best known for teaming with left-hander Warren Spahn on the Boston Braves teams from 1946 to 1951. He ...

, and

Johnny Pesky John Michael Pesky (born John Michael Paveskovich; February 27, 1919 – August 13, 2012), nicknamed "the Needle" and "Mr. Red Sox", was an American professional baseball player, manager and coach in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was a shorts ...

along with Hassett. Hassett saw action in the Pacific aboard the Carrier the . His brother, Billy Hassett, was an All American basketball player at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

and the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

. Billy played professional basketball for the Chicago Gears, the

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

the Tri-City Blackhawks, the

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, having played and won championships in both the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) prior to ...

and the Baltimore Bullets (1946–1950). A resident of

Hillsdale, New Jersey Hillsdale is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in the northern portion of Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, within the New York City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's po ...

, Hassett died at the age of 85 of bone cancer at

Pascack Valley Hospital Pascack Valley Hospital (PVH) is a former 291-bed hospital, located at 250 Old Hook Road, Westwood, New Jersey. History Pascack Valley Hospital opened on June 1, 1959, as an 86-bed community hospital. It underwent several expansions and grew to ...

Westwood, New Jersey Westwood (known as "The Hub of the Pascack Valley") is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Westwood is part of the New York metropolitan area. Many of its residents regularly commute to New York City for work and leisur ...

.Goldstein, Richard
"Buddy Hassett, 85, Ballplayer"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', August 26, 1997. Accessed October 27, 2015. "Hassett, who lived in Hillsdale, N.J., is survived by a daughter, Patricia Gradziel of Davis, California, and three grandchildren."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hassett, Buddy 1911 births 1997 deaths Major League Baseball first basemen Baseball players from New York City Binghamton Triplets managers Brooklyn Dodgers players Boston Bees players Boston Braves players New York Yankees players Wheeling Stogies players Norfolk Tars players Columbus Red Birds players Newark Bears (International League) players Binghamton Triplets players Manhattan Jaspers baseball players Colorado Springs Sky Sox managers Deaths from bone cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in New Jersey People from Hillsdale, New Jersey United States Navy personnel of World War II Baseball players from Bergen County, New Jersey