James Charles Wasdell (May 15, 1914 – August 6, 1983) was an American

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

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 c ...

and

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 ...

. He 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), ...

(

MLB 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 all or portions of 11 seasons between and for the Washington Senators, Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies 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) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

. The

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

native threw and batted left-handed and was listed as tall and . Wasdell helped the

Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

win the 1941

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 ...

pennant. Appearing in 94 games, including 46 as a starting outfielder, Wasdell batted .298 in 287 plate appearances, collecting 79 hits. In the

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 ...

, he appeared in three games, with five

at bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

; his only hit was a

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

off

Atley Donald Richard Atley Donald (August 19, 1910 – October 19, 1992) was a Major League Baseball pitcher. A native of Morton, Mississippi, the right-hander played for the New York Yankees from 1938 to 1945. "Swampy", as he was nicknamed, stood and weig ...

of the

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

in the fourth inning of Game 5,

Retrosheet Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every major ...

br>box score: 1941 World Series, Game 5, 1941-10-05
/ref> the Series' final contest. The Yankees defeated the Dodgers, four games to one. In 11 MLB seasons, Wasdell played in 888 games and had 2,866 at bats, 339 runs, 782 hits, 109 doubles, 34 triples, 29 home runs, 341 runs batted in, 29 stolen bases, 243 walks, .273 batting average, .332 on-base percentage, .365 slugging percentage, 1,046 total bases and 39 sacrifice hits. Defensively, he recorded a .981 fielding percentage playing primarily at first base and at all three outfield positions. Including minor league service, Wasdell played for 15 seasons (1935–1950) in

Organized Baseball The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive officer of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the associated Minor League Baseball (MiLB) – a constellation of leagues and clubs known as "organized baseball". Under the direction of the Commiss ...

. He died in

New Port Richey, Florida New Port Richey is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was counted at 16,728 in the 2020 census. History B ...

at the age of 69.

References

External links

* 1914 births 1983 deaths Baltimore Orioles (International League) players Baseball players from Cleveland Birmingham Barons players Brooklyn Dodgers players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Chattanooga Lookouts players Cleveland Indians players Indianapolis Indians players Major League Baseball first basemen Major League Baseball left fielders Major League Baseball right fielders Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Minor league baseball managers Nashville Vols players Philadelphia Phillies players Pittsburgh Pirates players Washington Senators (1901–1960) players Zanesville Greys players Wellsville Nitros players {{US-baseball-outfielder-1910s-stub