Randy Bass facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Randy Bass
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| Minority Leader of the Oklahoma Senate | |||
| In office January 6, 2015 – July 3, 2015 |
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| Preceded by | Sean Burrage | ||
| Succeeded by | John Sparks | ||
| Member of the Oklahoma Senate from the 32nd district |
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| In office January 4, 2005 – January 3, 2019 |
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| Preceded by | Jim Maddox | ||
| Succeeded by | John Montgomery | ||
| Personal details | |||
| Born | March 13, 1954 Lawton, Oklahoma, U.S. |
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| Political party | Democratic | ||
| Spouses |
Linda Bass
(m. 1976, divorced)Kelley Bass
(m. 2002) |
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| Children | 3 | ||
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Baseball career |
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| First baseman | |||
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| Professional debut | |||
| MLB: September 3, 1977, for the Minnesota Twins | |||
| NPB: April 9, 1983, for the Hanshin Tigers | |||
| Last appearance | |||
| MLB: June 7, 1982, for the Texas Rangers | |||
| NPB: November 30, 1988, for the Hanshin Tigers | |||
| MLB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .212 | ||
| Home runs | 9 | ||
| Runs batted in | 42 | ||
| NPB statistics | |||
| Batting average | .337 | ||
| Home runs | 202 | ||
| Runs batted in | 486 | ||
| Teams | |||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||
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 Baseball Hall of Fame |
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| Induction | 2023 | ||
| Vote | 78.6% | ||
| Election Method | Experts Division | ||
Randy William Bass (born March 13, 1954) is an American politician and a famous former baseball player. He played in both Major League Baseball (MLB) in the U.S. and Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan. After his baseball career, he served in the Oklahoma Senate.
Bass started his MLB career in 1977. He played for five different teams over six seasons. In 1983, he moved to Japan and joined the Hanshin Tigers. He helped lead the Tigers to a Japan Series championship in 1985. Bass won the batting Triple Crown twice in Japan. He still holds the record for the highest batting average in a single season there. Many people think he is one of the best American players ever in Japanese baseball. In 2023, he was added to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
From 2005 to 2019, Bass was a state senator in Oklahoma. He represented the 32nd district as a member of the Democratic Party.
Contents
Randy Bass's Baseball Journey
Playing in American Baseball
Randy Bass went to Lawton High School. He was a top player in both baseball and football. He even got scholarship offers to play college football.
The Minnesota Twins picked Bass in the 1972 MLB draft. He chose to sign with the Twins instead of going to college. Bass made his big league debut in 1977 as a first baseman. He played for several teams during his six seasons in Major League Baseball.
He was often a pinch hitter, meaning he would come off the bench to bat. In 130 games, he had a .212 batting average. He hit nine home runs and had 42 runs batted in.
Playing in Japanese Baseball
After his contract ended in 1982, Bass signed with the Hanshin Tigers in Japan. He quickly became their starting first baseman. Many believe Bass almost single-handedly changed the Tigers' luck. He helped them win their league and the Japan Series in 1985.
Bass quickly got used to Japanese pitching. He hit 35 home runs in his first year, 1983. He became the Tigers' main power hitter for several seasons. He won four batting titles in a row. In 1986, he almost hit .400, finishing with a .389 average. This is still a record today. Bass also won the batting Triple Crown in both 1985 and 1986. This means he led the league in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in.
In 1985, he came very close to breaking Sadaharu Oh's record of 55 home runs in one season. Bass finished with 54. In the last game of the season, the opposing team's pitcher intentionally walked Bass every time he came to bat. This kept him from having a chance to tie or break the record.
Bass left the Tigers in November 1988. He returned to the United States due to a family health matter.
In 2023, Randy Bass was honored by being inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.
The "Curse of the Colonel"
Randy Bass is also famous in Japan for something called the "Curse of the Colonel". After the Tigers won the Central League Pennant in 1985, fans celebrated in a wild way. They called out team members' names. For Bass, someone threw a life-sized statue of Colonel Sanders (from KFC) into the Dōtonbori canal. The statue disappeared.
Some people believe this act caused the team to have bad luck for the next decade. The Tigers did win the 1985 Japan Series that year, which was their only Japan Series title until 2023. Bass was named the Japan Series MVP.
Why His Name Changed in Japanese
In Japanese, Bass's last name would usually be written as "Basu." However, he is known in Japan as "Bāsu." The Hanshin Tigers asked for this change. The company that owned the team also owned a bus line called Hanshin Bus. They worried that newspaper headlines like "Hanshin Bus unstoppable" or "Hanshin Bus crashes" could hurt their bus company's image.
Randy Bass's Political Career
After retiring from baseball in 1988, Bass worked on community projects. He helped promote baseball in his home state of Oklahoma. He also continued to visit Japan as a cultural ambassador.
In 2004, Randy Bass was elected to the Oklahoma Senate as a Democrat. He was re-elected in 2006, 2010, and 2014. In the Senate, he helped lead the Appropriations Subcommittee for Natural Resources. He also served on several other important committees.
In April 2014, Bass became the minority leader for the Democrats in the Oklahoma Senate. This meant he was the main leader for his party in the Senate. He served in this role until July 2015. Bass could not run for re-election in 2018 because of term limits. Term limits mean a politician can only serve a certain number of terms.
Randy Bass's Family Life
Randy Bass has been married twice. He has two children with his first wife, Linda. He has one child with his second wife, Kelley.
