The Bassett Furnituremakers were a Bi-State League

Bi-State League

There were two different entries called the Bi-State League in minor league history. The first, a class D league which operated in 1915, was the successor of the Wisconsin-Illinois League. The 1915 league was represented by five teams fom Illinois and one from Wisconsin...

 baseball team based in Bassett, Virginia

Bassett, Virginia

Bassett is a census-designated place in Henry County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,338 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Martinsville Micropolitan Statistical Area. The town was founded along a rail line by the same family that later started Bassett Furniture. Bassett...

, USA that played from 1935 to 1940. They made the league playoffs in each year of their existence, winning the championship every year from 1936 to 1938. Each championship came under a different manager - the first under Ernie Jenkins

Ernie Jenkins (baseball)

Ernest Lafayette "Lefty" Jenkins was a minor league baseball pitcher and manager. He managed in the New York Yankees system from 1935 to 1939.-Baseball player:...

, the second under Ray White

Ray White (baseball)

Raymond Petrie White was a minor league baseball pitcher and manager. He played from 1933 to 1940, going 55-37 in 170 games. Over the course of his six-year career, he threw 877 innings...

 and the third under Walter Novak.

From 1936 to 1937, they were affiliated with the New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

. In 1938 they switched affiliation to the Cincinnati Reds

Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds are a Major League Baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the National League Central Division. The club was established in 1882 as a charter member of the American Association and joined the National League in 1890....

, and in 1939 to the Brooklyn Dodgers.

They were one of only two baseball teams to ever play professionally in Bassett, Virginia.

Hall of Fame shortstop Phil Rizzuto

Phil Rizzuto

Philip Francis Rizzuto , nicknamed "The Scooter", was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He spent his entire 13-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...

played for the team.