Mary Bassett

 

Elected : USSSA New York Hall Of Fame in 2024
Inducted : March 2026, Lake Ronkonkoma, NY.

I was born and raised in Central Islip where I still live with my husband of 40 years, Floyd.  We have 2 wonderful children, Bobby and Samantha, a fabulous daughter in law, Alana, and an incredible son in law, Nick.  We have been blessed with one amazing granddaughter, Ella, who is the light of my life. 

Along with Floyd, I assign umpires for softball games for the Town of Brookhaven adult and senior programs, ABA sports and several satellite leagues. 

Unlike most of the inductees, I don’t have a long history with softball, but I have always enjoyed sports having played tennis in high school, was a statistician for basketball and watched most other sports as well.  Floyd used to play softball but when we had our son, Floyd decided to put his playing days behind him and became an umpire.  That was when we met Rick and Laura Marz, assignors extraordinaire.  After a few years they began asking us to take care of things when they went on vacation.  Not bad to do for a week or two.  And then about 27 years ago, Rick asked us to take over assigning full time as he was moving on to other adventures.  This job is challenging, frustrating and rewarding.  Through it I have met many people who are not only umpires, but that I consider friends.

 

One person that we were fortunate to work with is Peter Eaton.  He is the kindest, most understanding person I know.  He ran the Town of Brookhaven softball program like a well-oiled machine.  He made our tough job easier.  I am truly honored to be the first inductee into the NYS USSSA Hall of Fame under the category “Peter Eaton Lifetime Achievement Award”.  To have my name associated with all the things he stands for is a feeling beyond words.  I will continue to work on living by the same standards he always followed.