Dennis John Bennett (October 5, 1939 – March 24, 2012) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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 ...

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

who played

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

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

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

and

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

over seven seasons (–). Bennett batted and threw left-handed, stood tall, and weighed . He was the older brother of Dave Bennett, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in one MLB game as Dennis's Phillies teammate. Bennett was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, raised in the Shasta Valley town of

Yreka Yreka ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Siskiyou County, California, United States, near the Shasta River; the city has an area of about , most of it land. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,807, reflecting an increase from 7,7 ...

, near the

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border, and attended Yreka High School. He was signed by the Phillies in 1958 after attending

Shasta College Shasta College is a public community college in Redding, California, with branch campuses in Burney, Weaverville, and Red Bluff. It was founded in 1950 and later moved to a much larger campus while the original campus became the new locatio ...

and played four full seasons in their

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

before being promoted to the Majors from Triple-A in May 1962. He had a strong

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience, a rookie is typically considered needing more tra ...

campaign, appearing in 31

games A game is a Structure, structured type of play (activity), play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an Educational game, educational tool. Many games are also considered to be Work (human activity), work (such as p ...

, including 24 starts, winning nine contests with seven

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s and two

shutouts In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usually seen as a result of ...

. He struck out 149 hitters in 174

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

and reached double figures in strikeouts in four games. But he was seriously injured in a car accident in January 1963 while playing winter baseball in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, delaying his 1963 debut until June 23. Nevertheless, he again won nine games as the Phillies finished in the

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for the first time since 1955. Dennis Bennett 1965

He was the Phillies' opening day starting pitcher in 1964 against the Mets and did not record a decision in a game the Phils eventually won, 5–3, behind

reliever In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

Johnny Klippstein John Calvin Klippstein (October 17, 1927 – October 10, 2003) was an American professional baseball pitcher (mostly a reliever), who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for a number of teams, over an 18-season career. The most prominent porti ...

. Bennett took a regular turn in the 1964 Phillies' starting rotation but a lingering shoulder injury, a leftover from his winter 1963 car accident, began to limit his effectiveness in the season's final weeks. In late September, during the Phillies' disastrous ten-game losing streak that knocked them out of first place, Bennett lost his only two starts: September 23 against the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

and then six days later against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

. In November, he was traded to the Red Sox for slugging

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 ...

Dick Stuart. A sore arm plagued Bennett during his Red Sox tenure: he made 42 starts in almost years, with the lone highlight a complete game, 4–0 shutout against the Angels on May 1, 1967—a game in which Bennett helped his own cause with a three-run

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

off Jorge Rubio. He had another complete game win against the Angels on May 30 (a five- hit, 6–1 triumph), but a little more than three weeks later, he was traded on waivers to the Mets. During his half-season with Boston, he contributed four wins to the 1967 Red Sox, who unexpectedly won the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is the younger of two sports leagues, leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western L ...

pennant on the season's final day. After going 1–1 with the 1967 Mets, Bennett played at the Triple-A level in the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

' organization before landing with the 1968 Angels, where he went winless in five decisions over the season's final two months. In a seven-season MLB career and in 182

games pitched In baseball statistics, games pitched (denoted by Games G in tables of only pitching statistics) is the number of games in which a player appears as a pitcher. The statistic is also referred to as appearances, especially to refer to the number of ...

, Bennett posted a 43–47 record with 572

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s and a 3.69

ERA An era is a span of time. Era or ERA may also refer to: * Era (geology), a subdivision of geologic time * Calendar era Education * Academy of European Law (German: '), an international law school * ERA School, in Melbourne, Australia * E ...

in 863

, including six

shutout In team sports, a shutout (North American English, US) or clean sheet (Commonwealth English, UK) is a game in which the losing team fails to score. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketba ...

s and 28

s. He played in the minors into 1973 before retiring from the game.

Death

Upon leaving baseball, Bennett owned a bar in

Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city ...

. He died, aged 72, on March 24, 2012, at his Klamath Falls home.Dennis Bennett, former MLB pitcher, dies at 72
''The Boston Globe'', March 24, 2012

References

External links

Dennis Bennett
at SABR (Baseball BioProject)
Dennis Bennett
at Baseball Almanac {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Dennis 1939 births 2012 deaths American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Asheville Tourists players Bakersfield Bears players Baseball players from Oakland, California Boston Red Sox players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players California Angels players Chattanooga Lookouts players Hawaii Islanders players Jacksonville Suns players Johnson City Phillies players Major League Baseball pitchers New York Mets players People from Klamath Falls, Oregon Philadelphia Phillies players Salt Lake City Angels players Shasta Knights baseball players Sportspeople from Siskiyou County, California Tacoma Cubs players Tigres de Aragua players Yreka High School alumni