1911
Born March 18, 1911
Noble, OK, USA
Al Benton Marquee
b. March 18, 1911 · Philadelphia Athletics 1934–1935, Detroit Tigers 1938–1942, 1945–1948, Cleveland Indians 1949–1950, Boston Red Sox 1952
He pitched to Ruth in 1934, as a rookie for the Athletics, and to Mantle in 1952, in his last season with Boston. Nobody else bridged those two careers from the mound. In between he lost three seasons to the Navy and one to a broken ankle.
Fourteen seasons gave him 98 wins against 88, 66 saves and a 3.66 earned run average across 1,688 innings. He led the American League with 17 saves in 1940 and was an All-Star in 1941 and 1942, working out of the Detroit bullpen and the rotation as required.
He came back from the war and went 13-8 with a 2.02 earned run average in 1945 for the Detroit club that won the World Series, and started a game of it. He died in 1968, at fifty-seven. No Hall of Fame ballot ever listed him.
Honors
| Award | Times | Years |
|---|---|---|
| All-Star selection | 2 | 1941, 1942 |
Batting, season by season
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | PHA | 32 | 55 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | .109 |
| 1935 | PHA | 27 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 0 | .040 |
| 1938 | DET | 19 | 33 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | .121 |
| 1939 | DET | 37 | 44 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | .091 |
| 1940 | DET | 42 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | .000 |
| 1941 | DET | 38 | 50 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 0 | .060 |
| 1942 | DET | 35 | 67 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 0 | .075 |
| 1945 | DET | 31 | 63 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 0 | .063 |
| 1946 | DET | 28 | 49 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | .184 |
| 1947 | DET | 36 | 39 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 | .154 |
| 1948 | DET | 30 | 11 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | .182 |
| 1949 | CLE | 40 | 38 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | .132 |
| 1950 | CLE | 36 | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 0 | .083 |
| 1952 | BOS | 24 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | .000 |
| Career | — | 455 | 512 | 22 | 50 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 200 | 0 | .098 |
Pitching, season by season
| Year | Team | W | L | G | GS | SV | IP | H | ER | BB | SO | ERA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1934 | PHA | 7 | 9 | 32 | 21 | 1 | 155.0 | 145 | 84 | 88 | 58 | 4.88 |
| 1935 | PHA | 3 | 4 | 27 | 9 | 0 | 78.1 | 110 | 67 | 47 | 42 | 7.70 |
| 1938 | DET | 5 | 3 | 19 | 10 | 0 | 95.1 | 93 | 35 | 39 | 33 | 3.30 |
| 1939 | DET | 6 | 8 | 37 | 16 | 5 | 150.0 | 182 | 76 | 58 | 67 | 4.56 |
| 1940 | DET | 6 | 10 | 42 | 0 | 17 | 79.1 | 93 | 39 | 36 | 50 | 4.42 |
| 1941 | DET | 15 | 6 | 38 | 14 | 7 | 157.2 | 130 | 52 | 65 | 63 | 2.97 |
| 1942 | DET | 7 | 13 | 35 | 30 | 2 | 226.2 | 210 | 73 | 84 | 110 | 2.90 |
| 1945 | DET | 13 | 8 | 31 | 27 | 3 | 191.2 | 175 | 43 | 63 | 76 | 2.02 |
| 1946 | DET | 11 | 7 | 28 | 15 | 1 | 140.2 | 132 | 57 | 58 | 60 | 3.65 |
| 1947 | DET | 6 | 7 | 36 | 14 | 7 | 133.0 | 147 | 65 | 61 | 33 | 4.40 |
| 1948 | DET | 2 | 2 | 30 | 0 | 3 | 44.1 | 45 | 28 | 36 | 18 | 5.68 |
| 1949 | CLE | 9 | 6 | 40 | 11 | 10 | 135.2 | 116 | 32 | 51 | 41 | 2.12 |
| 1950 | CLE | 4 | 2 | 36 | 0 | 4 | 63.0 | 57 | 25 | 30 | 26 | 3.57 |
| 1952 | BOS | 4 | 3 | 24 | 0 | 6 | 37.2 | 37 | 10 | 17 | 20 | 2.39 |
| Career | — | 98 | 88 | 455 | 167 | 66 | 1688.1 | 1672 | 686 | 733 | 697 | 3.66 |
On this day & linked events
1968
Died April 14, 1968
1934
Major-league debut: Al Benton
Al Benton made a major-league debut on April 18, 1934.
1952
Final major-league game: Al Benton
Al Benton played a final major-league game on September 21, 1952.