# Gene Benson

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**Eugene Benson** (October 2, 1913 – April 6, 1999) was an American center fielder in [baseball](/source/Baseball)'s [Negro leagues](/source/Negro_league_baseball). He played for the [Philadelphia Stars](/source/Philadelphia_Stars_(baseball)) in 1937, moved to the [Homestead Grays](/source/Homestead_Grays) in 1938, and returned to the Stars from 1939 to 1948. He stood 5-foot-8 and weighed 185 pounds at the peak of his career.

## Playing career

At age 19, Benson joined [Louis Santop](/source/Louis_Santop)'s Philadelphia semi-pro team, Santop's Bronchos, for which he played first-base in the 1932 season. He tried out for and signed with the [Brooklyn Royal Giants](/source/Brooklyn_Royal_Giants). Veteran [Highpockets Hudspeth](/source/Robert_Hudspeth) played first for the Royal Giants and Benson played in left field. In 1934, Benson signed with the [Boston Royal Giants](/source/Boston_Royal_Giants).

## Contemporary honors

The [Wilmington Blue Rocks](/source/Wilmington_Blue_Rocks) have hosted a "Judy Johnson Night – A Tribute to Negro League Baseball" since 1996 in which the team, the City of Wilmington, and the Judy Johnson Memorial Foundation honor a Negro leagues player. The Blue Rocks honored Benson in 1998.[1]

The Marian Anderson Recreation Center at 17th and Fitzwater Streets in Philadelphia, near [Marian Anderson](/source/Marian_Anderson)'s birthplace, has a baseball field called "Anderson Yards". Benson was invited to throw out the first pitch on opening day of the 1998 little league season at the field. The league "retired" and placed on the outfield wall, [Jackie Robinson](/source/Jackie_Robinson)'s number 42 and Benson's number 16.[2]

In 2003, baseball historian [Bill James](/source/Bill_James) identified Benson as the top Negro league player of the 1944 season.[3]

On February 26, 2024, the [Jump Start (comic strip)](/source/Jump_Start_(comic_strip)) revealed that Benson was strip creator [Robb Armstrong](/source/Robb_Armstrong)'s great uncle.[4] The Peanuts character, Franklin Armstrong (who Charles Schultz added the last name after Robb Armstrong in 1994) in the February 16, 2024 Apple TV Animated Special Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin, Franklin shares that his great uncle was Eugene (Gene) Benson, the Negro League baseball player.

## References

1. ["Blue Rocks to host annual Tribute to Negro League Baseball"](http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3076607&l_id=&t_id=). OurSportsCentral.com. 2004-08-19. Retrieved 2009-04-20.

1. Kindred, Dave (1998-05-18). ["If we care enough"](http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1208/is_n20_v222/ai_n27532042/). [Sporting News](/source/Sporting_News). Retrieved 2009-04-20.

1. James, Bill (2003). *[The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract](/source/The_Bill_James_Historical_Baseball_Abstract)*. [Simon & Schuster](/source/Simon_%26_Schuster). p. 175. ISBN 0-7432-2722-0.

1. [http://www.gocomics.com/jumpstart/2024/02/26](http://www.gocomics.com/jumpstart/2024/02/26)

## Further reading

- Neyer, Rob (2008). ["Gene Benson & Johnny Berardino"](https://archive.org/details/robneyersbigbook0000neye_n7c4). *Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Legends: The Truth, the Lies, and Everything Else*. [Simon & Schuster](/source/Simon_%26_Schuster). pp. [113](https://archive.org/details/robneyersbigbook0000neye_n7c4/page/113). ISBN 978-0-7432-8490-5. gene benson.
- Riley, James A. (2002). ["Benson, Eugene"](https://books.google.com/books?id=gYeb3nzBLUYC&dq=felton+snow+caracas&pg=PA79). *The biographical encyclopedia of the Negro baseball leagues*. [Carroll & Graf Publishers](/source/Carroll_%26_Graf_Publishers). p. 77. ISBN 0-7867-0959-6.

## External links

and [Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats](https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=benson000gen) and [Seamheads](https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=benso01gen)

- [Negro League Baseball Players Association: Gene Benson](https://web.archive.org/web/20080921214419/http://www.nlbpa.com/benson__gene.html)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gene Benson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Benson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Benson?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.