Education
Born in Granite Quarry, North Carolina, Benson attended Catawba College in nearby Salisbury.
Born in Granite Quarry, North Carolina, Benson attended Catawba College in nearby Salisbury.
During his playing career, he stood 5"11" (180 cm) tall, weighed 180 pounds (82 kg), batted left-handed, and threw right-handed. He debuted in the Majors with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1943 and had a second trial with the Mackmen in 1946, but most of his career would be spent in the organization of the Saint Louis Cardinals. While he appeared in only 46 games for Saint Louis between 1951-1953, he was a fixture with the Cards" Rochester Red Wings and Columbus Red Birds Triple-A farm clubs as a player.
Overall, Benson batted.202 in 104 MLB at bats over five seasons, with three home runs and 12 runs batted in.
In his finest minor league season, 1951 at Columbus, he batted.308 with 18 home runs and 89 Reserve Bank of India. He became a manager in the Redbird system in 1956 with the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the Class C Northern League. On July 6, 1961, he was promoted from manager of the Triple-A Portland Beavers to the Cardinals to serve as a under new skipper Johnny Keane.
But the Yankees were in a downward spiral at the time, finishing sixth in the "65 American League race. Two months later, on July 13, 1966, Benson returned to the National League as a coach for fellow North Carolinian Dave Bristol, newly appointed pilot of the Cincinnati Reds.
He spent the remainder of his MLB career in the Senior Circuit, as a coach for the Reds (through 1969), the Cardinals again (1970 through 1975), Atlanta Braves (1976-1977), and San Francisco Giants (1980), working in the latter two posts under Bristol once again.
He managed the Syracuse Chiefs, Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, in 1978-1979. After his on-field career ended, Benson returned to the Cardinals as a scout. He also managed the Braves for one game in 1977 under unusual circumstances.
After the club lost 21 of its first 29 games, Dave Bristol was sent on a "scouting trip" and replaced by the team"s owner, Ted Turner, a world-class yachtsman and television executive who had no baseball experience.
After Turner lost his only game as the team"s skipper, National League president Chub Feeney told Turner that managers cannot own financial interest in a club Benson died on January 20, 2014 at the age of 89.