Background
Bennett was born in Oakland, California, and raised in the Shasta Valley town of Yreka, near the Oregon border.
Bennett was born in Oakland, California, and raised in the Shasta Valley town of Yreka, near the Oregon border.
He batted and threw left-handed, stood 6 feet 3 inches (191 m) tall and weighed 192 pounds (87 kg). He was the older brother of Dave Bennett, a right-handed pitcher who appeared in one Major League game as Dennis"s teammate with the Phillies in 1964. He was signed by the Phillies in 1958 after attending Shasta College and played four full seasons in their farm system before being promoted to the Majors from Triple-A in May 1962.
He had a strong rookie campaign, appearing in 31 games, including 24 starts, winning nine contests with seven complete games and two shutouts.
He struck out 149 hitters in 1742⁄3 innings pitched and reached double figures in strikeouts in four games. But he was seriously injured in car accident in January 1963 while playing winter baseball in Puerto Rico, delaying his 1963 debut until June 23.
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 and then six days later against the Saint Louis Cardinals.
In November, he was traded to the Red Sox for slugging first baseman Dick Stuart.
A sore arm plagued Bennett during his Red Sox tenure: he made 42 starts in almost 21⁄2 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 off Jorge Rubio. After going 1–1 with the 1967 Mets, Bennett played at the Triple-A level in the Chicago Cubs" 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, Bennett posted a 43–47 record with 572 strikeouts and a 3.69 European Research Area in 863 innings pitched, including six shutouts and 28 complete games.
He played in the minors into 1973 before retiring from the game.
Upon leaving baseball, Bennett owned a bar in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He died, aged 72, on March 24, 2012, at his Klamath Falls home.