Evening star., 1942-02-26
Astute Veteran
Rates High as
Slab Mentor
Believes He Can Cure
Pitcher Musterson
Of Wild Streuks
BY BURTON HAWKINS,
Star staff Correspondent.

ORLANDO. Fla, Feb. 26.-The
most ridiculous figure among the
Mats, but paradoxically one Of the
brainier players of his era, who mar
rowly missed becoming q Catholic
priest, is Coach Benny Bengough.
Benny provokes laughs merely by
lifting his cap. but beneath his
round bald dome is incased consid-
cradle baseball savvy.
Stooge for Comedian Coach Nick
Altrock in many of the old boys an
tics before he shattered an ankle
early last season, Benny Is likely to
succeed him. Altrock, now at Sara
sofa, has informed President Clark
Grifith he won't return to the Mats
as a liability. If he's able to amuse
the public he'll be back, but he isn't
willing to permit Griff to pay him,
as he did last season, for sitting on
the side lines.
Benny has the right temperament
for the Job. The big idea," he says.
"is to give Me customers a good ball
game. All games, though, can't be
good, so when the contest becomes
dull and uninteresting, you should
offer something else to keep them
interested"
Not All Clown.
He doesn't mind appearing n
diculous for the sake Of q few
laughs. He welcomes the oppor-
tunity; In fact, there's more ham in
Benny than in the corner grocery.
He's no Jekyll and Hyde character,
either, for Bengough owns one Of
those infectious laughs and uses 1t
freely off the field.
Benny doesn't draw his salary
strictly for being a clown, however.
For he Is intrusted with handling
the Mats young pitchers. He be-
ieves he has detected the reason for
youthful Walter Masterson's wild
ness. for instance. and that subject
Of wildness among pitchers Is Ben
ny's pet topic.
Bengough's theories on the subject
indirectly are responsible for his
afdliation with the Mats. When
Benny was young catcher break
ing in with the Yankees, he served
many afternoons in the bullpen, and
whenever Griff became irritated at
the Mats futile efforts to curb New
York, he visited with Benny, who
y,Iov,od xryifI, Mama oor n,,,L>x, porr;S
at Buffalo in 1918. would talk on his
idea that any pitcher can master
control simply by throwing at a set
target In the form Of q catchers
NIT 20 minutes a day.
Bengough later put his theory to
work on George Pipgras, extremely
wild in early seasons with the
Yankees. Benny handled only Pip
gras as on assignment until 1928,
when he became the regular catcher
on the same day Lou Gehrig re-
placed Wally Pipp at first base. For
the remainder Of that season, Benny
caught nearly every game, but In
1926 George Uhle hit him on the
arm and it never was right there
after despite the fact he caught
every inning of the 1928 World
Series and saw much service with
the famed 1927 Yankees, whom he
indexes as the greatest team of all
time.
Sensation in First Game.
Ten of Benny's teammates at
Niagara University are priests and
he was thinking seriously of follow
ing religious life when signed by
Buffalo. That he didn't take that
route in life may have been due to
his mother.
Bennyis summer vacation Of 1917
was spent catching pitchers in the
Buffalo bullpen at IS q day. His
mother couldn't understand why
Benny wasn't breaking. into games
and constantly called Manager Patsy
Donovan on the phone. To please
Mrs. Bengough, Donovan permitted
Benny to catch an exhibition with
the st. Louis Browns and what fol-
lowed determined Bengough's career.
Three times in that game he
threw out Burt Shotton, then one
Of the leading base stealers Of the
American League. Donovan signed
Benny to q Buffalo contract at $3.50
a month.
Benny drifted from the Yankees
to the Browns, then Milwaukee and
Little Rock. He shifted to WASH
ington, Pa, to manage that Yankee
farm in 1884, later managing Joplin,
Mo, and coaching at Newark. When
the International League banned
non-active coaches, Grifnth picked
him UP.
Now he's q coach-clown and he
handles both roles nicely.