Bridges Magazine - Connecting Ohio River Communities

Nearly Six Decades of the Baseball Life for Area Native

The world missed out on a great insurance salesman. Instead, Gene Bennett opted to collect hundreds of awards while becoming a hall of fame baseball scout for the Cincinnati Reds.

Gene’s story began in Wheelersburg, Ohio, and never really left. How many years that story covers requires some math because Bennett notes his age as “old enough to vote.” (Here’s a hint – Bennett was the first inductee into the Wheelersburg High School Hall of Fame representing the class of 1946.) As a child, Bennett started with the only sport offered…basketball. “There was no Little League back then,” he said. “I started playing organized baseball with amateurs in the Sunday independent leagues. I played in the Huntington night league and leagues throughout the coalfields.”

In the days before the minor leagues consisted of organized farm systems operated by the major league teams, ballplayers learned their trade in a patchwork of amateur independent leagues. “Back then, scouts were few,” Bennett noted. Fortunately, one of those few, Buzz Boyle, took notice of Bennett’s skills and signed him to the Cincinnati Reds in 1952. Bennett patrolled minor league outfields for six years before a separated shoulder ended his playing days in 1958.

At a crossroads, Bennett considered the insurance profession, despite an offer by the Reds to become a manager. “Then they offered me a scouting job and I thought that might be a pretty good deal,” he said. It was so good, Bennett still evaluates talent as a Reds’ employee today. His 56-year baseball career – entirely with the Reds – is a rare tale of loyalty. Bennett’s continued service makes his tenure one of the longest in the history of the franchise. He proved so adept at scouting he was named scouting supervisor in 1975, a position he maintained until 1991 when he ascended to his current role of special assistant to the general manager.

Bennett described his playing as “average,” a distinction that later served him well. “The greatest players don’t make the greatest managers,” he explained, noting the same is true for scouts. “Sparky Anderson was a very average player, but one of the greatest managers. Average players know how tough it was to scrap and work to know the finer points of the game. The ‘naturals’ don’t have to work as hard and learn.”

Bennett’s initial scouting territory covered Ohio; Kentucky; West Virginia; Indiana; Michigan; and Ontario, Canada. Before embarking on his career, Bennett received invaluable advice from Portsmouth-native Branch Rickey, the baseball executive famous for breaking the color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson.  Rickey also is credited for creating the framework for the modern-day minor league system. “I asked Mr. Rickey what I should do,” Bennett recalled. “He told me to find ‘bird dogs.’ So I found about 40 good people who knew baseball to be my eyes and ears.” These “bird dogs” would report prospects to Bennett and would receive a cut if the player was signed. This assistance made the process manageable as Bennett operated more than 30 camps each summer evaluating an estimated four to five thousand hopefuls.

“There are five things you look for in a player,” Bennett said. “If he can hit, hit with power, run, throw and field.” Rarely are all five qualities immediately apparent. “It’s hard to know if a guy will be able to hit big league stuff until he has the chance, but if you get a guy who can run and throw, he could be a star.”

Bennett knows stars. He is responsible for bringing Don Gullett, Barry Larkin, Chris Sabo, Paul O’Neill, Dave Tomlin, Jeff Russell and Charlie Liebrandt, just to name a few, to the major leagues. He signed Gullet straight out of high school. “The Reds had me look at this kid and asked, ‘when can he pitch in the majors?’ I told them ‘right now’ and 60 days later he was,” Bennett noted. “There weren’t radar guns in those days, but I’d say Gullet was throwing 95 to 100 miles per hour in high school.”

Sometimes luck led to signings. “I signed a pitcher named Larry Lubers who played for the Reds and Cubs,” Bennett said. “I was at Larry’s house one day and asked him if he knew anyone who could play. He said, ‘The guy across the street can throw as good as I can.’ I thought he was kidding, so I asked, ‘Is he home?’” Chris Hook was the neighbor, and, sure enough, he ended up in the major leagues.

Bennett also watched talent get away. He told the story of a “big kid” in southern West Virginia who excelled at softball. Though he had never played baseball, the kid was such a natural Bennett told him, “If you sign this contract today, we’ll have you playing in the South Atlantic League tonight.” The kid signed and “burned up” the South Atlantic. Knowing his signee was destined to make the bigs, Bennett was shocked when the kid suddenly quit.

The young man was resolute and told Bennett,“I got me a job working in the coal mines, and I have myself a girlfriend down here.” Bennett couldn’t change his mind, prematurely ending the playing days of “as talented a player as I ever signed.”

Today, Bennett scouts the other major league teams and evaluates the Reds’ farm system. “As long as my health is good, I’m going to keep going,” he said. As a result of this dedication, Bennett has been named Topps Scout of the Month 14 times and inducted into five halls of fame including the Baseball Scouts Hall of Fame. Bennett also was inducted into the NCAA Basketball Official Hall of Fame for his 21 years as an NCAA official.

With all of these honors, Bennett still cherishes the local recognitions most – being the first elected into the Wheelersburg High School Hall of Fame, having the little league fields named after him, and being immortalized on the Portsmouth, Ohio, murals. “There’s nothing more important in the world than these hometown honors. They come from your friends and family.”

Bennett loves his hometown as much as it loves him, which is why he never left. As a token of his appreciation, he has established a scholarship fund as one way of giving back to a community that has done so much for him. “ I will never leave this area. The greatest people in the world are right here.”