Playing Career
Benson attended Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina. 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 St. Louis Cardinals. While he appeared in only 46 games for St. Louis between 1951–53, 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 RBI.
He became a manager in the Redbird system in 1956 with the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the Class C Northern League. During the middle of the 1961 season, he was promoted to the Cardinals to serve as a coach under new skipper Johnny Keane.
Read more about this topic: Vern Benson
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