Ben Geraghty

American baseball player (1912–1963)

Benjamin Raymond Geraghty (July 19, 1912 – June 18, 1963) was an American infielder in Major League Baseball and one of the most successful and respected minor league managers of the 1950s. A Jersey City native, Geraghty went right from Villanova University to the Brooklyn Dodgers, appearing in 51 games with the team in his rookie season. He appeared in 19 more games with the Boston Braves over the 1943 and 1944 seasons, compiling a batting average of .199 in 146 at bats with 29 hits in 71 career games. In 1946, he survived a horrific bus crash that killed nine of his Spokane Indians teammates. As he wound up his playing career, Geraghty started managing. He was part of the Milwaukee Braves system for nine years from 1953 through 1961, during which time Hank Aaron played for him. Aaron considered Geraghty the best manager he ever had. In his 18 year managing career, Geraghty won 1,432 games and lost 1,154 (.554). He won five pennants in seven years (1953–59) while piloting Braves affiliates. In the ten seasons of 1953 through 1962, a Geraghty managed team never finished lower than second place. He was managing the Jacksonville Suns in 1963 when he suffered a fatal heart attack on June 18, just shy of his 51st birthday.

Benjamin Raymond Geraghty was born on July 19, 1912, in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was the youngest of eight children of Patrick and Ida Geraghty, Irish immigrants to the United States. Patrick held several jobs during Ben's childhood; he was employed for over ten years as a teamster, then as a chauffeur for a tea factory, and finally as a night manager at the garage for the National Grocery Company. The Geraghtys lived on 157 Grand Street in Jersey City, along with two of Ida's brothers, the four member Greaves family, and a boarder from Sweden. Thomas, the second oldest boy who worked as a policeman in the community, helped raise the younger children after Patrick's death. Lonny Frey, the incumbent shortstop for the team, was error prone and missed time in mid March with an injury. At the close of spring training, Stengel decided to move Frey to second base and added Geraghty to the Opening Day roster. He batted .429 in his first 10 games. Seven days later, also against Philadelphia, Geraghty became the first of a handful of players to reach first base on catcher's interference twice during a game. Phillies catcher Earl Grace wrongly calculated that the rookie Geraghty and an inexperienced umpire would not notice him block Geraghty's swing. A hand injury caused Geraghty to miss five games in May. Upon his return, he struggled to hit. After July 29, the Dodgers sent him to the Allentown Brooks of the Class A New York Penn League. Finishing the 1936 season with Allentown, Geraghty batted .246 with 28 hits in 35 games. That fall, he returned to Villanova, finishing his journalism degree.

Geraghty's rights had been acquired by the Trenton Senators, a Class A Eastern League affiliate of the Washington Senators, in August 1937. He debuted with the team in 1938, batting .264 with 117 hits in 120 games. Williamsport purchased his contract after the game, and Baseball Reference. com indicates he was under contract to the Grays in 1940, though no statistics are recorded. Training in Wallingford, Connecticut, the Braves tried to do most of their work indoors initially, but they ended this practice after Geraghty and two others suffered minor leg injuries because of the slick floor. Geraghty made the team and was still with them by the time the All Star Game was played. After going hitless with the Braves in 1943, Geraghty had four hits in 16 at bats for them in 1944. He actually began the 1945 season on Boston's roster but was sent to the minors in mid May without having played. Geraghty's head wound required 28 stitches to close, and he was on crutches as the result of a broken kneecap. Geraghty was able to return to Spokane to play for and manage the Indians in 1947. He appeared in 31 games for the Indians, batting .348. and developed a reputation as a heavy drinker.

Geraghty was released after the 1947 season. He had come into conflict with team owner Sam Collins when he criticized the release of an outfielder, but his popularity with the fans had helped him last the rest of the season before getting released. Hired by the Cleveland Indians in 1948, he started the year playing for and managing the Meridian Peps of the Class B Southeastern League. Later in the year, he managed the Palatka Azaleas of the Class D Florida State League as they finished the season in eighth place. The Tars finished second in the SAL with a 79–58 record, but they slumped to seventh in 1952 with a 69–85 record. Baseball's future home run king also recalled that "he chewed me out when I needed it, but he told me how good I could be and – most important – he taught me how to study the game, and never make the same mistake twice." The Braves won the SAL pennant with a 93–44 record in 1953, and Geraghty was named the league's best manager. He led the Braves to another pennant in 1954, with an 83–57 record. Jacksonville finished second in 1955 with a 79–61 record, Caguas Guayama won the league title and tied for second in the subsequent Caribbean Series, played against teams from surrounding nations. As it battled for the title, Wichita dealt with injuries to key players and saw several of their regulars promoted to the major league club, which was also in a pennant race. In fact, Geraghty recommended to Milwaukee general manager John Quinn that the team promote Bob Hazle, one of Wichita's starting outfielders. Hazle went on to bat .403 in the season's final two months, helping the parent club win the National League (NL) pennant and ultimately the 1957 World Series. Despite losing key players, Geraghty secured his fourth minor league pennant, as Wichita won the American Association title with a record of 93–61 before losing in the first round of the playoffs. "I think Dressen coming into our organization will mean a big difference to our personnel in Milwaukee. The boys will be better off," Geraghty graciously said in January 1960. "I know how badly he wanted to manage in the big leagues, so I know how much it hurt when he didn't get the job," Aaron recalled in 1972. Grimm made him part of his strategy board in Milwaukee's 1960 spring training. Returning to Louisville in 1961, Geraghty managed the team for the whole year, leading the Colonels to an 80–70 record and a second place finish. Convinced that he would never advance in Milwaukee's organization, as the Braves viewed him as more valuable as a developmental coach than a major league manager, Geraghty left the Braves' organization, having managed their teams for nine years. Jacksonville fans were glad to have their old manager back. That January, he underwent a four hour operation in a Jacksonville hospital to correct a circulatory condition. Recovering in time for spring training, he led his 1962 Suns to 94 victories and earned his second Sporting News Minor League Manager of the Year Award and final pennant, although his Suns were defeated in seven games by the Atlanta Crackers in the finals of the Governors' Cup playoffs. Tommy John played for Geraghty in 1962 and 1963 with the Suns. He heard that Geraghty had once been a great instructor in the minor leagues, but by the time John joined the team, Geraghty tended to favor the veterans over the younger players, since the veterans needed less instruction. John also observed the impact the bus accident had on Geraghty. "I noticed that Ben never slept on long bus trips. He'd sit in his seat all night, wide awake, just staring out the window. Or when the club was at home, he'd go into his office, which was directly opposite my locker, and sit there silently chain smoking cigarettes and swigging his beer. He'd stare at nothing, as if trying to remember something or maybe trying to forget." The Suns got off to a slow start in 1963, with a 26–39 record through June 17. Bobby Maduro, the team owner, discussed with Geraghty which players the club might obtain to help their performance. That night, he suffered shoulder pain. Next morning, he awoke with chest pain. His wife phoned for medical help, but Geraghty was stricken with a fatal heart attack, dying at 4:15 A. M., one month shy of his 51st birthday. He is interred in Jacksonville's Evergreen Cemetery. In his 18 year managing career, Geraghty won 1,432 games and lost 1,154 (.554). He won five pennants in seven years (1953–59) while piloting Braves affiliates. In the ten seasons of 1953 through 1962, a Geraghty managed team never finished lower than second place. They had five children: Patrick, Elizabeth, Barry, Thomas, and Benjamin Jr. (or "Benjie"). The 1946 bus crash left him in a state of constant anxiety whenever he rode buses. Jordan recalled that he would wear a lucky shirt, drink an entire case of beer, and chatter incessantly with the bus driver. "He had an amazing capacity for beer the unusual thing about him, though, was that he never seemed to show the effects of it at all," Aaron recalled.