Name Eddie Bennett | ||
Died January 16, 1935, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States | ||
Eddie bennett s choreography demo reel
Eddie Bennett (1903 – January 16, 1935) was an American batboy and mascot for several teams, most notably the New York Yankees during the 1920s and 1930s. At the time of his death, Bennett was considered to be the "most famous mascot in the world".
Contents
Early life
Bennett was born in Flatbush, Brooklyn. When Bennett was very young, he received a spine injury suffered in a baby carriage incident. That injury left Bennett with a hunchbacked back and restricted his growth, by the time he was an adult he was considered a dwarf. Bennett's parents died in the 1918 flu epidemic, and Bennett, needing a job, convinced Chicago White Sox outfielder Happy Felsch that he had "mystical powers" that could bring good luck to everyone that uses him. He became Felsch's personal mascot and when Felsch play improved, he moved on to become the White Sox personal mascot in 1919. The club won the pennant that year with Bennett sitting on the bench with the players. During the 1919 World Series, eight members of the White Sox, including Felsch decided to throw the World Series. A scandal erupted which later led those eight players receiving lifetime bans from baseball and Bennett left the team to join his hometown Brooklyn Robins. The Robins won the pennant in 1920, but after participating in the first three World Series games both the second and third being Robins victories, Bennett wasn't invited to join the team at Cleveland. The Robins went on to lose their next four games, and the series to the Indians. He soon left the team citing "lack of trust".
New York Yankees
At the age of 18, Bennett became the bat boy for the New York Yankees on the request of Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert. He was considered to be a "good luck charm" by the members of the club, and became a well-known celebrity in New York. Each year, he went down to Florida each to join the Yankees spring training. He became one of Babe Ruth's closest friends on the team, and they played catch on the field nearly every game. A close confidant of manager Miller Huggins, Bennett usually sat next to Huggins during Yankees games, pointing out issues he noticed on the field, a predecessor of a bench coach in today's baseball.
Decline and death
On May 19, 1932, Bennett was hit by a taxi on a New York City street. He suffered a broken leg, and other injuries in which he never recovered from. To find relief from the pain he suffered from the injuries, Bennett started to abuse alcohol. He was forced to retire as the Yankees mascot in the middle of 1933 season. His drinking ended up getting worse and he died of alcoholism at the age of 32. Bennett died penniless in his small room on W. 84th Street in Manhattan. so Ruppert paid for his funeral. Ruppert, general manager Ed Barrow and head scout Paul Krichell were the only top Yankees employees to attend Bennett's funeral service, no player attended the service despite being the off-season.
Bennett's life was mentioned by billionaire Warren Buffett during his annual stockholder report in 2002, saying that Bennett was a key role model during Buffett's career in investing, naming him a "winner at every costs".