Ben Geraghty

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.

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.

He graduated in 1932.

Geraghty then attended Villanova University, majoring in journalism.

He continued to play baseball and basketball, both of which were coached by George Jacobs.

Standing 5 ft tall and weighing 170 lb, Geraghty was shorter than average for a basketball player, but he scored a great deal of points and was named the team captain as a senior.

For the baseball team, he played third base, though he had to battle Frank Skaff for playing time.

While Geraghty was playing baseball for Villanova, scout Mel Logan recommended him to the Brooklyn Dodgers.

A Jersey City native, Geraghty went right from Villanova University to the 1936 Brooklyn Dodgers, appearing in 51 games with the team in his rookie season.

Geraghty attended spring training for the Dodgers in 1936 and made a strong impression with manager Casey Stengel.

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.

Jimmy Jordan made the first three starts of the year at shortstop; then, Geraghty played 15 straight games at the position.

Making his MLB debut on April 17, he played all 10 innings of a game against the Philadelphia Phillies, recording two hits and a run batted in (RBI) in a 4–3 Dodger victory.

He batted .429 in his first 10 games.

On April 19, Jimmie Wilson of the Phillies kicked the baseball away from Geraghty as he stole second base.

"He won't pull that again on me. The next time I'll just take that throw and tag him on the nose with the ball," Geraghty informed Stengel.

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.

He made just one start at shortstop after June 9, though he began getting playing time at other infield positions, such as second base and third base.

After July 29, the Dodgers sent him to the Allentown Brooks of the Class A New York-Penn League.

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.

Patrick died in an accident not long after Ben's 14th birthday, when he was crushed between two trucks at work.

Thomas, the second-oldest boy who worked as a policeman in the community, helped raise the younger children after Patrick's death.

During his freshman and sophomore years of high school, Geraghty attended St. Peter's Preparatory School in Jersey City, where he played baseball as a pitcher and also was part of the basketball team.

He transferred to St. Benedict's Preparatory School in Newark as junior.

By this time, he had begun playing football as well, though his high school yearbook implied that basketball was his best sport.