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john/z28jd Great scans Joe. I think Bennett is hall of fame worthy based on how great he was defensively at an incredibly difficult position. Just check these stats of Bennett vs Ewing who not only is the only 19th century catcher in the hall of fame, but he was considered by some as the greatest player of his generation,especially defensively. They played in the same era, Ewing caught just 636 games which is a high total for catchers still,but it shows that he had time off in between catching assignments which gave his hands time to heal. He had 360 passed balls and a .931 fielding % which was well over the avg at that time. Bennett on the other hand played played 954 games behind the plate but committed just 352 passed balls,8 less in 318 more games. He also had a fielding % of .942 in that same era.
He obviously wasnt as good offensively as Ewing but he did have 3 seasons over .300 hitting and like Joe said,his average was hurt by the fact he could barely grip a bat near the end of his career which resulted in some poor offensive season but he was still dominant defensively at a position most of us wouldnt last an inning at under 19th century conditions,especially considering he started in 1878 when gloves were more like just hands. If Ewing is an obvious first ballot hall of famer, its hard to believe a guy who matched him defensively while playing 50% more games than he did,isnt even considered.