He was always prepping his team for different scenarios they would face at the plate and in their lives. A transcendent figure who was way ahead of his time and what I would call a baseball Aristotle. His work ethic rubbed off on his players and coaches alike.
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He knew how to communicate with everybody and to treat every player as an individual.” - Hank Aaron Ben Geraghtyīaseball is not just about strategy and how you can perform on the diamond, it can change your whole perspective on life. I’ve never played for a guy who could get more out of every ballplayer than he could. “ He was the greatest manager I ever played for, perhaps the greatest manager who ever lived, and that includes managers in the big leagues. According to Pat Jordan’s A False Spring, “His players spoke of him with an awe and reverence one associates not with a minor league manager who had enriched their careers, but with a man who had enriched their lives in a way that had nothing to do with baseball.” The Braves organization counted on him to instill not only a sound work ethic on his players, but also sound character. His life was consumed by baseball and developing young players. It was a time when baseball fans still had a problem with an integrated league.īen Geraghty saw past this façade. A time when you could be refused service based solely upon the color of your skin. The greatest baseball player who ever lived had faced tumultuous hardships when he broke the color line. Under the tutelage of Benny, Hank went from a shy 19-year old second baseman to becoming the starting left fielder for the Milwaukee Braves the next season. It was virtually unheard of for a white baseball manager to have that type of relationship with a black baseball player at that time. Many of them had to do with breaking the color line in the Sally League, which I did along with teammates Felix Mantilla and Horace Garner and two black players for Savannah.” Growing up a Geraghty, I heard this story many times over the course of my life and it just spoke volumes for this Benny’s character.
In his autobiography he says “I had a lot of heart-to-heart talks with Ben Geraghty, the manager of the Jacksonville Braves in 1953. I always wanted to write to Hammerin’ Hank to get more insight on his relationship with my great uncle Ben Geraghty. It was a somber day and a day filled with regret. I just remember being overcome with emotion for a moment. It was my father who texted me that day to notify of his passing. When my classmates heard me mention the name Hank Aaron, a few of them shouted, “That’s the guy who broke Babe Ruth’s record right?” Nodding my head with a grin, I replied, “Yes, but he was so much more than that.” Indeed, he was.įlash forward to Januand now the man who I once thought was immortal, is gone. I attempted to explain to the class the character of these two men that have made an indelible mark on me. My Great Uncle had the pleasure of managing him while he was a player on the Sally League Team, Jacksonville Braves.
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