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Eugene Benson (October 2, 1913 – April 6, 1999) was an American center fielder in baseball's Negro leagues. He played for the Philadelphia Stars in 1937, moved to the Homestead Grays in 1938, and returned to the Stars from 1939 to 1948. He stood 5-foot-8 and weighed 185 pounds at the peak of his career.
The Marian Anderson Recreation Center at 17th and Fitzwater Streets in Philadelphia, near Marian Anderson's birthplace, has a baseball field called "Anderson Yards". Benson was invited to throw out the first pitch on opening day of the 1998 little league season at the field. The league "retired" and placed on the outfield wall, Jackie Robinson's number 42 and Benson's number 16.
In 2003, baseball historian Bill James identified Benson as the top Negro league player of the 1944 season.
On February 26, 2024, the Jump Start (comic strip) revealed that Benson was strip creator Robb Armstrong's great uncle.http://www.gocomics.com/jumpstart/2024/02/26 The Peanuts character, Franklin Armstrong (who Charles Schultz added the last name after Robb Armstrong in 1994) in the February 16, 2024 Apple TV Animated Special Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin, Franklin shares that his great uncle was Eugene (Gene) Benson, the Negro League baseball player.
and [https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=benson000gen Baseball-Reference Black Baseball stats] and [https://www.seamheads.com/NegroLgs/player.php?playerID=benso01gen Seamheads]
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