Benny Bengough, 1932
Photographer: Charles Conlon
Photo Subject: Benny Bengough, catcher for the St. Louis Browns, posing for photographer Charles Conlon as if he was going after a foul ball.
Fun Fact: Benny Bengough (pronounced “ben-goff”) is not the first person I think of when I consider some of the great catchers who have graced baseball. His baseball career started as a walk-on to the Buffalo Bisons, and since he had his own catching gear, the team agreed to pay him $5 a game for warming up the starting pitcher. Rumor has it that it was his mother’s incessant nagging to manager Patsy Donovan that got him the starting assignment on Buffalo Bisons.
In 1923, Bengough moved up to the New York Yankees as a back-up catcher. Standing 5’ 7” and weighing 145 pounds, he was referred to as the “Peter Pan of baseball”, as some joked he looked more like a batboy than a player. Benny eventually ballooned up to nearly 170 pounds. He was known as a strong defensive backstop, but he was troubled with chronic arm pain and he swung a weak bat.
Today, Bengough is probably best known not for his performance on the baseball field, but for the rarity of his baseball card. The 1933 Goudey Baseball card set was the first sports card set that was packaged with bubble gum. The complete set has 239 cards, and the first card of this prized set is . . . Benny Bengough, mimicking the Charles Conlon photo. The Benny Bengough card is often the hole that needs to be plugged in many collectors’ sets, with a Mint condition card having an estimated value of $100,000.
Painting Detail: Printed on 13” x 19” canvas and painted using Schmincke Mussini and Marshall’s oil paints. Finer details, like cap pinstripes, were made using Prismacolor pencils.
Acknowledgement: Society for American Baseball Research, Cort Vitty.