Bennett was born on October 31, 1916, in
Obion,
Tennessee; the youngest of two children born to Laurence D. and Edna May Bennett (né Brown).[5][6] By 1920, the family had relocated to
Fulton, Kentucky.[7]
In 1946, Bennett returned, only to find yet another truncated season. Signing with the
Boston Blues of
Branch Rickey's soon-to-be-defunct
USL,[16] the once highly valued outfielder appeared only sporadically (and primarily as a second baseman), but did contribute a number of timely hits, including some tape-measure blasts. Case in point, Pittsburgh, May 19, when Bennett's ninth-inning line drive "over the huge
Forbes Field scoreboard" gave Boston a 5–4 victory over the
Pittsburgh Crawfords.[17] On June 11, the main point of interest in Boston's rain-shortened 3–0 win over
Brooklyn was Bennett's "mammoth home run," launched in the 4th inning with one aboard.[18]The Lancaster New Era dubbed it
Stumpf Field's "longest home run of the season," adding:
[T]he big thrill of the night came when Brad Bennett, second sacker for the Blues, blasted one over the left field fence in the fourth inning. The customers, of course, have seen home runs knocked over that particular section of Stumpf Field, but it's been some time since they saw one sail so high and far away. Actually, the wallop carried the ball over the tree-tops that tower over the fence.[19]
On August 12, Bennett helped his team – then struggling to retake first place from the surging Crawfords – eke out a much needed 7–5 win with two singles and a booming triple "that rolled almost out to the 520 foot marker in center field."[20]
^Leak, Curtis A. (March 27, 1943).
"Black Yanks Grid for Play". New York Amsterdam Star-News. p. 14. "... Bradford Bennett, young recruit, who gave signs of developing into a master performer at the initial sack". Retrieved May 25, 2021.