Bennett Back to Close More Doors

Published on April 1, 2008 under United League Baseball (ULB)
Rio Grande Valley WhiteWings News Release


Harlingen, TX - The Harlingen WhiteWings announced today they have successfully negotiated contract terms that will bring back RHP Derek Bennett for the upcoming season.

A native of Lawton Oklahoma, he started his professional career with Schaumburg, Northern League, in 2004 where he struggled to find himself as a starting pitcher. He appeared in 11 games with 7 starts recording 1 win and 3 losses while posting a 5.20 ERA. He was released by Schaumburg and was signed by Richmond, Frontier League, as a reliever in 2005 but his challenges continued with 0-2 record and an 8.16 ERA while appearing in just 7 games, before being unconditionally released. After battling through two very tough seasons, he made the decision to take a step back from the game to analyze his position on continuing his professional baseball career and sat out all of 2006.

As history would have it, a year away from baseball was exactly what was needed to reach the potential that everyone in baseball had projected for him. A number of things changed in that year off, including an invite to Spring Training and a contract with the WhiteWings as well as, a move from the starting rotation to the bullpen. With new found life as a closer, he went on to post outstanding numbers with appearances in 35 games while pitching in just 38 innings and a win loss record of 4-2. But most notably was that he finished second in the United League with 22 saves and a league record 0.71 ERA. How about those numbers for a guy who just 18 months earlier was gone from the game, pretty impressive to say the least.

Field Manager, "Dirty" Al Gallagher, looks for much of the same this year from Bennett and is relieved that his top reliever will be wearing a WhiteWings uniform. "Everything I've been told about Derek (Bennett) has been very comforting to me," said Gallagher. "Having an effective closer is vital to our success in winning ballgames but the real challenge is compiling a staff that will allow us to get to that point," added Gallagher. "And what I mean by that is, you can have Dennis Eckersley as your closer but if you can't get to him in the ninth inning with a lead then it doesn't matter who is in that role, it's just that simple really."

It appears that as much as things have changed at the WhiteWings Executive Offices many things remain the same. With just 42 days until opening day, the building of another championship team is starting to fall into place for the skipper.

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United League Baseball Stories from April 1, 2008


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