Bennett continues a life of baseball
Nathan Rode
/ Editor in Chief
For Paul Bennett, the 2006 Major League Baseball draft came
and went with one small surprise. Two of his teammates
weren’t drafted.
He spent those two days in the first week of June scanning
the database in hopes of seeing his friends getting picked
up. When no Elon players were taken, the 2006 graduate and
former shortstop turned his thoughts to summer and the road
ahead.
About a week later, while vacationing at the beach with some
teammates, an unfamiliar number showed up on Bennett’s
phone.
“I didn’t recognize the number,” Bennett
said. “But I picked it up anyway and Billy Best was on
the other end.”
Billy Best, the area scout for the Atlanta Braves, was
calling to offer Bennett a contract to play professional
baseball. Bennett took the offer without hesitation and
proceeded to arrange for a way to get home.
Once the arrangements were complete, he met Best in Raleigh
to work out the final aspects of his contract. Bennett was
excited to get the opportunity to continue playing,
especially for such a quality organization.
“I grew up a Braves fan and always idolized Chipper
Jones,” Bennett said.
Bennett had recently developed an interest in the St. Louis
Cardinals but stated that any time a player is picked up to
play professionally, they tend to shift their interests to
that organization.
With his contract signed, Bennett headed to Orlando, Fla.,
to start workouts with the team. That is when the reality hit
him.
“I got to Orlando and it all started to sink
in,” Bennett said. “We were in the big league
clubhouse at Disney. The same one the big leaguers use for
spring training.”
Bennett was also wowed by the professional jerseys. He was
assigned to begin his career for the Danville Braves of the
Appalachian League. Their uniforms are identical to
Atlanta’s except for a small alteration to the hats. He
was also thrilled by his name being on the back of the
jersey.
“It was pretty cool,” Bennett said,
“especially when I got my first paycheck that said
Braves/TBS on it.”
Being assigned to Danville also meant that Bennett would get
a return to the Elon area when his team faced off against the
Burlington Indians, whose stadium is only about six miles
from Elon’s campus.
The Braves signed Bennett to be a utility man, a role that
he filled during his four years at Elon. Originally, he was
filling in for players who needed a day off, but his part on
the team began to escalate.
In July, Danville’s third baseman went down with an
injury. Bennett’s teammates had been telling him to be
patient and that his turn would come. With an injured player,
he began to see more time and also started swinging the bat
well. In July, he batted .354 and by the beginning of August,
he had shifted to become the everyday second baseman.
The transition from college to the pros can be skeptical
with the change from metal to wood bats. But Bennett found no
problems and hit the ground running.
“There wasn’t a huge change for me,”
Bennett said. “I had adjusted from metal to wood with
college summer leagues. The biggest thing I’ve noticed
is that when you move up from high school to college to the
pros everything happens a little faster.”
Fast is a reasonable way to look at it considering he has
gone from vacationing graduate to a bold statement in
professional baseball. Toward the end of the season, Bennett
learned that he had been invited to the Braves instructional
league. Instructional leagues are held in the off-season for
players that the organization thinks need just little bit of
tweaking in order to become in impact player. At first it
sounds like a step down but it’s actually a league for
players who the team is interested in holding onto and making
improvements.
Bennett finished the season batting .275 with 34 runs scored
and 11 stolen bases. Over the three months that he was with
the team, he became close with his teammates and realized he
belonged at this level, especially after being an important
piece in the puzzle that became an Appalachian League
championship for the Danville Braves.
“Only a handful of guys get to move and it means a
lot,” Bennett said. “The whole season was a great
experience and the championship capped it off.”
Contact Nathan Rode at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247. | 
