Bennett to be Inducted Into Binghamton Baseball Shrine

Windsor Central High School graduate and longtime Black Knight physical education teacher and coach Joel Bennett will add another honor to his baseball career when he is inducted into the Binghamton Baseball Shrine on Saturday, September 5th at 5:30 p.m. at Mirabito Stadium before the Binghamton Rumble Ponies host to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.
A Binghamton native, Bennett was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 21st round of the 1991 MLB Draft after playing at East Stroudsburg University. His professional career spanned 17 seasons, including time in the Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies organizations. In 1993, Bennett led all of Minor League Baseball with 221 strikeouts before making his Major League debut with the Orioles in 1998.

The Shrine induction follows Bennett’s 2024 induction into the Greater Binghamton Sports Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Section IV and East Stroudsburg University Halls of Fame.

“It’s a wonderful honor. I wasn’t expecting that,” Bennett said after receiving the news from the Binghamton Rumble Ponies. “Years ago, I was in the Section IV Hall of Fame, then Greater Binghamton Hall of Fame, so this is an honor. It’s wonderful.”

Bennett returned to the area and began teaching physical education in the Windsor Central School District in 2002. He has also spent more than 20 years coaching baseball golf, sharing his professional experience with generations of Windsor student-athletes.

While Bennett never played for a Binghamton team, one of the most memorable moments of his career and life came while playing in his hometown for the Bowie Baysox.

“My wife was very pregnant with our eldest. She was our class president and that night they met to discuss their 10-year reunion. They ate at Cortese. I lived in Sidney at the time and my manager allowed me to stay home instead of the hotel. On August 9th we drove all the way home to Sidney. I was ready to go to bed and my wife yelled from the kitchen, 'I think my water broke.' So, we rushed to the hospital. That was at about 12:30am,” said Bennett.

Bennett’s first child, Jonah, was born at 3:30 a.m.

“So, if I was anywhere else in that league, I would have missed it,” Bennett said. “The only place I could have been was home in Binghamton.”

Bennett is looking forward to sharing this latest honor with family and friends and returning to a minor league park.

“Just having family and friends who are aware of it coming out to spend some time. Being in that atmosphere, I don’t get to be there that often with coaching and being with my family. It will be fun to be back in that atmosphere and seeing those young players," said Bennett.