Ben DeMott was born on Tuesday, April 2, 1889, in Green Village, New Jersey. DeMott was 21 years old when he broke into the big leagues on August 12, 1910, with the Cleveland Naps. His biographical data, year-by-year hitting stats, fielding stats, pitching stats (where applicable), career totals, uniform numbers, salary data and miscellaneous items-of-interest are presented by Baseball Almanac on this comprehensive Ben DeMott baseball stats page.
"That player, Ben DeMott, had a locker next to Joe Jackson while with the Cleveland club, before Jackson was traded to the White Sox. DeMott, a pitcher, only spent parts of 1910 and 1911 seasons with Cleveland, and his lifetime record was, alas, 0-4. In his note to (Red) Smith, DeMott stuck-up for Jackson, saying the young player he knew would never have taken a bribe to throw the World Series. Historians have concluded that there is little doubt Jackson was illiterate, though he worked hard to cover up this shortcoming. DeMott said he used to read Jackson's mail to him, but he never thought the player was a dummy. 'I submit that he was quite a guy in many ways,' DeMott reported to Smith. 'The greatest of all his gifts was a damn good and open mind. Joe was far from stupid. He merely lacked education. I have often wondered if education would have take much from his open-mindedness, as well as cluttered up his uncanny memory. As you may not know, he could point to any rule in the book and 'read' it to you, but with enough ad-libbed words to indicate he was reciting. He could do the same thing with the account of any game his wife had read to him. He may have changed much since we both left Cleveland; I wouldn't know. But the Joe Jackson I knew would never have taken a $5,000 bribe to throw a ballgame. He knew too well that discovery would prevent him from playing baseball.'" - Freedman, Lew. Author. Then Ozzie Said to Harold. . .: The Best Chicago White Sox Stories Ever Told. Triumph Books. 1 March 2008.
Ben DeMott |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Biographical Data | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ben DeMottBen DeMott Pitching Stats |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Age | Team | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD |
| 1910 | 21 | Naps | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .000 | 5.40 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28.1 | 125 | 45 | 17 | 23 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1911 | 22 | Naps | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | 12.27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.2 | 19 | 10 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Career | G | GS | GF | W | L | PCT | ERA | CG | SHO | SV | IP | BFP | H | ER | R | HR | BB | IBB | SO | WP | HB | BK | HLD | ||
| 2 Years | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .000 | 6.19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32.0 | 144 | 55 | 22 | 28 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||
Ben DeMottBen DeMott Hitting Stats |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Year | Age | Team | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| 1910 | 21 | Naps | 9 | 18 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 | .211 | .167 |
| 1911 | 22 | Naps | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .200 | .000 |
| Career | G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | GRSL | RBI | BB | IBB | SO | SH | SF | HBP | GIDP | AVG | OBP | SLG | ||
| 2 Years | 11 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .136 | .208 | .136 | ||
Ben DeMottBen DeMott Fielding Stats |
||||||||||||||||
| Team | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
| 1910 Naps | CF | 1 | 0 | 18 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 3.00 |
| 1910 Naps | P | 6 | 4 | 85 | 12 | 2.0 | 12 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 3.81 |
| 1910 Naps | RF | 1 | 1 | 27 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 2.00 |
| 1911 Naps | CF | 1 | 1 | 27 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 1.00 |
| 1911 Naps | P | 1 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 3.0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 7.36 |
| Career | POS | G | GS | OUTS | TC | TC/G | CH | PO | A | E | DP | PB | CASB | CACS | FLD% | RF |
| P Totals | 7 | 5 | 96 | 15 | 2.1 | 15 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 4.22 | |
| CF Totals | 2 | 1 | 45 | 3 | 1.5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 1.80 | |
| RF Totals | 1 | 1 | 27 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 2.00 | |
| 2 Years | 10 | 7 | 168 | 20 | 2.0 | 20 | 7 | 13 | 0 | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 1.000 | 3.21 | |
Ben DeMottBen DeMott Miscellaneous Stats |
||||||||||||
| Baserunning Statistics | Other Positions | Common Hitting Ratios | Common Pitching Ratios | |||||||||
| Team | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
| 1910 Naps | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 | 1.63 | 4.13 | 2.54 |
| 1911 Naps | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 1.00 | 4.91 | 4.91 |
| Career | SB | CS | SB% | PH | PR | DH | AB/HR | AB/K | AB/RBI | K/BB | K/9 | BB/9 |
| 2 Years | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | n/a | 0.0 | 5.5 | 0.0 | 1.50 | 4.22 | 2.81 |
Ben DeMottBen DeMott Miscellaneous Items of Interest |
||||
| Team | Roster | Uniform Numbers | Salary | All-Star | World Series |
| 1910 Cleveland Naps | n/a | Undetermined | n/a | - |
| 1911 Cleveland Naps | n/a | Undetermined | n/a | - |
| Ben DeMott Stats by Baseball Almanac | ||||

Benyew Harrison DeMott was a Major League Baseball player with the (1910-1911). Ben, his nickname, was the first pitcher out of Lafayette College to reach the majors and was often referred to as the Lafayette College Wonder in periodicals, like Sporting Life and The Sporting News. Ben DeMott never appeared on a baseball card, but we do have this rare image of him from a team photo:

Ben DeMott Baseball Photo | 4 September 1910 | Sporting LifeBaseball Almanac Research Library
Did you know that Green Village (New Jersey) is a small (2.44 square miles) community located just north of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, and according to Forbes magazine, it was one of the most expensive places in the United States to live? Why mention this here? Ben DeMott was one of the first-hundred players from the state of New Jersey, and the first in baseball history from Green Village!
If you find this type of "free" data useful please consider making a donation to Baseball Almanac : a privately run / non-commercial site in need of financial assistance.