Ex-Dodger Week Continues: Don Bessent

Ex-Dodger week continues...Don Bessent had a couple fine years at the major league level with the Brooklyn Dodgers, including finishing third in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1955, but he found himself back in AAA by 1959.

Other than his first couple of years in the Yankees organization, Bessent played his entire career in the Dodgers' system, until 1962, when he splits the season between Jacksonville (Cleveland's AAA) and Rochester (Baltimore's AAA).

Bessent's Baseball-Reference major league page has no mention of how he got to those teams, so we head to the newspapers.

From the Spokane Daily Chronicle of Feb. 22, 1962...

“The (Spokane) Indians announced today that Bessent, a 30-year-old right-hander, has been sold to the Class AAA Jacksonville team.”

Bessent would only play in 10 games for Jacksonville before heading to Rochester: 

From  the "On a Silver Diamond" site in an article on the 1962 season:

"Sisler continued to deal, picking up in separate deals pitcher Don Bessant(sp) and third baseman Jim Woods from Jacksonville."

There were no players sent back to Jacksonville for Bessant, so I think we can safely assume a purchase.

Bessant's career was over after that 1963 season, and his life would end tragically in 1990 from alcohol poisoning.

A double ex-Dodger post next time.

 Bessent pic stolen from

www.ootpdevelopments.com