Don Bessent

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Don Bessent \buh-SENT\

Fred Donald Bessent (The Weasel)

Position: Pitcher
Bats: Right, Throws: Right
Height: 6' 0", Weight: 175 lb.

Born: March 13, 1931 in Jacksonville, FL
High School: Jacksonville HS (Jacksonville, FL)
Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1950. (All Transactions)
Debut: July 17, 1955 (Age 24)
Team: Dodgers 1955-1958

Final Game: September 27, 1958 (Age 27)
Died: July 7, 1990 in Jacksonville, FL
Buried: Oaklawn Cemetery, Jacksonville, FL
About biographical information

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Standard Pitching

More Stats

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB	Awards
1950	19	NYY-min	D	22	7	.759	2.23	29						242.0	190	92	60	10	92								1.165	7.1	0.4	3.4			LGA · GAAL
1951	20	NYY-min	B	11	2	.846	2.04	17	13					128.0	95	36	29		57								1.188	6.7		4.0			NFK · PIED
1953	22	LAD-min	AAA	11	10	.524	4.32	31	17		5	2		150.0	153	81	72	11	71		65	2	1	2			1.493	9.2	0.7	4.3	3.9	0.92	STP · AA
1954	23	LAD-min	AAA	12	13	.480	3.93	35	26		11	2		183.0	187	92	80	16	67		104	2	0	11			1.388	9.2	0.8	3.3	5.1	1.55	STP · AA
1955	24	LAD-min	AAA	8	5	.615	3.58	16	14		7	1		108.0	109	46	43	4	35	2	52	2	0	5			1.333	9.1	0.3	2.9	4.3	1.49	STP · AA
1955	24	BRO	NL	8	1	.889	2.70	24	2	8	1	0	3	63.1	51	19	19	7	21	2	29	0	0	1	255	152	1.137	7.2	1.0	3.0	4.1	1.38	RoY-3
1956	25	BRO	NL	4	3	.571	2.50	38	0	21	0	0	9	79.1	63	23	22	5	31	6	52	0	0	4	324	161	1.185	7.1	0.6	3.5	5.9	1.68
1957	26	BRO	NL	1	3	.250	5.73	27	0	16	0	0	0	44.0	58	28	28	5	19	3	24	0	0	1	204	72	1.750	11.9	1.0	3.9	4.9	1.26
1958	27	LAD	NL	1	0	1.000	3.33	19	0	0	0	0	0	24.1	24	14	9	3	17	0	13	1	0	0	107	127	1.685	8.9	1.1	6.3	4.8	0.76
1959	28	LAD-min	AAA	7	5	.583	2.65	20	18		4	0		119.0	111	43	35	9	48	1	50	4	0	1			1.336	8.4	0.7	3.6	3.8	1.04	STP · AA
1960	29	LAD-min	AAA	9	12	.429	4.42	36	25					163.0	174	94	80	12	70								1.497	9.6	0.7	3.9			STP · AA
1961	30	LAD-min	AAA	8	5	.615	5.77	59	2					103.0	117	70	66	10	56								1.680	10.2	0.9	4.9			SPO · PCL
1962	31	BAL-CLE-min	AAA	3	3	.500	6.80	15	5		1	0		49.0	70	41	37	7	54	2	25	1	0	3			2.531	12.9	1.3	9.9	4.6	0.46	ROC,JCK · IL
4 Yrs				14	7	.667	3.33	108	2	45	1	0	12	211.0	196	84	78	20	88	11	118	1	0	6	890	123	1.346	8.4	0.9	3.8	5.0	1.34
162 Game Avg.				9	4	.667	3.33	67	1	28	1	0	7	130	121	52	48	12	54	7	73	1	0	4	550	123	1.346	8.4	0.9	3.8	5.0	1.34

Player Value--Pitchers

WAR Explained (v2.2): 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	IP	G	GS	R	RA9	RA9opp	RA9def	PPFp	RA9avg	RAA	WAA	gmLI	WAAadj	WAR	RAR	waaWL%	162WL%	Awards
1955	24	BRO	NL	63.1	24	2	19	2.70	4.51	0.42	100.6	4.12	11	1.2	1.4	0.1	2.0	17	.550	.507	RoY-3
1956	25	BRO	NL	79.1	38	0	23	2.61	4.21	0.54	108.2	3.97	13	1.5	1.7	0.4	2.7	20	.539	.509
1957	26	BRO	NL	44.0	27	0	28	5.73	4.49	0.28	107.8	4.54	-6	-0.6	.7	0.0	-0.1	-1	.479	.496
1958	27	LAD	NL	24.1	19	0	14	5.18	4.77	-0.16	103.2	5.09	-0	-0.0	1.1	-0.0	0.2	2	.499	.500
4 Seasons				211.0	108	2	84	3.58	4.42	0.37	105.3	4.26	19	2.1	1.3	0.5	4.8	37	.519	.503

Postseason Pitching

Postseason Gamelog

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Series	Rslt	Opp	W	W-L%	ERA	G	GF	IP	H	R	ER	BB	IBB	SO	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
1955	24	BRO	NL	WS	W	NYY	0		0.00	3	0	3.1	3	0	0	1	0	1	0	12	1.200	8.1	2.7	2.7	1.00
1956	25	BRO	NL	WS	L	NYY	1	1.000	1.80	2	1	10.0	8	2	2	3	1	5	1	41	1.100	7.2	2.7	4.5	1.67
2 Yrs (2 Series)							1	1.000	1.35	5	1	13.1	11	2	2	4	1	6	1	53	1.125	7.4	2.7	4.1	1.50
2 WS							1	1.000	1.35	5	1	13.1	11	2	2	4	1	6	1	53	1.125	7.4	2.7	4.1	1.50

Standard Batting

More Stats

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	Pos	Awards
1950	19	NYY-min	D	43	120	120		33	1	2	3						.275	.275	.392	.667		47							LGA · GAAL
1951	20	NYY-min	B	22	57	57		17	0	0	3						.298	.298	.456	.754		26							NFK · PIED
1953	22	LAD-min	AAA	31	58	47	3	11	3	0	0	5	0		5	1	.234	.308	.298	.606		14	5	0	6				STP · AA
1954	23	LAD-min	AAA	35	72	62	10	10	3	0	0	9	0		5	5	.161	.221	.210	.430		13	0	0	4	1			STP · AA
1955	24	LAD-min	AAA	17	42	37	5	7	1	0	1	4	0		0	3	.189	.189	.297	.486		11	1	0	5	0			STP · AA
1955	24	BRO	NL	24	23	20	1	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	8	.100	.100	.100	.200	-47	2	1	0	3	0	0	1	RoY-3
1956	25	BRO	NL	38	20	18	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	.111	.105	.111	.216	-44	2	1	0	1	1	0	1
1957	26	BRO	NL	27	4	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.250	.250	.250	.500	31	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
1958	27	LAD	NL	19	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	-100	0	0	0	1	0	0	1
1959	28	LAD-min	AAA	23	45	39	3	12	2	0	0	9	0		0	8	.308	.308	.359	.667		14		0	6	0	3		STP · AA
1960	29	LAD-min	AAA	41	59	58	3	11	4	0	0	6	0		1	9	.190	.203	.259	.462		15							STP · AA
1961	30	LAD-min	AAA	60	23	23	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	.087	.087	.087	.174		2							SPO · PCL
1962	31	BAL-CLE-min	AAA	15	19	15	4	5	0	0	0	3	0	0	3	0	.333	.444	.333	.778		5		0	1	0			ROC,JCK · IL
4 Yrs				108	50	44	1	5	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	14	.114	.111	.114	.225	-41	5	2	0	5	1	0
162 Game Avg.				162	75	66	2	8	0	0	0	5	0	0	0	21	.114	.111	.114	.225	-41	8	3	0	8	2	0

Player Value--Batters

WAR Explained (v2.2): 8+ MVP, 5+ A-S, 2+ Starter, 0-2 Sub, < 0 Repl

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	Rbat	Rbaser	Rdp	Rpos	RAA	WAA	Rrep	RAR	WAR	waaWL%	162WL%	oWAR	dWAR	oRAR	Pos	Awards
1955	24	BRO	NL	24	23	-5	-0	-0	2	-3	-0.3	1	-2	-0.3	.488	.498	-0.3	-0.0	-2	1	RoY-3
1956	25	BRO	NL	38	20	-4	-0	-0	2	-2	-0.2	1	-1	-0.2	.494	.499	-0.2	-0.1	-1	1
1957	26	BRO	NL	27	4	0	-0	0	0	1	0.1	0	1	0.1	.503	.500	0.1	-0.0	1	1
1958	27	LAD	NL	19	3	-1	0	0	0	-0	-0.1	0	-0	-0.1	.497	.500	-0.1	-0.0	-0	1
4 Seasons				108	50	-9	-0	-0	5	-5	-0.5	2	-3	-0.5	.495	.499	-0.5	-0.1	-3

Postseason Batting

Postseason Gamelog

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Series	Opp	Rslt	G	PA	AB	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	SH
1955	24	BRO	NL	WS	NYY	W	3	1	1	0	0	0	1	.000	.000	.000	.000	0	0
1956	25	BRO	NL	WS	NYY	L	2	4	2	1	1	1	1	.500	.667	.500	1.167	1	1
2 Yrs (2 Series)							5	5	3	1	1	1	2	.333	.500	.333	.833	1	1
2 WS							5	5	3	1	1	1	2	.333	.500	.333	.833	1	1

Standard Fielding

More Stats

Year	Tm	Lg	Age	Pos	G	GS	CG	Inn	Ch	PO	A	E	DP	Fld%	RF/9	RF/G	lgFld%	lgRF9	lgRFG	SB	CS	CS%	lgCS%	Awards
1955	BRO	NL	24	P	24	2	1	63.1	12	1	11	0	0	1.000	1.71	0.50	.950	2.03	2.02	2	1	33%	44%	RoY-3
1956	BRO	NL	25	P	38	0	0	79.1	12	3	8	1	1	.917	1.25	0.29	.966	2.05	2.03	2	2	50%	40%
1957	BRO	NL	26	P	27	0	0	44.0	10	6	4	0	0	1.000	2.05	0.37	.962	2.07	2.08	1	2	67%	39%
1958	LAD	NL	27	P	19	0	0	24.1	8	2	6	0	2	1.000	2.96	0.42	.955	1.96	1.96	1	1	50%	38%
	4 Seasons			P	108	2	1	211.0	42	12	29	1	3	.976	1.75	0.38	.958	2.04	2.03	6	6	50%	41%
	4 Seasons			TOT	108	2	1	211.0	42	12	29	1	3	.976	1.75	0.38	.958	2.04	2.03	6	6	50%	41%

Note: Fielding stats are a combination of official records and RetroSheet records. Both are likely to have substantial errors and will not match perfectly.

View Complete Notes on Fielding Data

Leagues historically made no effort to balance team, league, and player fielding stats. Since 1990 or so, computers have made this feasible, but prior to that there are hundreds or thousands of discrepancies each year in games played (even whether a player played a position), putouts, assists, double plays and errors.

Pre-1945 SB & CS data for catchers is estimated from catcher assists, games started and opposition stolen bases.
From 1945 on SB, CS, Pickoff, & WP data for catchers and pitchers is taken from play-by-play accounts in the retrosheet files. There are several hundred games without pbp from 1945 to 1973 and for those we may not have any data.
CG & GS come from the retrosheet data and should be complete and pretty accurate from 1916 on.
Innings played (like SB and CS) come from the retrosheet play-by-play data and should be considered mostly complete from 1945 to 1973 and complete from then on.
Stats (PO,A,G, etc) for LF-CF-RF positions (since 1916) is taken from play-by-play or box score data as available.
Stats (PO,A,G,etc) for C,P,1B,2B,3B,SS,OF positions is taken from the official reported totals and may have been corrected at various times since their publication.
For detailed information on which games retrosheet is missing play-by-play from 1945 to 1973, please see their most wanted games list
For detailed information on the availability of data on this site by year, see our data coverage page

Appearances on Leader Boards, Awards, and Honors

Stats are Year-Value-Rank · Glossary

Saves s c a p y 1956 NL 9 (4th)	Games Finished s c a p y 1956 NL 21 (8th)	Adj. Pitching Runs s c a p y 1956 NL 13 (9th)	Adj. Pitching Wins s c a p y 1956 NL 1.4 (10th)
Base-Out Runs Saved (RE24)† s c a p y 1956 NL 16.73 (8th)	Win Probability Added (WPA)† s c a p y 1955 NL 1.8 (9th) 1956 NL 1.9 (7th)	Base-Out Wins Saved (REW)† s c a p y 1956 NL 1.7 (10th)

† Statistics like WPA, REW and RE24 are computed from play-by-play data which is only complete from 1974 to the present. From 1945-1973, the data is incomplete, though for most seasons only less than 20 games per season total are missing. Please see our page on data coverage for a full view of the data used to create these leaderboards.

Hall Of Fame Statistics

Player rank in (·)

Gray Ink	Pitching - 3 (2159), Average HOFer ≈ 185
Hall of Fame Monitor	Pitching - 7 (1162), Likely HOFer ≈ 100
JAWS	Relief Pitcher (654th), 4.3 career WAR/4.3 7yr-peak WAR/4.3 JAWS Average HOF RP (out of 5) = 40.6 career WAR/27.9 7yr-peak WAR/34.3 JAWS

Similarity Scores

Explanation of Similarity Scores

Similar Pitchers

Compare Stats to Similars

Joe Verbanic (983)
Luis Aponte (982)
Bill Kelso (981)
Bill Atkinson (980)
Frank Barrett (979)
Nate Snell (979)
Luis Aloma (979)
Phil Paine (978)
Logan Ondrusek (978)
Ed Hanyzewski (977)

Most Similar by Ages

Hold mouse over #'s to see names

Greg Harris (982) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Mariano Rivera (987) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C
Murry Dickson (984) 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 C

Transactions

Before 1950 Season: Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent.
December 2, 1952: Drafted by the Brooklyn Dodgers from the New York Yankees in the 1952 minor league draft.

The transaction information used here was obtained free of charge from and is copyrighted by RetroSheet. We attempt to update transactions throughout the season.

Other Resources & Links

Error? Compare Search SABR's Baseball Index Other Links@google.com Baseball Library Baseball-Almanac.com Retrosheet The Baseball Cube WahooSam.com WhatIfSports: Don Bessent

Viewed 8,627 times through May 15, 2013.
Name and misspellings: Fred The dave Don Donald Weasel Bessent

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