One of Alberta’s best bats is also one of its least known

T.J. Bennett (Lethbridge, Alta.) rounds the bases after breaking the single-season Australian League homerun record (17).

June 30, 2023

By Trevor Fitzpatrick

Canadian Baseball Network

The name T.J. Bennett is one likely unfamiliar to Canadian ball fans.

While the 30-year-old was born in Lethbridge, his hometown is usually listed as Mesa, Ariz.-- a side-effect of having a well-travelled father.

Jim Bennett, T.J.’s father, played minor league ball for three seasons in the Seattle Mariners and San Diego Padres systems, before being offered a job as a pitching coach with the Lethbridge Mounties of the Pioneer League under manager Larry Milbourne.

“Baseball has always been in my blood,” said Bennett.

When T.J. Bennett was born July 22, 1992, his father’s Mounties went 24-50, finishing 28 games behind the first-place Billings Mustangs. That team included Rodney Meyers, who went 5-8 with a 4.01 ERA before going on to a nine-year career with the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Hence, the listing of his birthplace. It wasn’t long before the family travelled to Mesa, causing the confusion between his birthplace and hometown. The travel never really slowed down for Bennett; he would go on to rival even his dad’s resume.

He played three seasons of NCAA Division I ball starting in 2011, split between the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles and the University of Utah Utes. He played 150 total games, tallying 75 RBIs.

From there, he spent some time across various independent leagues. His resume includes suiting up for teams from across the San Francisco Giants’ farm system, the Frontier League, American Association, Atlantic League, and his favourite, the Australian Baseball League (AUBL).

While the numbers aren’t final as he continues to play, to this point in his career, Bennett holds an impressive .285 batting average and 134 home runs if you combine his stats from all of the teams he’s played with.

Bennett’s first appearance in the AUBL came during the 2015-16 season for the Brisbane Bandits, before even his time in the minors. No matter where his travels took him, he always seemed to find his way back to Brisbane, returning every season until the 2018-19, when he left for a few years before returning again in the 2022-23 season.

“There’s a reason I keep coming back to the Bandits,” said Bennett, “the atmosphere and the fans are great. It’s become a special place for me.”

Bennett’s offensive output has been something to see during his time in Brisbane. Across his five seasons, he hit .313 and has broken the single-season home run record twice. The first time came during the 2017-18 season when he hit 16 in 37 games, and the second time in the most recent 2022-23 season when he hit 17 in 40 games.

In Bennett’s mind though, the Bandits taking home the league’s championship three times during his tenure was the better milestone.

“The home run record was nice, it was a great feeling, but being able to contribute so much to a winning team will always feel better.”

Of course, the independent circuits were not the highest level that Bennett played at. His three years in the San Francisco Giants organization were. From 2016 to 2018, Bennett suited up for the rookie-class Arizona League Giants, triple-A Sacramento River Cats, double-A Richmond, Flying Squirrels, class-A San Jose Giants and class-A Augusta Greenjackets.

It was a time that gave him many opportunities, including getting to face off against Madison Bumgarner.

“It was a spring training at-bat, so it wasn't necessarily a battle in season, but getting to face him was pretty sweet,” Bennett said. “He was in his prime. He was coming off an all-star season and he was the man for our big-league team.”

The best coaching advice he ever heard also came from his time in the minor leagues. During his time with San Jose, he had former major leaguer Todd Linden as a coach, who stressed the importance of keeping the game fun.

“He had been at the pinnacle … he understood the value in being consistent, being who you are and not changing that. He really brought an atmosphere that made it easy to just feel comfortable,” said Bennett, “I think that lets you realize the value in having fun out there, which really gets lost in professional baseball.”

Asked to expand on the idea of having fun, Bennett had this to say:

“You always hear coaches say stuff like, ‘just have fun out there.’ Just be relaxed. It's so cliche and it sounds so basic, it sounds like they're trying to say the right thing. But there truly is so much value in enjoying the way you play the game.”

In Bennett’s eyes, the problem of not having fun isn’t even a problem only the professionals face now.

“Unfortunately, youth level to this day is getting more and more statistic-based and it's going away from just how much fun they can have with their teammates.”

Having fun is also the biggest difference that Bennett has experienced comparing his time in the minor leagues versus the independent leagues he’s played in.

“What they're trying to accomplish in the minor leagues is a lot more about personal development. A lot less emphasis on team achievements. When you get into indy ball, you just have a lot of guys who are strictly playing to win the game. Most guys that I've come across in independent ball, they'll say stuff along the lines of, this is the most fun I've had playing baseball since little league.”

It wasn’t until more recently that Bennett could share those lessons through a coaching lens. Starting in 2019, he spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Illinois State Redbirds. He also spent time as a coach with Stiks Academy in Wisconsin and even has private coaching available through his website tjbennetthitting.com.

T.J. Bennett spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the Illinois State Redbirds before returning to being a player in 2021.

Of course, Bennett returned to the playing field only a few years later in 2021, but the lessons from coach Bennett definitely stuck with player Bennett.

“I remember when I came back from coaching back to playing, I felt like I was a lot more present in the box. You're able to take your emotions out of it quite a bit and watch objectively. You can almost watch yourself a little bit easier. I think it helped me make adjustments a lot easier on the fly.”

While Bennett is definitely more than happy to talk about his career, there’s one topic that makes him light up even more – his family.

It’s something that I had the honour of experiencing firsthand during our Zoom meeting. His young son Jireh Bennett – born in 2021 -- came up to his dad and was determined to say hi to whoever he was talking to.

Jireh Bennett, T.J. Bennett’s son sits in with his dad during his Canadian Baseball Network Interview.

Bennett’s family has forever changed not only his life but how he looks at the game of baseball as a whole.

“For me, it really just brings so much more perspective. I think that's one thing that players are all after, trying to keep perspective,” said Bennett, “When you're a single guy playing this game and don't really have anything outside of this game to give yourself to it, it's really tough not to tie your identity to your performance on the field. We become our stats. We become the 0-for-4, or we become the 4-for-4, and either way is not good.”

He expanded even more saying: “Having my wife change things dramatically, she doesn’t love me for being a good baseball player and she doesn’t want to leave me because I was bad at baseball at times.

“For me, getting to go home to her every night shifted perspective for me. All of a sudden baseball got to become something I did for fun on the side. Now, adding to that and having a son now and seeing him grow up and like, he does not care one lick if I hit a walk-off home run last night.

“I remember in Brisbane when I tied the home run record, I hit a walk-off home run. I was the hero of the night. I mean, like the Brisbane legend does this thing and everyone was pumping me up.

“I went home and went into our apartment afterwards and I heard my son sleeping in his room and I stood outside his door. I peeked in and looked at him and I thought to myself -- he could not care less about what I just did and that was the most beautiful thing in the world. He loves me and he smiles at me and he laughs with me because I'm his dad and that's it.”

That newfound perspective has allowed Bennett to really take things one day at a time, he’s more at peace with where he’s at in his career now more than ever.

“This guy (Jireh) helps keep us present, we've realized quickly that it's pretty tough to plan beyond the next handful of months,” Bennett said. “So, we're trying to enjoy where we're at, enjoy this season of life that we're in and the awesome things that come from this extra time together. Things like that, we know it won't last forever.

“There's going to be a day when I stop playing and that's okay. I think I'm at peace with that more than ever. Whenever that day comes, we'll be good to go. Other than that, we're just trying to enjoy the awesome things about this life and do it together as a family.”

Most recently, Bennett has been playing with the Kane County Cougars of the American Association, who began a three-game series against the Gary South Shore Railcats Friday night.

In the batter’s box he is batting .303 with six home runs through 37 games.

And at home he’s batting 1.000.