James wrote that Bennett was perhaps the best defensive catcher of the era. In comparing Bennett to Buck Ewing, James noted: "Buck Ewing was supposedly a brilliant catcher, but Bennett caught 50% more innings than Ewing, with a lot fewer mistakes: per 1000 defensive innings, Ewing was charged with 59 errors and 66 passed balls, while Bennett was charged with 46 errors and 43 passed balls." Although James ranked Ewing ahead of Bennett as an overall player, he chose Bennett as the catcher on his Gold Glove Team for the 1880s. On the offensive side, Ewing compiled a .303 career batting average, 47 points higher than Bennett. However, with Bennett's talent for drawing walks, Ewing's career on-base percentage (.351) was only 11 points higher than Bennett (.340). Family and later years In 1882, Bennett was married to his wife, Alice, a Vermont native. They met while Bennett was playing for Worcester. They had no children, and lived for more than 20 years at 67 Alexandria Street in Detroit, and later at 1313 Delaware Avenue in Detroit. After his injury, Bennett operated a cigar store in Detroit. When Bennett first announced plans to open a cigar store, shortly after losing his legs, one woman wrote to him and said, "If Charley Bennett opens a cigar store in Detroit, all the ladies will commence smoking." Bennett later took lessons in china painting and became quite proficient at the decorative art, first as a hobby and then as a supplemental source of income. One writer wrote that the art of china painting was "the last thing one would expect in the world from a man whose hands have been battered out of shape and whose every finger has been broken." The Sporting News wrote: "It was with characteristic patience that Bennett trained his distorted fingers in the delicate art of china painting." When a new ballpark was opened in Detroit in 1896, it was named Bennett Park in his honor. Bennett caught the first pitch at Bennett Park in 1896. It became a Detroit tradition for Bennett to catch the first pitch in Detroit, an honor that Bennett continued for every home opener through 1926. In November 1926, Bennett underwent surgery at Grace Hospital in Detroit to remove "a superorbital abscess of the face." He had been ill for several months before the surgery and never fully recovered afterward, as the poison from