On August 31, 1940, Norfolk held Doc Bennett night. The popular manager was given a set of luggage from his players and a watch from the fans. Field Captain Bill Bakey makes the presentation.

Elmer "Doc" Bennett started his pro career as a pitcher for the Daytona Beach in the Florida League. He was 12-2 that year. In 1921 he was 1-1 and only appeared in 3 games. In 1923 he was the manager for the Cairo Egyptians in the Kentucky Illinois Tennessee League. He came back as a pitcher for Cairo in 1924 and had an 11-6 record.

Elmer "Doc" Bennett was the manager of the McCook Generals in 1928 as the Nebraska State League was restarted for the third time. His team started fast and the Generals were in first place after 10 games. The Generals never looked back and Doc's team coasted to the Nebraska State League Championship in 1928 five games ahead of the Lincoln Links. He was named manager of the All Star Team with three of his players. McCook also led in attendance in 1928 with over 14,000 fans in the stands by the end of August.

The next year Doc's team repeated as champions winning by 6 ½ games over Fairbury. Led by Andy Bednar's pitching and Herbert Pember's bat the Generals were once again the cream of the Nebraska State League crop.

The stock marked crash in late 1929 had a considerable impact on minor league baseball in 1930. Many of the teams in the league thought that they had a shot at McCook but the Generals had their best year. They won the league with an 85-34 record and wound up 17 games ahead of Fairbury.

In 1931 Doc brought McCook in with a 59-50 record, good for second in the NSL.

In 1932 Doc moved to Waterloo where he managed the Hawks in the Mississippi Valley League.

In 1933, Doc came down from Chicago to manage the Lincoln Links. The Lincoln franchise hoped that Doc could work the same magic he did with McCook at Lincoln. He managed the team through June then turned over the team to Hruska. Doc finished the year as an umpire for the league.

In 1937, Doc was back in the NSL as manager of the Norfolk Elks. They had an arrangement with the Yankees but they were not competitive. They finished in 4th place. In 1938, Doc was the manager of the Norfolk Elks. They improved over their 1937 finish. The team had a 67-49 record and wound up in second place. They went on to win the playoffs that year. For 1939, the league was reformatted as the Western League but remained a class "D" league. Doc Bennet took a bunch of rookies and second year men to the league championship. With no player over 22 years old the Elks had a lot of prospects and a lot of inexperience. 1940 Doc wins another championship with a a 73-39 record. They ran away with a 16 game cushion over Sioux Falls.

Miss Vivian Parr presents Doc with a "Crown of Cactus" on Doc Bennett Night in Norfolk

In 1941 and 1942 Doc managed the Joplin Miners in the Western Association.

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