Milbry Eugene "Moby" Benedict (born March 29, 1935) is a former baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 shortstop

Shortstop

Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...

 and coach.

A native of Detroit, Michigan

Detroit, Michigan

Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

, Benedict played baseball at Detroit Southwestern High School

Southwestern High School (Michigan)

Southwestern High School is a high school in southwest Detroit, Michigan, USA. It is part of the Detroit Public Schools district.Brewster Homes/Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects, Detroit public housing, is zoned to this school.-Notable alumni:...

 before attending the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

. He played for the Michigan Wolverines

Michigan Wolverines

The Michigan Wolverines comprise 27 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except men's ice hockey which competes in the NCAA D1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and women's water polo, which...

 from 1953–1956 and played for the College World Series championship team in 1953. He played in the minor leagues

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

 in the late 1950s before accepting a position as assistant coach at the University of Michigan from 1960-1962. He was an assistant coach on the Wolverines' College World Series

College World Series

The College World Series or CWS is an annual baseball tournament held in Omaha, Nebraska that is the culmination of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, which determines the NCAA Division I college baseball champion. The eight teams are split into two, four-team, double-elimination brackets,...

 championship team in 1962, making him the only person to be part of the school's only two World Series championship teams.

After winning the College World Series, Michigan's head coach Don Lund

Don Lund

Donald Andrew Lund is a former backup outfielder in Major League Baseball who played for the Brooklyn Dodgers , St. Louis Browns and Detroit Tigers . He batted and threw right-handed....

 took a position in the Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

' minor league organization and recommended Benedict as his replacement. In 1963, Benedict took over as Michigan's head baseball coach. He spent 17 years as the Michigan head coach, compiling a record of 367-251-5. Michigan won three Big Ten Conference

Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 championships under Benedict (1975, 1976, and 1978) and finished in the top three in the Big Ten in 14 of Benedict's 17 years as head coach. The 1978 team, featuring Rick Leach

Rick Leach (baseball player)

Richard Max "Rick" Leach is a former college football player and professional baseball player. He played quarterback at the University of Michigan from 1975 to 1978...

 and Steve Howe advanced to the College World Series in 1978, finishing fifth.

Benedict coached 25 future major league players as Michigan's head coach, including Leach, Howe, Elliott Maddox

Elliott Maddox

Elliott Maddox is an African-American former Major League Baseball American player. Maddox, from 1970 to 1980, played for the Detroit Tigers, Washington Senators/Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, Baltimore Orioles, and New York Mets.-Early and personal life:Maddox attended Union High School in...

, Dave Campbell, Leon Roberts

Leon Roberts

Leon Kauffman Roberts is a former major league outfielder who played for the Detroit Tigers , Houston Astros , Seattle Mariners , Texas Rangers , Toronto Blue Jays , and Kansas City Royals...

, Geoff Zahn

Geoff Zahn

Geoffery Clayton Zahn is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. During a 13-year career, he pitched from 1973-1985 for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs of the National League and the Minnesota Twins and California Angels of the American League...

 and Lary Sorensen

Lary Sorensen

Lary Alan Sorensen is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers , St...

. Benedict retired as Michigan's coach after the 1979 season. He came out of retirement to manage the Montreal Expos

Montreal Expos

The Montreal Expos were a Major League Baseball team located in Montreal, Quebec from 1969 through 2004, holding the first MLB franchise awarded outside the United States. After the 2004 season, MLB moved the Expos to Washington, D.C. and renamed them the Nationals.Named after the Expo 67 World's...

' Class A minor league team, the Jamestown Expos

Jamestown Expos

The Jamestown Expos were a minor league baseball franchise of the Montreal Expos, located in Jamestown, New York. The team lasted from 1977 to 1993, although Jamestown was affiliated with Montreal in 1970 and 1971, at the time the team was called the Falcons...

, in the New York-Pennsylvania League, from 1982-1984. He subsequently became the director of intramural sports at the University of Michigan.

Michigan retired Benedict's uniform number (#1), only the second number retired by the school after Bill Freehan

Bill Freehan

William Ashley Freehan is a former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a catcher for the Detroit Tigers...

. In 1994, he was inducted into the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor

University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor

The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs...

.