Jesse Branson, eyewitness to baseball's storied past

Jesse Branson, 95, of South Philadelphia, a retired State Store employee and baseball authority who was featured in a Phillies video about the 2008 World Series, died last Friday at Penn Hospice at Rittenhouse.

Mr. Branson grew up playing sandlot baseball, and "he was a good player," said his sister, Georgette Fields. "If a ball went into the outfield, the other players knew he would catch it."

Her brother followed Negro League teams and worked as a water boy or ball boy to get a chance to go to games, she said. Later, he became a Phillies fan.

In spring 2008, Mr. Branson took a bus and a subway to attend the "Baseball as America" symposium at the National Constitution Center. One of the speakers was Sean Gibson, whose great-grandfather Josh Gibson was a Hall of Fame catcher who led the Negro National League in home runs for 10 consecutive years.

The audience was startled when Mr. Branson stood up and told Gibson that he had seen his great-grandfather play. "His mind was very sharp, and he had some great stories," Gibson said.

Jayson Stark, an ESPN baseball writer and the symposium's host, was so impressed with Mr. Branson that he introduced him to Dan Stephenson, manager of video productions for the Phillies.

In May 2008, Stephenson took Mr. Branson to Citizens Bank Park and introduced him to owner Dave Montgomery, manager Charlie Manuel, and several players, including Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins.

"He charmed everyone and told awesome tales about games he had seen over the years," Stephenson said.

Though the season was just starting, Mr. Branson correctly predicted the Phillies would win the World Series.

Stephenson later interviewed Mr. Branson for The Perfect Season: The 2008 Phillies Video Yearbook. "Jesse put the World Series win into the context of baseball history in Philadelphia," Stephenson said.

The attention from the Phillies thrilled Mr. Branson, his sister said. "It was the apex of his life," she said.

Mr. Branson grew up in South Philadelphia. He was skipping school to play baseball, his sister said, so the family sent him to Princess Anne Academy, a boarding school in Maryland, where he completed high school.

During World War II he served in the Army in the Pacific.

After his discharge, he worked for government agencies in Philadelphia, including the Quartermaster Depot, the Aviation Supply Office, and the Postal Service. He was a clerk in Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board stores for 15 years until retiring in 1979.

Besides baseball, Mr. Branson followed track and field. He attended the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden and had a regular seat at the Penn Relays, his sister said.

In addition to his sister, Mr. Branson is survived by a niece, Elaine Carr.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. tomorrow at St. Simon the Cyrenian Episcopal Church, 1401 S. 22d St., where Mr. Branson was an usher, president of the men's club, and a member of the pinochle club.