When I was 12 years old in 1972 my little league team went to the Astrodome to watch the Astros play the Reds. Johnny Bench was catching, and I witnessed Bench make the most unbelievable play I have ever seen. Greg Gross of the Astros led off with a single to right field. It looked like Gross was trying to steal second base and was leaning a little too far from first base. On the second pitch of the game Bench received the pitch from the pitcher and in one motion from a sitting position from behind the plate Bench threw a bullet to First Basemen Tony Perez and Perez tagged out Greg Gross at first! I will never forget it. I remember it like it was yesterday.
I was so fortunate to live in Los Angeles County as a teenager in the 70s and got to see him and the Reds come out to Dodger Stadium three times a year.
@@obbor4 8n addition to his 10 WS Championships compared to Bench's 2 Berra also won 3 MVP awards compared to Bench's 2. Berra was in WWII which took away 2 of his professioal baseball years. And yes baseball is a team sport and like Berra , Bench was also surrounded by great players i.e. Perez, Rose , Morgan who were huge parts of the Big Red Machine. That said, yes Bench was a great catcher and was the best during his era. And that says a lot considering other great catchers of his era like Fisk, Munson, Simmons, Freeman etc.
@@6412mars I think catchers are the most overlooked in mlb history. Javier Lopez was a very good hitting and fielding catcher. Not so much at calling the game. Posada called a good game. Varitek, maher, Munson, McCann, etc had great and relatively long careers but had the fewest ABS in their prime years. Piazza would have hit 600 Homer's but had the most grueling position.
I met Johnny Bench on a particularly tough day for me at Riverfront Stadium. Driving the production truck for Ed Joyner was my first paying job after college and two weeks in we ran from Angles Stadium in Anaheim to Cincinnati low on money and fuel got there late and started running the 7,000 feet of triaxial cable that was required to feed 5 cameras to a mixing board in the sub basement tunnel. Coming down from the press box in a raceway in the wall from the fifth floor to the the tunnel we discovered that the raceway opened in a closet on the third floor about an hour before the game so all the cameramen , production assistants, and crew had to untie a huge knot of cables that had spilled out of the closet when the door was opened. Meantime , I found the other end of the raceway in the ceiling above the Red’s locker room. In two stages I pulled the cables for five cameras to the production truck as time before the game ran out . I rode the elevator from the basement to the press box and the closet on the third floor numerous times. I had been on the road driving day and night for three days, crawling on a catwalk in a filthy space above the locker room, and stressing over whether or not we would make airtime on time; when on one of my elevator trips the door opened on the fourth floor and Johnny Bench, his wife and the then ,”Voice Of The Braves” , Milo Hamilton got in the elevator it was 45 minutes before game time and 15 minutes till the interview Milo and Johnny was scheduled. Milo took one look at me shuddered and then asked me ,”Do You have a camera up yet?” Trying to be diplomatic I answered , “No. We ran into a slight problem but I will have it fixed any second”. Milo exploded and screamed at me,” This isn’t a game it’s a FUCKING BUSINESS!!!” And it got quiet in the space then just as the elevator settled at field level where I would go hook up the truck and JB would go play baseball Mr Bench hit his shoe with his bat a couple of times and looked straight at Milo Hamilton and then said , “You’ve got it all wrong, Milo. It’s just a game.” The elevator doors opened and I said , “Thank you, Mr. Bench.” and walked back to the cables and the truck. That’s a true story and I will always be a Johnny Bench Fan. God bless Johnny Bench. Thanks, David Holt.
My absolute favorite player growing up. My Johnny Bench catcher's mitt was one of my prized possessions. Best of all was seeing him at a Bob Hope USO show in Riyadh. The best catcher ever and a great guy.
@@RoundingThird Don't ask his first wife about Bench. She said he was a great athlete but a horrible human being. I believe Bench has been married 3 times already.
@bufnyfan1 he probally just slept around. Hard to resist that much temptation. Plus maybe she wasn't playing with a full deck herself. 3 sides to every story.
I remember an interview Mr. Bench did where he demonstrated how he could hold 5 baseballs in one hand and not drop one!! Amazing. He complained about all the squatting he had to do playing catcher and the number it was doing to his hips. I believe Sparky Anderson let him play 1st base occasionally to reduce the wear and tear on his hips.
@@bufnyfan1 pretty sure there is a video of him on a talk show demonstrating that! Have a search for it.... He might have played a bit of 3rd base as well at the end of his career. Hands down my favorite ball player!
@@MrNaturalSez LOL Carlton Fisk Pudge Rodriguez all better than Yogi Bear none of them as good as a good luck charm though. Yogi was good but let's not be ridiculous
Yogi and Fisk were nowhere near the defensive player Johnny was. To hit at MVP levels for much of his career (won 2 MVP's) and be a 10 time gold glove winner sets him apart and I believe he is the best all around ever.
I'm old enough to have seen them all play in their primes I didn't see Yogi until 1952, but saw the rest of them from their rookie seasons to the end of their careers.
I never watched baseball, except when the Reds played during the Bench era. I watched the big Red machine and Johnny Bench was why I watched. But that whole team had character. Sparky too.
Bench was one of those very special athletes who could simply take over a game and he could do it on both offense and defense. My greatest memory of him was unquestionably, the 1976 World Series. He was unstoppable and completely blew up the Yankees.
@@scottodonnell7121 Munson didn't outhit Bench. Bench hit .533 with 2 HR and 6 RBI. Munson hit .529 with 0 HR and 2 RBI. Bench clearly had the better series.
1975,76 Reds,Who Defeated the Boston Red Sox in the 1975 World Series, in 7 Games,Widely Considered The Greatest World Series Ever Played!!!,and Then the Following Year, Swept the National League Playoffs, and Then Won The World Series for the 2nd Year in a Row,by Sweeping Billy Martins Bronx Bombers,The New York Yankees!!!!, Yes This Reds Team with The Great Starting 8!!!, was in my Opinion, The Greatest Major League Baseball Team of All Time!,Hall of Famer's,Johnny Bench " The Greatest Catcher of All Time",Joe Morgan "The Greatest 2nd Baseman of All Time!,Tony "Doggy"Perez " RBI Man,Mr Clutch",Pete "The Hit King" Rose,Davey Concepcion,One of The Best All Time Defensive Shortstops,and in my View Should be in The Hall,along with Pete Rose!,Cesar Geronimo "The Chief",Gold Glove Center Fielder,Who Could Flat Out go Track Them Down!,Ken Griffey,who was a Great,Great Contact Hitter,Who Also Played a Fantastic Defensive Right Field,Strong Arm!,and Then Finally Big George Foster,Who With That Big Black Bat of His Swated 52 Bombs in the 1977 season!,and We Can't forget George Sparky Anderson,HOF Who Managed This GREAT 8,Yes This Was THE GREAT 8!!!,and General Manager Bob Howsam put it all together What Memories I have as a kid watching the Best Professional Baseball Team ever Assembled Play Every Summer of my Youth!!!
One thing that wasn't mentioned about Johnny's surgery following the 1972 season was that the tumor was on the BACK of the lung. Had the doctors taken the easy way out, they would have cut through his back, and likely ended his career. Because the surgeon took the more difficult route by cutting through his chest, it saved his career from an early ending. Yes, it DID affect his HR totals and his power in general, because of the chest muscles that were cut, but he still managed to put up solid numbers for many years (just no more 40+ HR seasons).
I'm only six years old.. he wore my most favorite number #5 .. he plays my most favorite position.. Catcher.. and my favorite color of all time is Red.. should I say anymore? Reds headquarters..
My dad worked at his Coors distributor so we got blue section seats behind the home bench for Johnnys final home game as a Red. he hit a HR his last at bat
You know, I find it interesting, and no one has mentioned it yet (or maybe I just missed it) but Bench was taken in the second round of the draft by Cincinnati behind Bernie Carbo. In fact of the 26 players taken before Bench in the draft only 4 ever even made an All-Star game appearance and none were close to the HOF. Another two players taken in the 10th & 12th rounds respectively by the Mets did make the HOF, some guys named Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan!
As a Pirate fan, Johnny Bench stood out as the best of the Big Red Machine. His homerun in the 9th in 72 playoffs against the Pirates crushed me. It was Clemente's last game. Bench is the best catcher ever.
@danielharford1864 I can respect that I came from a family of Cincinnati Reds fans as crushed as you had to be as a Pirates fan my dad was at work he told me watching it & he was a school janitor at the time he's the only person there Bench goes deep to tie that game & he was going crazy screaming excited he said.
Playing baseball and catching in the late 70's and early 80's. Bench made it easy for me to put on "the tools of ignorance" and try to play like him. Best times of my life as an athlete.
@@scottodonnell7121For sure the modern day catcher. He is the big reason catchers hide their throwing hand behind the glove, probably why the mitt is not very big, and why catchers don’t always hold the glove further forward and keep their hand right by the glove.
I'll never forget that home run Bench hit in the bottom of the 9th in 1972 to tie the crucial fifth game against the Pirates off of ace reliever Dave Guisi.
I grew up watching the Reds play when Johnny Bench and Mr. Pete Rose were in their prime. We got Reds tickets if we studied hard and got straight As and high marks. Man! They we two of the absolute greats. Pete should be allowed in the Hall of Fame. We loved Johnny Bench and Mr Pete Rose. So respect Johnny and Pete.
Bench did things defensively that others could only dream of doing. He had incredible instincts and lightning quick reflexes. His hands were as good as any shortstop in the game. And his arm??? To understand the greatness of Bench, review the following statistics. From 1970 thru 1976, Bench played in 42 post season games (playoffs & WS). This was a time in the history of National Lequge baseball where the stolen base was "paramount" . . speed was a huge part of the game. In those 42 postseason games, opposing baserunners were successful in stealing a base only 2 out of 14 attempts meaning he threw out would be base stealers at an 85% clip which is amazing in and of itself as the league average for catchers year in and year out was well below 50%. However, during those same 42 games, Bench himself stole 6 bases in 6 attempts . . not because he had blazing speed but because he was an incredibly smart player with amazing instincts for the game.
I agree with your comments and would like to add one additional thought about it. Your description about speed and it's importance is spot on but one additional thing that can be taken from the number of postseason steals versus attempts is the small number of attempts. Everyone knew Bench's ability and usually didn't even TRY to steal on him.
@@toddrunyon true. Mickey Rivers was thrown out in the sixth inning of Game one in 1976 and the Yanks didn’t attempt another steal until Game four. By then it was too late.
When Johnny Bench threw a Baseball to 2nd Base,it was like He was Throwing a Golf Ball!,That's what a Baseball looked like in The Palm of Johnny Bench's Hand!,and He Fired it Like a Seed Out of a Cannon!!!,Best MLB Catcher of All Time!!!!,and He was Part of The Best Starting 8 of All Time,The 1975,and 1976 Cincinnati Reds!!!!
Just think, that lesion on his lung put a damper on his potential, according to Johnny. I can only imagine what he would have done during what should have been the pinnacle of his career in his late 20's; 50 home run seasons and 150 rbi's ? You can only wonder and look back in amazement. The greatest catcher of all time.
So...I had a chance to meet Mr Bench at a club back in the late '80's...1.)Biggest hand I have ever shaken...2.)Honestly the most humble former pro-athelete I've ever met...Also met Mark Spitz once...Great Era for Sports!..
I'm not sure what that means but I don't add ads or make a dime off of any videos I post. That's all TH-cam and whoever claims the copyright. I have zero control over it.
Johnny Bench also appeared in a 1970 episode of Mission: Impossible. The Reds had an off day in Los Angeles when he did his bit part on MI. His playoff home run that tied the last game of the 1972 NLCS was in what turned out to be Roberto Clemente's last game. I can still hear Al Michaels' call: "The wind, and the pitch to Bench. Change, hit in the air, back goes Clemente! She's GONE!"
Bench was drafted in 1965 in the second round (#36 overall). The Reds #1 draft choice that year? Bernie Carbo (16th overall), who had an excellent rookie year with the Reds in 1970, batting .310, but when his production declined and the Reds added additional pieces to the Machine, he was traded to St Louis in 1972. Carbo famously resurfaced in the 6th game of the 1975 World Series, when he hit that 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th inning against the Reds that tied the game and set up Carlton Fisk's extra innings heroics.
Johnny Bench in interviews has said that the "Big Red Machine" couldn't exist if it had played in the modern era. Paying yearly multi-million dollar salaries to Rose, Bench, Morgan, Concepcion etc would not have been possible for just one team. And other teams would have been making offers to each of them such that they would never have all stayed together anyway
Today, his operation would have been an outpatient procedure where a medical device would have been used with non-invasive characteristics. No problem.
@@chrysmallander6726 I knew beforehand Bench hit 0.533 in this WS and wanted to know how that translated into hits per at bat. Munson hit 0.529 or 9 for 17. Good World Series for the catchers.
I modeled my catching after Bench and Rick Dempsey. Caught about 650 games in high school and local industrial leagues. I have no knees and terrible arthritis, I hope my heroes are doing OK.
I taught my grandson how to catch one handed he could throw anybody out at second base also tried to teach him never the block the plate but the sweeping tag will keep you from getting hurt Johnny bench is style of keep from getting hurt
They just don’t make Catchers anymore like Johnny Bench! As a Red Sox Fan I was glad to see that he was close friends with Carl Yastrzemski, they both retired together in 1983 and became enshrined in Cooperstown together in 1989.
Funny, I remember Yaz keeping Bench from being the MVP of the 1969 all star game by robbing him of his 2nd homer(this was Johnny's first all star game). Willie McCovery followed bench in the lineup and hit his 1st homer after benches and hit his 2nd after Yaz robbed Bench. McCovey got the MVP.
Best catcher i ever saw and him being a Okie,like the Mick ,one of my faves,Both were.But my all-time fave was Willie say-hey Mays.Greatest player,exciting.Saw a documentary about Willie quite a few years ago,asked 2 name greatest catcher,said Campy and Bench.
Hated The Big Red Machine as they came through Atlanta every summer through the late 60’s and early 70’s and thoroughly brutalized my Braves. But I sure as hell respected them. Bench was the beast (yes, beast) of the team. In hindsight, I consider myself lucky and privileged to have seen what I now call The Modern Day Murders Row. Discuss.
Bench was an idol of mine, ...until one fateful morning. He humiliated me, my nephew (4 years old) in 1985....all I can say is that at the 6:35 minutes in, as they say, Johnny was not a nice guy....well, he was an as***ole that morning to me, and I literally said, in the moment, " you are the best catcher ever, and an idiol... could you please give me your autograph..."?( I was"star~struck)....no one even knew who he was that day, including the wait staff, ...but I did. And he signed the 'guest check ' , handed ot to me, and looked at me with DISGUST.....HEY...I get it...on the road, small town, like ..who's this asshole...however, he looked right at my nephew with his scorn.Yes, scorn. Look it up...Johnny Bench is still, the greatest catcher in MLB history. However, his ego, and his demeanor is know, in small circles, as an...as% hol*....sad as hell...
I know the feeling. Spent hundreds on a ticket to a baseball dinner where he was the featured speaker. Tried to get him to autograph my From Behind The Plate book from 1972. The guy was a dick about it & ended up not signing the book because . . . I still don't know why. He was signing autographs for people, just not my book. They always say never meet your idols. They're right.
Back when they actually played baseball…no “launch angle” no “war” no “fantasy” bullshit, it was a man’s game. Nobody played better than Johnny Bench. Baseball today is unwatchable
I wonder if Bo Jackson would've been a good catcher because of his arm, Jackson could throw like a dart,remember the throw he threw out out home flat footed from the wall and made a perfect throw.
I think the deal breaker is that Bench caught with one hand and everyone since has done it that way. Campy and Yogi, while great and with even better numbers offensively, didn't make every team go get a 30 HR hitter at catcher.
@@RoundingThird Yogi is the Bill Russel of baseball: woefully undervalued but has the rings that say he was the best teammate ever. 9 Championships! But I’m with you: Bench is still the best. He made pitchers better. And he could do everything.
When I was 12 years old in 1972 my little league team went to the Astrodome to watch the Astros play the Reds. Johnny Bench was catching, and I witnessed Bench make the most unbelievable
play I have ever seen. Greg Gross of the Astros led off with a single to right field. It looked like Gross was trying to steal second base and was leaning a little too far from first base. On the second pitch of the game Bench received the pitch from the pitcher and in one motion from a sitting position from behind the plate Bench threw a bullet to First Basemen Tony Perez and Perez tagged out
Greg Gross at first! I will never forget it. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Amazing memory
That's memorable
Best catcher ever for one of the best MLB teams in history.
I was so fortunate to live in Los Angeles County as a teenager in the 70s and got to see him and the Reds come out to Dodger Stadium three times a year.
Better than Yogi Berra? Berra has 10 World Series Championship rings compared to Bench's 2. But yes he was the greatest in my era.
Yogi Berra has 10 rings compared to Bench's 2.
@@aa697 Baseball is a team sport. Bench was the best ever I'm sure Yogi would have told you the same thing.
@@obbor4 8n addition to his 10 WS Championships compared to Bench's 2 Berra also won 3 MVP awards compared to Bench's 2. Berra was in WWII which took away 2 of his professioal baseball years. And yes baseball is a team sport and like Berra , Bench was also surrounded by great players i.e. Perez, Rose , Morgan who were huge parts of the Big Red Machine. That said, yes Bench was a great catcher and was the best during his era. And that says a lot considering other great catchers of his era like Fisk, Munson, Simmons, Freeman etc.
No doubt the greatest catcher ever
Johnny Bench is the best catcher there ever was and the best there ever will be.
Carlton Fisk and Ivan Rodriguez would disagree but you could be right.
@@kumarg3598 Could be right? Hahaha! GD right!
@@6412mars I think catchers are the most overlooked in mlb history. Javier Lopez was a very good hitting and fielding catcher. Not so much at calling the game. Posada called a good game. Varitek, maher, Munson, McCann, etc had great and relatively long careers but had the fewest ABS in their prime years. Piazza would have hit 600 Homer's but had the most grueling position.
@@kumarg3598 those guys were greats & are in Cooperstown where they belong but Johnny Bench is the greatest ever cause he changed the position.
Totally Agree
Best Catcher Ever! The Big Red Machine were embarassingly stacked with talent!
A jewel in the crown of our National Past Time. Johnny Bench made being the catcher a premier position.
I met Johnny Bench on a particularly tough day for me at Riverfront Stadium. Driving the production truck for Ed Joyner was my first paying job after college and two weeks in we ran from Angles Stadium in Anaheim to Cincinnati low on money and fuel got there late and started running the 7,000 feet of triaxial cable that was required to feed 5 cameras to a mixing board in the sub basement tunnel. Coming down from the press box in a raceway in the wall from the fifth floor to the the tunnel we discovered that the raceway opened in a closet on the third floor about an hour before the game so all the cameramen , production assistants, and crew had to untie a huge knot of cables that had spilled out of the closet when the door was opened. Meantime , I found the other end of the raceway in the ceiling above the Red’s locker room. In two stages I pulled the cables for five cameras to the production truck as time before the game ran out . I rode the elevator from the basement to the press box and the closet on the third floor numerous times. I had been on the road driving day and night for three days, crawling on a catwalk in a filthy space above the locker room, and stressing over whether or not we would make airtime on time; when on one of my elevator trips the door opened on the fourth floor and Johnny Bench, his wife and the then ,”Voice Of The Braves” , Milo Hamilton got in the elevator it was 45 minutes before game time and 15 minutes till the interview Milo and Johnny was scheduled. Milo took one look at me shuddered and then asked me ,”Do You have a camera up yet?” Trying to be diplomatic I answered , “No. We ran into a slight problem but I will have it fixed any second”. Milo exploded and screamed at me,” This isn’t a game it’s a FUCKING BUSINESS!!!” And it got quiet in the space then just as the elevator settled at field level where I would go hook up the truck and JB would go play baseball Mr Bench hit his shoe with his bat a couple of times and looked straight at Milo Hamilton and then said , “You’ve got it all wrong, Milo. It’s just a game.” The elevator doors opened and I said , “Thank you, Mr. Bench.” and walked back to the cables and the truck.
That’s a true story and I will always be a Johnny Bench Fan.
God bless Johnny Bench. Thanks, David Holt.
@@SH-zz2ef try not to be such a douche ok? The guy was just going over his last recollections.
Sounds like something Cossell would do too.
Wow, what a great memory! JB was as quick with his wit as he was with a baseball.👍
It was a privilege to watch this man play the game of ⚾...
Bench reinvented the catcher position.
My absolute favorite player growing up. My Johnny Bench catcher's mitt was one of my prized possessions. Best of all was seeing him at a Bob Hope USO show in Riyadh. The best catcher ever and a great guy.
I have the clip of him from the 1970 Bob Hope Christmas Special on my channel. The full one is on youtube somewhere.
@@RoundingThird Don't ask his first wife about Bench. She said he was a great athlete but a horrible human being. I believe Bench has been married 3 times already.
@bufnyfan1 he probally just slept around. Hard to resist that much temptation. Plus maybe she wasn't playing with a full deck herself. 3 sides to every story.
I loved watching this on ESPN classic, I wish they still produced this show! Thank you for sharing!
No one could play like Johnny he was a hero and a respectful and very strategic player. We love you !
GOAT. was always enjoyable to watch Johnny play. Thank you.
Thanks for posting. He knew my grandfather in Cincinnati and I got to meet him once. A great person and a legend of a ballplayer.
Jhonny bench is my 3rd cousin. I have the blood ine
I remember an interview Mr. Bench did where he demonstrated how he could hold 5 baseballs in one hand and not drop one!! Amazing. He complained about all the squatting he had to do playing catcher and the number it was doing to his hips. I believe Sparky Anderson let him play 1st base occasionally to reduce the wear and tear on his hips.
@@bufnyfan1 pretty sure there is a video of him on a talk show demonstrating that! Have a search for it.... He might have played a bit of 3rd base as well at the end of his career. Hands down my favorite ball player!
Happy 75th birthday to Johnny Bench
He is the one that got me into catching now I’m the starter catcher for my travel ball team
Great video of the Greatest Catcher in Baseball History!!!!!
Johnny Bench is an ICON to so many of us.
The greatest catcher that ever lived!!!!!
That Yogi Berra guy wasn't shabby.
@@MrNaturalSez LOL Carlton Fisk Pudge Rodriguez all better than Yogi Bear none of them as good as a good luck charm though. Yogi was good but let's not be ridiculous
@@MrNaturalSez Yogi was quite a character but Bench was the best...
Yogi and Fisk were nowhere near the defensive player Johnny was. To hit at MVP levels for much of his career (won 2 MVP's) and be a 10 time gold glove winner sets him apart and I believe he is the best all around ever.
@@joeyjohnson4826 Yogi was lucky to play for those great Yankees teams.
I'm old enough to have seen them all play in their primes I didn't see Yogi until 1952, but saw the rest of them from their rookie seasons to the end of their careers.
I never watched baseball, except when the Reds played during the Bench era. I watched the big Red machine and Johnny Bench was why I watched. But that whole team had character. Sparky too.
Bench was one of those very special athletes who could simply take over a game and he could do it on both offense and defense. My greatest memory of him was unquestionably, the 1976 World Series. He was unstoppable and completely blew up the Yankees.
Thurmon Munson was the Yankee's catcher and actually outhit Bench in this series. The Reds were way better than any team in baseball, 75-76.
@@scottodonnell7121 Munson didn't outhit Bench. Bench hit .533 with 2 HR and 6 RBI. Munson hit .529 with 0 HR and 2 RBI. Bench clearly had the better series.
@@esportshighlights2457Only slightly, but the HRs and RBIs alone would have likely given him the higher WAR.
1975,76 Reds,Who Defeated the Boston Red Sox in the 1975 World Series, in 7 Games,Widely Considered The Greatest World Series Ever Played!!!,and Then the Following Year, Swept the National League Playoffs, and Then Won The World Series for the 2nd Year in a Row,by Sweeping Billy Martins Bronx Bombers,The New York Yankees!!!!, Yes This Reds Team with The Great Starting 8!!!, was in my Opinion, The Greatest Major League Baseball Team of All Time!,Hall of Famer's,Johnny Bench " The Greatest Catcher of All Time",Joe Morgan "The Greatest 2nd Baseman of All Time!,Tony "Doggy"Perez " RBI Man,Mr Clutch",Pete "The Hit King" Rose,Davey Concepcion,One of The Best All Time Defensive Shortstops,and in my View Should be in The Hall,along with Pete Rose!,Cesar Geronimo "The Chief",Gold Glove Center Fielder,Who Could Flat Out go Track Them Down!,Ken Griffey,who was a Great,Great Contact Hitter,Who Also Played a Fantastic Defensive Right Field,Strong Arm!,and Then Finally Big George Foster,Who With That Big Black Bat of His Swated 52 Bombs in the 1977 season!,and We Can't forget George Sparky Anderson,HOF Who Managed This GREAT 8,Yes This Was THE GREAT 8!!!,and General Manager Bob Howsam put it all together What Memories I have as a kid watching the Best Professional Baseball Team ever Assembled Play Every Summer of my Youth!!!
Brilliant
You must be from cincinnati.
Every one of these guys should be in the Hall!
My hero as a kid. He wrote a book on catching and I must have checked it out from the local library a hundred times.
One thing that wasn't mentioned about Johnny's surgery following the 1972 season was that the tumor was on the BACK of the lung. Had the doctors taken the easy way out, they would have cut through his back, and likely ended his career. Because the surgeon took the more difficult route by cutting through his chest, it saved his career from an early ending. Yes, it DID affect his HR totals and his power in general, because of the chest muscles that were cut, but he still managed to put up solid numbers for many years (just no more 40+ HR seasons).
That matters though as he might have had 500 HRs and more hits too.
Bench said he was never the same after that.
This is good! Great tribute to the best catcher ever.
I'm only six years old.. he wore my most favorite number #5 .. he plays my most favorite position.. Catcher.. and my favorite color of all time is Red.. should I say anymore? Reds headquarters..
My dad worked at his Coors distributor so we got blue section seats behind the home bench for Johnnys final home game as a Red. he hit a HR his last at bat
You know, I find it interesting, and no one has mentioned it yet (or maybe I just missed it) but Bench was taken in the second round of the draft by Cincinnati behind Bernie Carbo. In fact of the 26 players taken before Bench in the draft only 4 ever even made an All-Star game appearance and none were close to the HOF. Another two players taken in the 10th & 12th rounds respectively by the Mets did make the HOF, some guys named Tom Seaver and Nolan Ryan!
Think of when Tom Brady was taken in the draft.
Met this man at my son's teeball game this morning in Florida. Extremley nice, took pictures with everyone and signed a bunch of things. Stand up guy.
Best player I've never seen. He was the signal caller on two championship teams. And he won 2 MVPS.
He's the greatest catcher of all time.
As a Pirate fan, Johnny Bench stood out as the best of the Big Red Machine. His homerun in the 9th in 72 playoffs against the Pirates crushed me. It was Clemente's last game. Bench is the best catcher ever.
@danielharford1864
I can respect that I came from a family of Cincinnati Reds fans as crushed as you had to be as a Pirates fan my dad was at work he told me watching it & he was a school janitor at the time he's the only person there Bench goes deep to tie that game & he was going crazy screaming excited he said.
JB! My mentor as a young catcher late 60s early 70s..and my hero as a youngster..Best catcher ever!
Playing baseball and catching in the late 70's and early 80's. Bench made it easy for me to put on "the tools of ignorance" and try to play like him. Best times of my life as an athlete.
Bench was the greatest Overall Catcher, in MLB. His abilities behind the plate, were unreal. He was nearly a perfect catcher.
he practically invented the position.
@@scottodonnell7121For sure the modern day catcher. He is the big reason catchers hide their throwing hand behind the glove, probably why the mitt is not very big, and why catchers don’t always hold the glove further forward and keep their hand right by the glove.
I'll never forget that home run Bench hit in the bottom of the 9th in 1972 to tie the crucial fifth game against the Pirates off of ace reliever Dave Guisi.
You might like this version too. :) th-cam.com/video/0cWfxTG1b6k/w-d-xo.html
Dave Giusti…😎
Just love this man, the greatest!
Johnny & Pugde the standard for all time
I grew up watching the Reds play when Johnny Bench and Mr. Pete Rose were in their prime. We got Reds tickets if we studied hard and got straight As and high marks. Man! They we two of the absolute greats. Pete should be allowed in the Hall of Fame. We loved Johnny Bench and Mr Pete Rose. So respect Johnny and Pete.
Bench did things defensively that others could only dream of doing. He had incredible instincts and lightning quick reflexes. His hands were as good as any shortstop in the game. And his arm??? To understand the greatness of Bench, review the following statistics. From 1970 thru 1976, Bench played in 42 post season games (playoffs & WS). This was a time in the history of National Lequge baseball where the stolen base was "paramount" . . speed was a huge part of the game. In those 42 postseason games, opposing baserunners were successful in stealing a base only 2 out of 14 attempts meaning he threw out would be base stealers at an 85% clip which is amazing in and of itself as the league average for catchers year in and year out was well below 50%. However, during those same 42 games, Bench himself stole 6 bases in 6 attempts . . not because he had blazing speed but because he was an incredibly smart player with amazing instincts for the game.
I agree with your comments and would like to add one additional thought about it.
Your description about speed and it's importance is spot on but one additional thing that can be taken from the number of postseason steals versus attempts is the small number of attempts. Everyone knew Bench's ability and usually didn't even TRY to steal on him.
@@toddrunyon true. Mickey Rivers was thrown out in the sixth inning of Game one in 1976 and the Yanks didn’t attempt another steal until Game four. By then it was too late.
When Johnny Bench threw a Baseball to 2nd Base,it was like He was Throwing a Golf Ball!,That's what a Baseball looked like in The Palm of Johnny Bench's Hand!,and He Fired it Like a Seed Out of a Cannon!!!,Best MLB Catcher of All Time!!!!,and He was Part of The Best Starting 8 of All Time,The 1975,and 1976 Cincinnati Reds!!!!
@@toddrunyonThat means he impacted the game without hitting or throwing because runners could only run if they had big leads.
Just think, that lesion on his lung put a damper on his potential, according to Johnny. I can only imagine what he would have done during what should have been the pinnacle of his career in his late 20's; 50 home run seasons and 150 rbi's ? You can only wonder and look back in amazement. The greatest catcher of all time.
Legend 🇺🇸 ...absolutely ⚾️
So...I had a chance to meet Mr Bench at a club back in the late '80's...1.)Biggest hand I have ever shaken...2.)Honestly the most humble former pro-athelete I've ever met...Also met Mark Spitz once...Great Era for Sports!..
He could palm 7 baseballs.
THE BEST CATCHER EVER
Johnny Bench is the best catcher ever.
Incredible job taking the ESPN show and adding ads.
Bench was an absolute beast. My favorite player as a kid.
I'm not sure what that means but I don't add ads or make a dime off of any videos I post. That's all TH-cam and whoever claims the copyright. I have zero control over it.
@@RoundingThird fair enough. Thank you for the reply. My channel is not monetized and TH-cam adds ads to me as well.
Johnny Bench also appeared in a 1970 episode of Mission: Impossible. The Reds had an off day in Los Angeles when he did his bit part on MI. His playoff home run that tied the last game of the 1972 NLCS was in what turned out to be Roberto Clemente's last game. I can still hear Al Michaels' call: "The wind, and the pitch to Bench. Change, hit in the air, back goes Clemente! She's GONE!"
He never DH'd an at-bat in his life. He earned every at-bat by taking a position in the field.
My son is becoming a catcher. Johnny Bench had the single greatest rule of catching: "Catch the ball."
Now THAT was a ball player.
I got his autograph when I was a kid at Shea stadium.....I'm 66 now and still have it
Bench was drafted in 1965 in the second round (#36 overall). The Reds #1 draft choice that year? Bernie Carbo (16th overall), who had an excellent rookie year with the Reds in 1970, batting .310, but when his production declined and the Reds added additional pieces to the Machine, he was traded to St Louis in 1972. Carbo famously resurfaced in the 6th game of the 1975 World Series, when he hit that 3-run homer in the bottom of the 8th inning against the Reds that tied the game and set up Carlton Fisk's extra innings heroics.
Johnny Bench one of the best of the best
I'd take Johnny Bench over Pete Rose any day and not think twice about it.
I would just like to have both if that is ok.
Pete Rose would do the same.
Thank you very much for uploading this can you get Sparky Anderson now?????
You're very welcome. I'll see what I can do.
How long was John in the carolina league?
@@RoundingThird have you been able to find Sparky Andersons’????
th-cam.com/video/F0pLFujt0dw/w-d-xo.html
True story. My brother was a catcher when he played baseball, my brother was so good as a catcher people called him Bench
Had he have been great, they would have called him pudge
@@willrogan955 come on now
Johnny Bench in interviews has said that the "Big Red Machine" couldn't exist if it had played in the modern era. Paying yearly multi-million dollar salaries to Rose, Bench, Morgan, Concepcion etc would not have been possible for just one team. And other teams would have been making offers to each of them such that they would never have all stayed together anyway
So the moral of this story is ol Sparky thinks that Johnny Bench is the 2nd coming of the Messiah. Nice Video Man! Well Done !
Someday, somewhere a kid will come along and be better than Bench. I doubt I’ll live to see it.
This man was great.
Imagine if Johnny Bench played in today's baseball, good luck trying to steal any bases with him commanding home plate. ⚾️
There are only a handful of teams that could afford to pay him.
These days no one steals. Just pitching and homeruns,,
Today, his operation would have been an outpatient procedure where a medical device would have been used with non-invasive characteristics. No problem.
So he went 8 for 15 in "76 WS. Good job!
That's a BA of better than 500, so whats your point.
@@chrysmallander6726 I knew beforehand Bench hit 0.533 in this WS and wanted to know how that translated into hits per at bat. Munson hit 0.529 or 9 for 17. Good World Series for the catchers.
@@andyburns5472 Indeed!
I wonder if it wasn’t the best World Series for catchers. Too bad it didn’t go 7 with both guys getting 15-18 hits each.
I modeled my catching after Bench and Rick Dempsey. Caught about 650 games in high school and local industrial leagues. I have no knees and terrible arthritis, I hope my heroes are doing OK.
I taught my grandson how to catch one handed he could throw anybody out at second base also tried to teach him never the block the plate but the sweeping tag will keep you from getting hurt Johnny bench is style of keep from getting hurt
Best catcher of all time:
Johny Bench
*Johnny
Especially before his lung surgery, he was unbelievably great!
In 76 johnny bench hit 15 balls into the green seats in left in batting practice this writer got 3
Johnny B!
Being a Catcher is a rough position on a body….to have the ability to sustain greatness is an amazing accomplishment…Bench did.
They just don’t make Catchers anymore like Johnny Bench! As a Red Sox Fan I was glad to see that he was close friends with Carl Yastrzemski, they both retired together in 1983 and became enshrined in Cooperstown together in 1989.
Funny, I remember Yaz keeping Bench from being the MVP of the 1969 all star game by robbing him of his 2nd homer(this was Johnny's first all star game). Willie McCovery followed bench in the lineup and hit his 1st homer after benches and hit his 2nd after Yaz robbed Bench. McCovey got the MVP.
Best all around catcher. He invented the position. Clemente invented right field.
And Michael Jack Schmidt invented 3rd…😎
@@smartluck100 arguably Brooks Robinson invented third from a defensive point of view, but Mike was definitely a better hitter.
@@Leninade-ze7pd Schmidt had BOTH. Gotta go with MJS
@@smartluck100 while Brooks had 17 gold gloves, Mike is the goat third baseman
What about Al Kaline.
An awesome and amazing Man
Johnny can really sing 🎶 super, duper ...great to see 👀 Sparky Anderson
Bench is the G-CAT, the Greatest Catcher of All Time!
When Johnny came up in 67 I could not believe his rifle arm picking off runners at 1st bace
Greatest catcher all time
Best catcher i ever saw and him being a Okie,like the Mick ,one of my faves,Both were.But my all-time fave was Willie say-hey Mays.Greatest player,exciting.Saw a documentary about Willie quite a few years ago,asked 2 name greatest catcher,said Campy and Bench.
the doctors found a spot on my lung! fortunatly it was bar-bQ sauce
"I would like to play backgammon on that board"
Guy was seducing grannies
Sorta like Michael Jordan, there is Johnny Bench and there is everyone else
he was the prototype for all those coming after him.
Hated The Big Red Machine as they came through Atlanta every summer through the late 60’s and early 70’s and thoroughly brutalized my Braves. But I sure as hell respected them. Bench was the beast (yes, beast) of the team. In hindsight, I consider myself lucky and privileged to have seen what I now call The Modern Day Murders Row. Discuss.
In the 1970 compilation on my channel there is a newspaper headline that said ‘make that chief watch-a-homa’ after the reds brutalized Neikro.
Sullivan, we put together a last minute gift. Sports writers, executives, jealousy
I've seen Bench play in many games...?Damn Great
Bench was an idol of mine, ...until one fateful morning. He humiliated me, my nephew (4 years old) in 1985....all I can say is that at the 6:35 minutes in, as they say, Johnny was not a nice guy....well, he was an as***ole that morning to me, and I literally said, in the moment, " you are the best catcher ever, and an idiol... could you please give me your autograph..."?( I was"star~struck)....no one even knew who he was that day, including the wait staff, ...but I did. And he signed the 'guest check ' , handed ot to me, and looked at me with DISGUST.....HEY...I get it...on the road, small town, like ..who's this asshole...however, he looked right at my nephew with his scorn.Yes, scorn. Look it up...Johnny Bench is still, the greatest catcher in MLB history. However, his ego, and his demeanor is know, in small circles, as an...as% hol*....sad as hell...
😂😭🤣
Maybe he was just having a bad day
I know the feeling. Spent hundreds on a ticket to a baseball dinner where he was the featured speaker. Tried to get him to autograph my From Behind The Plate book from 1972. The guy was a dick about it & ended up not signing the book because . . . I still don't know why. He was signing autographs for people, just not my book. They always say never meet your idols. They're right.
Sometimes a little hyperbole can be taken the wrong way.
There are no idols. None! There are no other Gods besides Lord Jesus Christ. He does punish idolaters later if those keep doing it.
Were free agency to come along two years after it did, well... who knows?
My dad saw both Bench and Josh Gibson and told me Bench was nowhere near Gibson couldnt carry Josh's bat!
He played in a hitter's park.
Back when they actually played baseball…no “launch angle” no “war” no “fantasy” bullshit, it was a man’s game. Nobody played better than Johnny Bench. Baseball today is unwatchable
Today they disparage the old time ball players. They have the nerve to adjust their numbers and say this is what they would've done in today's game
I agree with all you said.
Stand flat footed at home plate. Take no step and throw it over a 400 foot fence. Cannon
Yep
Love Johnny bench, greatest catcher ever but he never would give Oakland As any respect for beating them in the World Series without Reggie Jackson
Sparky called them the greatest team he ever faced.
I know exactly where Binger Oklahoma is.
Marsha Marsha Marsha
I wonder if Bo Jackson would've been a good catcher because of his arm, Jackson could throw like a dart,remember the throw he threw out out home flat footed from the wall and made a perfect throw.
It takes much more than an arm.
Johnny Bench would throw out runners without even leaving the crouch.
Bo should have left football alone .
Bench is probably the best ever (he thinks so…) although you could make a good argument for Campy or Yogi.
I think the deal breaker is that Bench caught with one hand and everyone since has done it that way. Campy and Yogi, while great and with even better numbers offensively, didn't make every team go get a 30 HR hitter at catcher.
@@RoundingThird Yogi is the Bill Russel of baseball: woefully undervalued but has the rings that say he was the best teammate ever. 9 Championships! But I’m with you: Bench is still the best. He made pitchers better. And he could do everything.
"Jerry Grote would have caught and I'd have played 3rd."
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