Johnny Bench
Johnny Bench
Johnny Lee Benchis an American former professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1983 and is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Bench, a 14-time All-Star selection and a two-time National League Most Valuable Player, was a key member of The Big Red Machine, which won six division titles, four National League pennants, and two World Series championships. ESPN has called him the greatest catcher in baseball history...
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth7 December 1947
bubble finally gum picture
The most validating thing was when my picture was on my first bubble gum card. That was in '68 for me. I was finally on the Topps card.
ali fights five jimmy matches million muhammad ninety plays tennis winds
Jimmy Connors plays two tennis matches and winds up with $850,000, and Muhammad Ali fights one bout and winds up with five million bucks. Me, I play one-hundred and ninety games, and I'm overpaid!
arm feels legs playing responsibility
I want to win, but there's the grind. There's so much responsibility for a catcher...My arm feels good. My legs will be all right. How long will I go on? How long can I go on? How long for I want to go on playing baseball? Is this what it's like to be thirty?
dad hit thinking
I was just thinking that I don't think Dad could hit this guy.
ball knew moved tenacious tough
He knew how to pitch. He moved the ball around and was tough and tenacious on the mound.
face throwing
I never got to face Guidry, ... and the only way I want to face him is if he's throwing underhand.
winning oklahoma games
They only delivered the newspaper once a week where I lived in Oklahoma, and those people lived and died with the box score of my games. My biggest moment was winning the World Series because everyone in my town was able to feel he was a world champion.
player horny bars
I've seldom seen a horny player walk into a bar and not let out exactly what he did for a living.
expectations yeah i-can
So, yeah, I can say I always set my expectations so high that I had a lot to live up to.
good-as-it-gets pudge wells
Well, you know, Pudge Rodriguez, obviously is as good as it gets.
mean player eras
You know, when you can play with the greatest players of that particular era, you look forward to going to the ballpark. I mean, you thought it was great to be there in the clubhouse. You thought it was great to be on the field.
sports thinking comeback
I was thinking about making a comeback, until I pulled a muscle vacuuming.
fighting wind games
Jimmy Connors plays two tennis matches and winds up with $850,000, and Muhammad Ali fights for one bout and winds up with five million bucks. Me, I play 190 games--if you count exhibitions -- and I'm overpaid!
catchers middle
The catcher is in the middle of everything. He sees it best.