Johnny Bench (1989)


Date of Birth: 12/7/1947
Birthplace: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Johnny Bench, one of the best catchers in baseball history, played for 17 years with the Cincinnati Reds "Big Red Machine" of the 1970s. In high school, Bench played both baseball and basketball. He was drafted by the Reds in June, 1965. He was a second round draft pick and the thirty-sixth overall selection.

Cincinnati Reds

Bench started his professional baseball career in the minor leagues in 1965. Two years later, he was named the 1967 Minor League Player of the Year. That same year, he had his first start in the major leagues, playing in 26 games with the Reds.

In 1968, his first full season in the major leagues, Bench won the National League Rookie of the Year award and the Sporting News Rookie Player of the Year award. He batted .275 with 155 hits, a career high 40 doubles, 15 home runs, and 82 RBIs in 154 games. He won his first of ten consecutive Gold Gloves, and he led all NL catchers in assists with 102 and in putouts with 942.

Bench batted .293 in 148 games in 1969. He had 156 hits, 23 doubles, 26 home runs, and 90 RBIs. He struck out 86 times and he walked 49 times. He earned his second Gold Glove by leading all NL catchers in caught stealing percentage with 57%.

Bench had one of his best seasons in 1970 when he won the NL MVP award and the Sporting News Player of the Year award. He led the league in home runs and RBIs. He batted .293 with career highs in hits with 177, home runs with 45, and RBIs with 148. He also had 35 doubles in 158 games.

Bench batted just .238 in 149 games in 1971. He had 134 hits, 19 doubles, 27 home runs, and 61 RBIs. He struck out 83 times and he walked 49 times.

In 1972, Bench won the NL MVP award for a second time and he again led the league in home runs and RBIs. He batted .270 with 145 hits, 22 doubles, 40 home runs, and 125 RBIs in 147 games. In addition to showing power, he had great discipline at the plate, walking a career high 100 times (to 84 strikeouts). He won his fifth Gold Glove for again leading all NL catchers in caught stealing percentage with 56%.

Bench's batting average dropped to .253 in 1973. He had 141 hits, 17 doubles, 25 home runs, and 104 RBIs in 152 games. He walked 83 times and he struck out the same number of times. He again led NL catchers in caught stealing percentage with 49%, and he won his sixth Gold Glove.

Bench again led the NL in RBIs in 1974, this time with 129. He had 174 hits, 38 doubles, 33 home runs, and a .280 batting average in a career high 160 games. He walked 80 times and struck out 90 times. The following season, he batted .283 in 142 games, and he had 150 hits, 39 doubles, 28 home runs, and 110 RBIs. He was awarded the Lou Gehrig Memorial award in 1975.

Bench struggled in the regular season in 1976, but he excelled in the postseason, winning the WS MVP award and the Babe Ruth award. He batted just .234 in 135 games in the regular season, and he had 109 hits, 24 doubles, 16 home runs, and 74 RBIs. He played well, however, defensively, winning his ninth Gold glove and leading NL catchers in putouts with 651. In the postseason, he batted .444 with 12 hits, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, 1 stolen base, and 7 RBIs in 27 at-bats in 7 games.

Bench played well in 1977, finishing the season with 136 hits, 34 doubles, 31 home runs, 109 RBIs, and a .275 batting average in 142 games. That year, he won his tenth and final Gold Glove.

Bench played in only 120 games in 1978. He batted .260 with 102 hits, 23 home runs, and 73 RBIs. The following season, he batted .276 in 130 games. He finished the 1979 season with 128 hits, 19 doubles, 22 home runs, and 80 RBIs. He walked 67 times and struck out 73 times. In 1980, he batted .250 in 114 games, and he had 90 hits, 24 home runs, and 68 RBIs.

Bench played in just 52 games in 1981, and he batted .309. He won the Hutch award that year. The next year, he played in 119 games. He finished the 1982 season with 103 hits, 16 doubles, 13 home runs, 38 RBIs, and a .258 batting average.

In 1983, his last season in the major leagues, Bench batted .255 in 110 games. He had 79 hits, 15 doubles, and 54 RBIs.

Awards and MLB Records

  • Gold Glove (10 times)
  • NL Rookie of the Year
  • Sporting News Rookie Player of the Year
  • NL MVP (2 times)
  • Sporting News Player of the Year
  • World Series MVP
  • Babe Ruth award
  • Lou Gehrig Memorial award
  • Hutch award
  • Led NL in home runs (2 times)
  • Led NL in RBIs (3 times)

Career Statistics

Batting statistics for Bench in 17 seasons (1967-1983) in the major leagues include:

  • 5 seasons with 150 or more hits, with a high of 177 in 1970
  • 5 seasons with over 30 doubles, with a high of 40 in 1968
  • 11 seasons with over 20 home runs, with a high of 45 in 1970
  • 6 seasons with over 100 RBIs, with a high of 148 in 1970

Career batting statistics for Bench include:

  • 2,158 games played
  • 2,048 hits
  • 381 doubles
  • 389 home runs
  • 1,376 RBIs
  • 1,278 strikeouts to 891 walks
  • .267 batting average
  • .342 on-base percentage
  • .740 OPS

Career fielding statistics for Bench as a catcher include:

  • 1,742 games played
  • 97 errors
  • 850 assists
  • 9,249 putouts
  • .990 fielding percentage

Postseason statistics for Bench include:

  • 6 postseasons
  • 45 games played
  • 169 at-bats
  • 45 hits
  • 8 doubles
  • 3 triples
  • 10 home runs
  • 20 RBIs
  • 28 strikeouts to 18 walks
  • .266 batting average

Post Playing Career

After retiring as a major league player, Bench was the host of a TV show, "Baseball Bunch," from 1982 through 1985. He tried his hand at theater in 1985, playing Joe Boyd/Joe Hardy in a Cincinnati production of "Damn Yankees."

Bench worked as a CBS radio color commentator from 1989 through 1993.

Bench was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1989 on the first ballot with 96.4% of the vote.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Johnny Bench
ESPN - Johnny Bench
Baseball Reference - Johnny Bench

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