Johnny Bench is more than one of the greatest catchers of all time. He redefined the position during his 17 years in Major League Baseball, all of them with the Cincinnati Reds. The Rookie of Year and 14-time All-Star set the standard for what the best modern-day catchers can do.

The late Frank Cashen, one of the most successful baseball general managers in the 1970s and 1980s, summed up Bench’s impact in a quote included on the catcher’s Hall of Fame page: “The way I see it, the first thing you want in a catcher is the ability to handle the pitchers. Then you want defensive skill, and, of course, the good arm. Last of all, if he can hit with power, well, then you’ve got a Johnny Bench.”

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Johnny Bench’s Early Life

Like so many great major league players, Bench started life in a small town. Born Johnny Lee Bench on Dec. 7, 1947, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Bench grew up in the tiny town of Binger, Oklahoma. Bench was the son of truck driver, Ted, and a housewife, Katy. Bench is one-eighth Choctaw.

His father had played baseball when he was young. He taught all three of his sons (young Johnny had two older brothers) to play the game. Bench later recalled that he played catcher because his father told him that provided the quickest path to reaching the majors.

Bench started playing at the age of six on a team organized by this dad, who sometimes drove everyone to games in his truck. From a very young age, Bench had his eye on becoming a big-time player. Part of his motivation came from Mickey Mantle, a legendary player who came from another small Oklahoma town, Commerce.

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The Bus Crash

Bench later played both basketball and baseball at Binger High School, where he graduated as valedictorian of the class. But a horrible bus crash almost ended his life before he graduated.

On the return trip from a game in Riverside on U.S. Highway 281, the brakes went out on the team bus. As the bus barreled down a hill, the driver had to attempt to make a sharp curve at 40 miles per hour. The bus flipped into a ravine, rolling downhill. The crash killed two of Bench’s teammates and friends, Harold Sims and Billy Joe Wylie.

Bench credited advice from his father for saving his life. As the bus rolled into the ravine, Bench remembered his father telling him that if he ever found himself in that situation, to get on the floor. Bench did so, dragging a teammate to safety with him. Bench was knocked unconscious, but was otherwise unhurt.

Bench wrote in his 1979 autobiography, “Catch You Later”: “I have never developed many close friends, and maybe it is because that accident changed me to the point where I have denied friendships.”

Johnny Bench’s Early Baseball Career

Bench remained driven throughout his youth in Binger. Because of his elite play in high school, the Reds drafted Bench in the 1965 amateur draft. He spent his first two seasons playing for the minor league Buffalo Bisons.

In 1967, playing for the Bisons, he got a great deal of attention after hitting a grand slam against pitcher Jim Palmer. Palmer went on to have a Hall of Fame career, and never gave up a grand slam in his two decades in the majors.

The Reds brought Bench up in August 1967. Dean Crain, a lifelong friend of Bench’s, told The Oklahoman his favorite story about that time. Just 19 years old, Bench walked onto the field as a Red that summer in 1967. Backup catcher Don Pavletich looked at him and said, “So, you’re here to take my job?” No, Bench replied. He then pointed to starting catcher Johnny Edwards across the clubhouse. “I’m here to take his job.”

He backed up his words with his play.

Johnny Bench’s MLB Career

In his first full season in 1968, Bench became the first catcher to win the Rookie of the Year award. He hit .275 with 15 home runs and 82 RBIs. He demonstrated elite abilities behind the plate and with his throwing arm.

He also took Edwards’ job, becoming a starting catcher on April 17 and playing in 81 straight games afterward. He played in 154 games that year. The Reds had already traded Edwards, himself a Gold Glove winner in 1963 and 1964, to the St. Louis Cardinals in February 1968. He went on to play from 1969 to 1974 with the Houston Astros.

Bench became a key component in the Big Red Machine that won the World Series in 1975 and 1976. The small town boy from Oklahoma also racked up plenty of individual accomplishments.

  • Bench won his first MVP award in 1970, hitting 45 home runs and 148 RBIs
  • He won his second in 1972, hitting 40 home runs and driving in 125
  • He played on every All-Star team from 1968-1980, and again in 1983
  • He won 10 Gold Gloves in a row from 1968 to 1977
  • In the 1976 World Series against the New York Yankees, Bench hit .533 with two home runs (the Reds swept the Yankees)
  • He retired after the 1983 season as the all-time leader in home runs among catchers with 389 (later passed by Carlton Fisk and Mike Piazza)
  • His 10 career grand slams still rank first among all catchers

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Life After Baseball

Bench became a public figure for baseball, speaking at many MLB events such as stadium openings and ceremonies to honor old teammates. He also became a broadcaster, working on games for ABC with partner Don Drysdale. In the 1980s, he made a series of commercials for Krylon Paint, with the catchphrase: “No runs, no drips, no errors.”

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He’s also played often as a part-time golfer. Bench was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Bench moved to South Florida with two of his sons around 2018, and in 2020 – at the age 72 – he served as grand marshal of the South Florida Fair.