Johnny Bench- Baseball's Greatest Catcher

The Hall of Fame Career of the Reds' Star

"To Johnny Bench-A Hall of Famer for sure"! Ted Williams wrote that on a baseball for Johnny Bench during spring training in 1968, and the prediction came to fruition a little over two decades later. Johnny Bench is considered by many to be the greatest catcher of all time. Johnny Bench played his whole seventeen seasons in baseball with the Cincinnati Reds, and when his career was done, it was only a matter of time before Cooperstown opened its doors to him.

A native of Binger, Oklahoma, Johnny Bench was born on December 7th, 1947. His father told him that if he wanted to become a Major League Baseball player, which was the dream of Johnny Bench, that the surest way was to learn to be a catcher. His dad would have him throw, from a crouching position, 254 feet, or twice the distance from home plate to second base. With the help of this training, Johnny Bench developed what is regarded as the strongest throwing arm of any catcher that ever lived. Johnny Bench had huge hands, so large than he could hold seven baseballs at once! The Reds chose Johnny Bench in the second round of the amateur draft in 1965, and the eighteen year old kid was sent to Peninsula of the Carolina League, where he was named The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year and actually had his number retired- as soon as was done playing there!