Johnny Bench
John Lee Bench (born December 7, 1947) is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career, which lasted from 1967 to 1983, with the Cincinnati Reds, primarily as a catcher.[1][2][3] Bench was the leader of the Reds team known as the Big Red Machine that dominated the National League in the mid-1970s, winning six division titles, four National League pennants and two World Series championships.[4][5][6]
Johnny Bench
A fourteen-time All-Star and a two-time National League Most Valuable Player, Bench excelled on offense as well as on defense, twice leading the National League in home runs and three times in runs batted in.[7] At the time of his retirement in 1983, he held the major league record for most home runs hit by a catcher.[4] He was also the first catcher in history to lead the league in home runs.[8] He hit 45 home runs in 1970, which was a single-season record for catchers until Salvador Perez hit 48 in 2021.[9] His 389 home runs and 1,376 runs batted in remain the most in Cincinnati Reds history.[10]
On defense, Bench was a ten-time Gold Glove Award winner who skillfully handled pitching staffs and possessed a strong, accurate throwing arm.[7][11] He caught 100 or more games for 13 consecutive seasons.[4] In 1986, Bench was inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.[4] He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989.[7] ESPN has called him the greatest catcher in baseball history.[12]
Early life[edit]
Born and raised in Oklahoma, Bench is one-eighth Choctaw; he played baseball and basketball and was class valedictorian at Binger-Oney High School in Binger.[13] His father told him that the fastest route to becoming a major leaguer was as a catcher.
Professional career[edit]
Draft and minor leagues[edit]
As a 17-year-old, Bench was selected 36th overall by the Cincinnati Reds in the second round of the 1965 amateur draft, playing for the minor-league Buffalo Bisons in the 1966 and 1967 seasons. During the 1967 season, he hit a grand slam against Jim Palmer, who would go on to never allow a grand slam in 19 years in the Major Leagues.[14][15]
Cincinnati Reds (1967–1983)[edit]
Bench was called up to the Reds in August 1967.[16] He hit only .163, but impressed many people with his defense and strong throwing arm, among them Hall of Famer Ted Williams. Williams signed a baseball for him and predicted that the young catcher would be a "Hall of Famer for sure!"[6][17] Williams' prophecy became fact 22 years later in 1989 when Bench was elected to Cooperstown.
During a 1968 spring training game, Bench was catching right-hander Jim Maloney, an eight-year veteran. Maloney was once a hard thrower, but injuries had dramatically reduced the speed of his fastball. Maloney nevertheless insisted on repeatedly "shaking off" his younger catcher by throwing fastballs instead of the breaking balls that Bench had called for. When an exasperated Bench bluntly told Maloney, "Your fastball's not popping," Maloney replied with an epithet. To prove to Maloney that his fastball was no longer effective, Bench called for a fastball, and after Maloney released the ball, Bench dropped his catcher's mitt and caught the fastball barehanded.[5][18] Bench was the Reds' catcher on April 30, 1969, when Maloney pitched a no hitter against the Houston Astros.[19][20][21]
In 1968, the 20-year-old Bench impressed many in his first full season;[22] he won the National League Rookie of the Year Award, batting .275 with 15 home runs and 82 RBIs. This marked the first time that the award had been won by a catcher.[1][6][23] He also won the 1968 National League Gold Glove Award for catchers, which was the first time that the award had been won by a rookie.[1][24][25] He made 102 assists in 1968, which marked the first time in 23 years that a catcher had more than 100 assists in a season.[26] During the Vietnam War, Bench served in the United States Army Reserve as a member of the 478th Engineer Battalion, which was based across the Ohio River from Cincinnati at Fort Thomas, Kentucky. This unit included several of his teammates, among them Pete Rose, Bobby Tolan and Darrel Chaney.[27][28] In the winter of 1970–1971 he was part of Bob Hope's USO Tour of Vietnam.[29]
1970s[edit]
In 1970, Bench had his finest statistical season. At age 22, he became the youngest player to win the National League Most Valuable Player Award. He hit .293, led the National League with 45 home runs and a franchise-record 148 runs batted in as the Reds won the NL West Division.[1][5][30] The Reds swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in the National League Championship Series, but lost to the Baltimore Orioles in five games in the World Series.[31][32]
Personal life[edit]
Bench has been married five times. Once hailed as "baseball's most-eligible bachelor," he shed that distinction before the 1975 season when he married Vickie Chesser, a toothpaste model who had dated Joe Namath. Four days after they met, Bench proposed, and they were married on February 21, 1975.[69][70] Quickly, the pair realized they were incompatible, especially after Bench suggested that his wife accept Hustler magazine's offer for her to pose nude for $25,000.[71][72] They broke up at the end of the season (Bench reportedly said to her, "Now I'm done with two things I hate: baseball and you"), divorcing after just 13 months. "I tried. I even hand-squeezed orange juice," Chesser told Phil Donahue in December 1975. "I don't think either of us had any idea what marriage was really like." After returning to Manhattan, Chesser said, "Johnny Bench is a great athlete, a mediocre everything else, and a true tragedy as a person."[73][74]
Before Christmas 1987, Bench married Laura Cwikowski, an Oklahoma City model and aerobics instructor. They had a son, Bobby Binger Bench (named after Bob Hope and Bobby Knight, and Bench's hometown), before divorcing in 1995. They shared custody of their son. "He was, and is, a great dad," according to Bobby, who works in Cincinnati as a production operator on Reds broadcasts. Bench's third marriage, to Elizabeth Benton, took place in 1997. Johnny filed for divorce in 2000 on grounds of marital infidelity. His fourth marriage took place in 2004, to 31-year-old Lauren Baiocchi, the daughter of pro golfer Hugh Baiocchi. After living in Palm Springs with their two sons, Johnny wished to return to South Florida, where he lived from 2014 to 2017. However, Lauren would not relocate to Florida, leading to their divorce. As of 2018, Bench has primary custody of their sons.[75]
Bench was married for the fifth time in 2024.