Where to begin... Clearly I'm a huge fan of Cincinnati's Big Red Machine having grown up during that era. What a magical time for Reds fans. Johnny Bench was an anchor for a team that won two Wold Series, went to two other World Series, and won two other division titles in the 1970's.
As you can imagine, I have quite a few items in my Bench collection. To make my Bench post more manageable I'm splitting the collection into 3 posts. This post mainly features Bench memorabilia. The following post will feature cards during Bench's playing career, and the last post will feature cards from his post-playing career.
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| Miranda Frye Art circa 2010, 1/3. |
I usually start a Hall of Famer post with the National Baseball Hall of Fame postcard, but in this case I'm presenting a piece of art that our oldest daughter did back in high school. Knowing my affinity for the Reds and Bench, Miranda made the artwork shown above and gave it to me as a Christmas gift. This is one of my favorite pieces of art and it is proudly displayed on a shelf below our living room TV.
The 1975 World Series is arguably one of the greatest World Series ever played. Brilliant pitching by Red Sox pitcher Louis Tiant (two complete game wins)... A series-pivotal, no-interference call in extra innings on Reds pinch hitter Ed Armbruster after he bunted and semi-collided with Carlton Fisk resulting in a Fisk error and ultimately a Reds win... Three days of rain... Former Red Bernie Carbo hitting a dramatic home run to tie Game 6 in the 8th inning, followed in the 12th inning by a walk-off home run by Carlton Fisk that he practically willed to be fair... and Game 7 decided on a 9th inning single by Joe Morgan.
By beating the Phillies 3 games to 0 in the NL Championship Series and the Yankees 4 games to 0 in the World Series, the 1976 Reds became, and remain, the only team to sweep an entire multi-tier postseason, one of the crowning achievements of the franchise's Big Red Machine era. The Reds are also the last NL team to win back-to-back World Series. Bench would claim the MVP of the series hitting .533 with two home runs and six runs batted in. His catching counterpart, Thurman Munson, had nine hits, all singles, and a .529 batting average. It was during this time that Red's manager Sparky Anderson, when asked how Munson compared to Bench boasted "I don't want to embarrass any other catcher by comparing him to Johnny Bench."
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| 1971 Topps coin #149. |
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| 1974 Kellogg's 3-D card #28. |
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| Early 1980's Fleer sticker with Bench's #5. |
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| 1970 MLB All-Star Game Commemorative Patch (2010 Topps card #MCP52). |
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| 1976 Isaly's disk. |
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| 1981 Perma graphics Credit Card Baseball Card #5. |
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| National Baseball Hall of Fame silver plated medallion with color emblem. Mintage of 5,000. |
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| Silly Band gift from our youngest daughter. Remember these? I have a few others randomly included in my HOF card collection. |
Other than cards, I don't collect much baseball memorabilia, but as you can see I make an exception for Big Red Machine players especially of the items fit fairly nicely in a card binder.
I hope you enjoyed.
Stay safe,
CinciCuse Bill
There's nothing like a nice piece of artwork... especially when it's the product of a loved one. That piece your daughter made for you is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI'll pas that compliment along to her - thanks!
DeleteHave you seen the recent Blue Emu commercials starring Johnny Bench?
ReplyDeleteIn one, he and a woman are having dinner at a restaurant when a fan approaches him for an autograph. First a baseball, then a bowling ball, then a baby!
In the other one, a fan approaches him sitting at a counter in a donut shop. "Hey, you're Johnny Bench! Is it true you can hold 7 baseballs in 1 hand?"
Bench: "Nah, I don't do that any more." Then he raises his arm, and is holding 7 donuts in one hand.
Love it!
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