I wish these legends never grew old because I really do miss The Big Red Machine!

I can listen to these 1960's to 80's baseball legends talk baseball all day.

Love Johnny Bench man, I could listen to him talk all day. Man is a baseball genius!

Johnny Bench is a testament to the fact that you don't always need college, to be intelligent and/or successful...

thank you Mr. Bench for being such a great baseball ambassador through the years

I love listening to Johnny Bench. Great story teller discussing that last bit of baseball's golden era.

My childhood sports hero. I wanted to be a catcher with my Johnny Bench autographed catcher's mitt, and I loved the Big Red Machine. He came to Riyadh with Bob Hope and did a Christmas show when I was in Desert Shield/Storm. An absolute legend in all respects.

people that "can't" set thru a live game....don't go! its part of the game...absolutely love knowing and watching MLB live....nothing better...J Bench is the frickin man here in oklahoma...NEVER forgot where he came from....love it!

best catcher ever.... he was also a great color commentator

I am glad i found this...i liked Bench and followed him throughout his career...and now i am still a baseball fan...an old man...but listening to him talk...you would think some team would have him as an adviser of sorts...he is so knowledgeable...

This was just great listening to John Bench talkin old school baseball from the best generation of baseball mid 70's -80's...

What a great squad those Reds teams were that Bench, Rose, Morgan, Perez, Conception, Foster, and the ton of guys that were role players that could all play.

If you get any offensive output from your catcher , its a bonus . Hes gotta bat with sore hands half the time , tired knees from squatting , not to mention all the stuff hes gotta sort out in his head during a ballgame .And Bench was the best defensive catcher in the league , by a lot . .And still Johnny bench drove in more runs than any other baseball player in the 1970s. That is amazing . Especially considering that the guy who usually hit right before or after him in the lineup , Tony Perez , was 2nd in the decade of the 70s in total RBIs.

Johnny Bench is always a great interview.

Best catcher ever. And a likable person.

Johnny Bench is a class professional who played the game with intelligence and passion.

Baseball Catcher GOAT! And a great man to boot.

Great podcast love Johnny bench Detroit tigers and the big red machine got me through the 70s

My start with baseball happened when I was about 4. I grew with and loved the game. One of the most memorable days of my life was box seats at Shea stadium where To Seaver was visiting with what was left of the big red machine. I saw Bench all game. Joe Morgan's elbow pump. Dave Conepcion. And Seaver staring everyone down. No team can replace the pre-free agency era players for the feeling of unity. It took many years to get used to not having the core players. That is something baseball and the fans lost.

People may not remember this but Johnny had his own variety TV show back in the day and it was a good show.

Love hearing Bench talk baseball, could listen all day

Forever grateful for The Baseball Bunch. Love that show as a kid.

33 HOF’s at one all star game. Wow! Now days you’re looking at a handful in any particular year.

Best catcher ever !!!

Johnny Bench is the best catcher I ever saw play

I think when you have a legend like Bench on your show, yeah, you just kinda let him run your show lol...what a treasure, all those stories from the golden years of baseball...

I Love how Johny is always reppen The Reds, from his same red shirt & fit to match his hat.

i love these stories from when i was growing up in the 70's and 80's.

love bench. i played catcher because of him!!

The one thing missing from the Reggie blast in the retelling is that the wind was blowing out and 20 30 miles per hour that night. KZfaq had a replay of that game and all during the broadcast the announcers noted the wind issue.

Yes!!! I loved Jim Maloney

Good gravy, give the hall of fame-er a drink.... I want to listen to more stories! Great stuff.

So intelligent, and I remember Sparky called him, the "Little General".

I cannot imagine a team with HOF players nowadays asking those players, "Who do you like?" when looking at new players. Amazing that Sparky Anderson did that.

Went thru the '71 AS rosters, counted 22 famers not 33

Johnny Bench. Rock it out!

Lol i got the same hat as Johnny Bench and I was wearing it when I got his autograph Sunday.

Bench rules!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why isn't he on television all the time? He was a huge star, a great player and fun to listen to. I don't get it.

I agree that the game shouldn't be shortened.

Love listening to Johnny Bench talk baseball , hated him killing my Phillies though .

Haha I had JB Batter Up...never fully got it to work right...you needed to cement it down to make it really work well...and I didnt have cement as a kid lol!

Aventually we will get stronger but it'll take a lot longer than 50 or 100 years

As a kid living near Cincinnati in the mid 70's, I wanted a Johnny Bench baseball card so bad. All I kept getting was Bill Plumber. Plumber did hit around .300, but only about 50 ab's a year.

Good story teller the mick was good too ahh those sooner boys

One of my idiols as a catcher. He and Pudge and Thurman... what's evident in this interview is the passion Johhny still has for the game itself. He made catching look easy. It's not. Great seeing Johnny. I remember long ago Casey Stengel was talking to Sparky Anderson. And basically said you'll never find anyone better than that young kid you've got. The ol professor knew then how great Johnny Bench was. Ted Williams had him pegged as a certain hall of famer.

WOW! 33 Hall of famers in one game. Anyone out there that was at that game. Please let me know.

Clemente hit a homer in the upper deck that night in Detroit

Can't imagine " the Babe " needed a note book and 3 ring binders. Drink a beer , eat a couple of hotdogs and step to the plate.

Just wanted to throw out that Jim Maloney threw about 40 career major league innings after his 30th birthday, so maybe the pitch level had an impact.

Nobody gets stronger and faster. Technology gets better.

I hated the Reds. Johnny Bench is a brilliant observer of the game. I could listen to him talk for hours. Listen to what he says.

I can watch little league and high school. I just can't seem to sit through an mlb game.

Johnny your one of the best catchers ever but stand up for pete rose to be in HOF now " hes paid the price and pete needs and desevers to be in " theres players that have cheated and used steroids and are in , to me thats worse the gambling after you have played.

The greatest catcher to ever play the game, no other catcher even comes close.

rich 60 some odd genders eisen watch the interview with reggie jackson and when jackson says there are 60 some odd genders rich eisen says uh uh doesn't even flinch wtf

Basic defence: I said that to my dad, he laughed his ass off!

Give this man a steak . . . .

Smart fella that Johnny, but a bit too much of that "back in my day, we walked two miles to school uphill both ways in snowstorms and with a fifty pound backpack, and we didn't complain" attitude. As for the segment discussing the Buster Posey Rule, Pete Rose and Ray Fosse... after getting banged up terribly in a home plate collision, Carlton Fisk developed a "sideways sweep" technique that proved to be much safer and very efficient at least for him, so what happened to it, not used anymore?

MLB needs to get rid of that stupid rule that a relief pitcher has to face at least 3 batters, it takes away the chess game between managers and makes the starters outing much shorter.

Johnny Bench says he is the goat of MLB and Carlton Fisk is second??? Did he ever look at Yogi’s LIfetime stats.

That's why I can't sit through a live baseball game. Because they take way too long to throw the next pitch. I think if they cut that back the game would have a better pace to it. My solution is I record the games so I can fast forward through the bs.

No one better

OMG Rich is in blackface on his logo!

Always taking the first pitch. Moving closer to third base in the later innings to avoid the extra base hit (because extra base hits in the early innings don't count). Bunting. Not caring if pitchers can't hit. All the wonderful nonsense of baseball.

He's jealous of pete

I used to drive by his house outside Xenia headed north allot. Always thinking great catcher. But word gets around. I heard many X's he is a jerk.