JB was my idol growing up. Glad to see he is still on point.

Another great DP interview. Life long Pirates fan, but Johnny Bench is a complete professional, just like Jerry West!

Johnny Bench was my idol growing up in Columbus, his nickname was "Hoss" after the Bonanza character. He put Binger, Oklahoma on the map. When Bench found out that he had a "spot" on his lung ... he said he got scared and took it out on the baseball and hit 5 home runs in a 3 day period. Great memories ... his opposite field HR in the playoffs against Pittsburgh still gives me chills over 50 years later!

Johnny Bench...he doesn't disappoint.

When I was 9 years old on the Little League Reds, I was the catcher and I took number 5 and of course Johnny Bench was one of my heroes and I kept number 5 through my whole baseball career. Still have the picture of me number five on the Reds with my baseball bat.

Love him. What a great guy, great stories, fellow Ohioan. Tells it like it is

Johnny Bench was a childhood hero to many of us youngsters back in the day.

Even though losing 15-4 doesn’t mean the losing team is quitting.

There goes Johnny Bench, the greatest catcher who ever lived.

bench is hilarious. always a good interview and good insights on the pastime

“Krylon, no runs, no drips, no errors.”

Johnny could steal you a base now & then in his day , had 68 steals ? Fisk in the A.L was the same , he had 128 steals .

Standards in baseball has gone down hill tremendously. Just like the U.S Military standards have plummeted tremendously

There are ZERO contractual or financial benefits to following unwritten rules.

If I were a pitcher, I would not consider it a perfect game or no-hitter if the batters are unwilling to get on base by any means possible, even if it's a blowout. They got a no-hitter going and a perfect game, so don't bunt, run out pop flies, and for god's sake, don't take ball four. We want to give the pitcher every chance. Hmm... Participation trophies.

Joey Gallo has 62 strikeouts on May 20th. hes hitting .211

Dan should have Bench on every week or every other week.

This is why the unwritten rules of baseball are unwritten, so we don't need to have these debates.

What happened with the White Sox is a microcosm of today's generational differences. Rules and respect.

Johnny where is the Kool-Aid Man? Don't you usually start your shows with the Kool-Aid Man busting through from left field?

My goodness baseball You have become horse racing Sad to see you go

F the unwritten rules

Johnny's right about batting average. Ive been thinking that for the last few years: Since when was it ok to have 2, 3 or 4 guys in your starting lineup hovering .200 or lower?? That is why I have a problem with the universal DH. They talk about how the game needs to be changed because baseball is too stiff and traditional. Bullshit. Ya, all this unwritten rule stuff is getting out of hand lately, and is stupid because we have social media and everybodys watching everyone's business nowadays. It's not 1975 anymore. I get it. But why are awesome traditions like NL vs AL and the good old pennant race being forgotten? Why is this glorious and difficult sport being diluted by more divisional play and expanded wild card series and this fucking bullshit runner on second in the tenth? Manfred is a fucking goof. He let the distractions of 2020 sweep the Astros scandal under the rug. If you get a universal DH, the classic small ball game (which is a stupid term) will just be even further away. It'll just mean more guys batting .190. Home runs, strike outs, or BBs. That's all. How is that better than just having one guy, your pitcher, ground out or fly out two or three times a game? Or he gets a hit maybe? He is a baseball player after all! It's the same shit. It's a strategy game. Catcher is just the new NL pitcher in the batting order now. What's the goddam difference? Now you have way more guys who are not all around players. Too many specialists. You gotta play a postion to play in the NL. I grew up up watching AL East ball extensively and had a DH bias growing up, the NL was an anomaly to me until interleague started. Im still strangely not used to it after 23 years. But that's just me. Doesn't mean I want universal DH. Not at all. And its getting worse. More home runs, lower BA. Not everything needs to change. This is a huge baseball problem that just gets ignored because people seem to think La Russa is what all of the old school stands for. And it is not. He's always been a sleezebag. Most baseball fans just want to see some good baseball and maybe the pitcher lasting past the 5th if hes rolling. How will we ever see these guys in their true glory again? Playing to the limit? Nolan Ryan and Jack Morris woulda never made it past the 6th these days. Get a mind of your own people. Are home runs really that great? Ya, they can be. But that isn't the pinnacle of entertainment. It isn't all baseball is about. Just like fighting in hockey. It's great. But not just for entertainment. It needs to be natural. This recent cross sport interpretation of "unwritten laws" and "answering the call" is dangeroulsly being dictated by that young, dumb, sloganeering socail media bullshit, and predominantly American broadcasters who greenlight these behaviours. Promoting these sports as merely box office events, when they can also be enjoyed by the common man out of strategy and sheer interest.

When Bench is gone, his sense of humor will be missed.