Today on the blog we have my custom mini card for all-time great Johnny Bench, from my "Gum Pack" set released a short while ago in fun packaging resembling a pack of gum:
Leading
the Cincinnati Reds to two World Championships, four World Series
appearances, while taking home two MVP Awards, and absolutely rewriting the catching game
in Big League history, the man was already a legend by the time he was
in his early-20's!
Of course as we all know, he would go on to put together a career rarely
seen by ANY player, let alone a catcher: TWO N.L. MVP Awards, 14
all-star games, 10 Gold Gloves, two home run titles and three RBI
titles, all while donning the “tools of ignorance” for 17 seasons, all
with the Reds.
As a kid growing up in the 1970’s, this man was a mythic figure, a
“god”, and he and the rest of his "Big Red Machine" teammates were
steamrolling through the league towards two straight championships in
1975 & 1976, while appearing in two other series in 1970 and 1972.
L-E-G-E-N-D.