What is Johnny Bench Net Worth?

Johnny Bench net worth is US$ 5 Million as of Jan 2023

Net Worth	US$ 5 Million
Born:	December 7, 1947 (75 Years)
Birth Name	John Lee Bench
Gender	Male
Height	6′ 1″
Horoscope	Sagittarius
Country of Origin	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, The US
Source of Wealth	Baseball Player
Marital Status	Un-married
Spouse	Lauren Baiocchi (m. 2004-2018), Elizabeth Benton (m. 1997-2000), Laura Cwikowski (m. 1987–1995), and Vickie Chesser (m. 1975–1976)
Children	Bobby Binger Bench (Son), Justin (Son), and Josh (Son)
Famous For	He is known as the Reds team’s leader, “The Big Red Machine”.

Biography

Johnny Bench’s net worth is estimated to be approx. US$ 5 Million as of 2022.

Johnny Lee Bench is an American former professional baseball player. He played all of his Major League Baseball careers. He was with the “Cincinnati Reds” from 1967 to 1983. Johnny was the leader and founder of the Reds team called the “Big Red Machine”. This team dominated the National League in the 1970s. He is widely regarded as the best catcher in history. He is a 14-time All-Star and a two-time National League Most Valuable Player.

Time Line

1998

Named the greatest catcher ever by Sporting News.

1984-1993

Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Started working as a broadcaster for CBS Radio.

1983

“Cincinnati Reds” establish Johnny Bench Scholarship Fund also Bench retires from Major League Baseball.

1975

“Cincinnati Reds” World Series Champions.

1970

Named as National League Most Valuable Player and Major League Player of the Year.

1968

Named “Rookie of the Year” by Sporting News and the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.

1967

Johnny played as a catcher for the “National League Cincinnati Reds” and was named as Minor League Player of the Year by Sporting News.

1966

He played in the “Carolina League” (minor leagues).

1965

Selected during the amateur draft by “Cincinnati Reds”.

Early Life

Johnny Lee Bench was born in Oklahoma City on December 7, 1947. He was raised in Binger, Oklahoma. His father Ted Bench was a truck driver and semi-professional baseball player, and his mother Katy Bench was a homemaker. His father was a coach and financial supporter of Binger’s Little League for many years. The Bench family enjoyed watching “Game of the Week” on Saturdays. Johnny loved listening to players’ tips and dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player like the Oklahoma native Mickey Mantle.

Johnny Bench was a hard worker and earned high grades in high school. He also played basketball and baseball but preferred basketball for a while. He was a robust and athletic student with big hands and feet. Johnny could hold seven baseballs or a basketball in one hand. He was a teenager when he lugged 100-pound peanut bags onto trucks. Which helped him build his muscles, and he didn’t need a weight room. Although Bench was a great fastball pitcher, he also took on the catcher role, as his father suggested. Bench wrote in “Catch You Later”, “when I wasn’t playing, I was watching games, just living and breathing sports.” He competed against other boys in American Legion at the age of fifteen. 

The breaks on Binger Bobcat bus’s bus broke on its return journey from an out-of-town baseball game in 1965. The bus crashed into a rail and rolled down an incline towards a ravine. Bench landed on the ground and held onto the seat’s bottom. Two of his teammates were also dead at the bottom of the hill when the bus stopped rolling. Bench’s feet were still hanging out the backdoor. This incident shook Bench, and he said that it was because he had reluctance later in his life to make friends.

In 1968, Bench caught the first of his ten “Gold Gloves” awards and won the “Rookie-of-the-Year” award.

Career

In his youth, Bench was driven to succeed in Binger. The Reds selected Bench in the 1965 amateur draft because of his high school performance. His first 2 seasons were spent playing for the “Buffalo Bisons”. After hitting a grand slam against Jim Palmer in 1967, Palmer was a big draw for attention while playing for the Bisons. Palmer was a Hall of Famer and never lost a grand slam during his 20 years in major league baseball.

Bench was the first catcher to be awarded the “Rookie-of-the-Year” award in his 1968 season. Bench hit 275, with 15 home runs as well as 82 RBIs. He displayed exceptional skills behind the plate and with his throwing arm. Edwards also offered him his job. He became a starting catcher on April 17 and played 81 consecutive games after that. He was a part of 154 games in that season. The Reds already traded Edwards to the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a “Gold Glove” winner in 1963, 1964, and 1968. He continued to play with the Houston Astros from 1969 to 1974.

Bench was a well-known figure in baseball and spoke at many MLB events, including stadium openings and tributes to former teammates. With Don Drysdale, he became a broadcaster and worked on ABC games. He made several commercials for Krylon Paint in the 1980s with Don Drysdale. Catchphrase: “No runs, no drips, no errors.”

Highlights

Here are some of the best highlights of Johnny Bench’s career:

• In 1970, Bench won his 1^st MVP award, hitting 45 home runs and 148 RBIs
• In 1972, he won his second award for hitting 40 home runs and driving 125
• In the 1976 World Series against the New York Yankees, Bench hit .533 with two home runs
• From 1968-1980, he played on every All-Star team, and again in 1983
• From 1968 to 1977, he won 10 “Gold Gloves” in a row
• He retired after the 1983 season as the all-time leader in home runs among catchers with 389
• His 10 career grand slams still rank first among all catchers

Frequently Asked Questions

Summary

Johnny Lee Bench was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on 7 December 1947. He is most well-known as an American professional baseball player and catcher in American Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Cincinnati Reds. His career spanned from 1967 to 1983 and he is widely considered to be the greatest catcher in baseball history. He is a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame Board of Directors.

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