Word: benching
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Within days Anderson was positively ecstatic. In the next game Bench cracked a single to touch off a four-run rally in the sixth inning as the Reds won their fourth straight from the flagging Astros, 10-3. In the series with Philadelphia, Bench left Phillie hurlers with nightmares that could last the entire season. With the Phils leading 1-0 at the end of six innings, big John stepped to the plate and slammed a long drive over the fence, tying the score and eventually forcing the game into extra innings. Eight extra, to be exact, until Bench came...
...boat, there are few jobs around as demanding and punishing as that of major-league catcher. But the thought of their own flesh and blood earning a living in a metal-grille mask, sturdy chest protector and plated shin guards doesn't seem to bother Ted and Katie Bench-or even Grandma Pearl. Nearly every day the Cincinnati Reds are in town, at least one of the three treks out to Riverfront Stadium and cheers lustily as the pride of the family, Johnny Lee Bench, dons his armor and trots onto the field to command the game...
...with the Reds in 1968, the husky (6 ft., 209 Ibs.), handsome athlete took charge on the diamond, calling the defensive shots, cutting down base runners like so many cornstalks, and imposing his canny grasp of pitching tactics on temperamental hurlers. Said former Reds Pitcher Jim Maloney, eight years Bench's senior: "He'll come out to the mound and chew me out as if I were a two-year-old. And I like it." That was only the half of it. Squinting menacingly at rival pitchers over his high Choctaw cheekbones, the young Oklahoman made his biggest...
Nightmares. Suddenly Bench, with hefty support from slugging First Baseman Tony Perez, Outfielders Pete Rose and Bobby Tolan and newly acquired Second Baseman Joe Morgan, put the Big Red Machine into overdrive. On the second night of an extended road trip, in Houston's discombobulating Astrodome, Johnny cracked a deep fly to left center. The ball caromed off the wall between two sprinting outfielders, and by the time the relay throws reached the infield, Bench, no whippet on the base paths, had crossed home plate standing up with the first inside-the-park home run of his major-league...
...Bench's streak did not stop there. Indeed, it became rather spooky. He beat the Phillies again with a double that drove in the only two runs of the game. He conspired with Battery Mate Gary Nolan to whip the Montreal Expos; Nolan won his eighth game in nine decisions as Bench went four-for-six at the plate, driving in three runs. By the time the Reds returned from that astonishing road trip, Bench had collected 21 hits in 51 times at bat to raise his batting average to .306, and had belted nine homers and driven...