MVP Profile: Johnny Bench, 1970

Catcher, Cincinnati Reds

Age:  22

3^rd season with Reds

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’2”    Weight: 197

Prior to 1970:

Bench, a native of Oklahoma, was an All-State performer in both baseball and basketball in high school and was his class valedictorian as well. He was chosen by the Reds in the first amateur free agent draft in 1965 and followed up a promising season with Tampa of the Class A Florida State League by achieving Player of the Year recognition after batting .294 with 22 home runs with the Peninsula Grays of the Class A Carolina League in 1966. Following promotion to Class AAA Buffalo, he suffered a broken thumb that ended his ’66 campaign. Returning to Buffalo in 1967 Bench hit 23 home runs while batting .259 and impressed with his defensive play behind the plate. He was selected as Minor League Player of the Year by The Sporting News after the season and was promoted to the Reds for the last month of the ’67 season, hitting a meager .163 with a home run and 6 RBIs in 26 games. Impressive in his first full season in 1968, Bench was an All-Star for the first time and became the first catcher to receive Rookie of the Year honors after batting .275 with 40 doubles, 15 home runs, and 82 RBIs. He also received a Gold Glove for his play behind the plate. Bench followed up in 1969 with 26 home runs, 90 RBIs, and a .293 batting average, again receiving an All-Star selection and Gold Glove.

1970 Season Summary

Appeared in 158 games

C – 139, LF – 15, 1B – 12, RF – 7, CF – 2, PH – 5, 3B – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Batting

Plate Appearances – 671 [14] 

At Bats – 605 [10, tied with Lee May]

Runs – 97 [17, tied with Matty Alou]

Hits – 177 [14]

Doubles – 35 [6, tied with Ken Henderson]

Triples – 4

Home Runs – 45 [1]

RBI – 148 [1]

Bases on Balls – 54

Int. BB – 9

Strikeouts – 102 [15, tied with Doug Rader]

Stolen Bases – 5

Caught Stealing – 2

Average - .293

OBP - .345

Slugging Pct. - .587 [3]

Total Bases – 355 [2]

GDP – 12

Hit by Pitches – 0

Sac Hits – 1

Sac Flies – 11 [1]

League-leading home runs were +3 ahead of runner-up Billy Williams

League-leading RBIs were +19 ahead of runners-up Billy Williams & Tony Perez

League-leading sac flies were +2 ahead of runner-up Denis Menke

Midseason snapshot: HR - 28, RBI - 79, AVG - .285, SLG - .618

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Most hits, game – 4 (in 5 AB) vs. LA Dodgers 6/21, (in 5 AB) vs. St. Louis 7/26, (in 5 AB) at LA Dodgers 9/10

Longest hitting streak – 11 games

Most HR, game – 3 (in 5 AB) vs. St. Louis 7/26

HR at home – 30

HR on road – 15

Multi-HR games – 3

Most RBIs, game – 7 vs. St. Louis 7/26

Pinch-hitting – 1 for 5 (.200) with 1 RBI

Fielding (C )

Chances – 840

Put Outs – 755

Assists – 73

Errors – 12

Passed Balls – 9

DP – 12

Pct. - .986

Postseason Batting: 8 G (NLCS vs. Pittsburgh – 3 G; World Series vs. Baltimore – 5 G)

PA – 32, AB – 28, R – 5, H – 6, 2B – 0, 3B – 0, HR – 2, RBI – 4, BB – 4, IBB – 2, SO – 3, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .214, OBP - .313, SLG - .429, TB – 12, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 0, SF – 0

Awards & Honors: 

NL MVP: BBWAA

MLB Player of the Year: Sporting News

Gold Glove

All-Star (Started for NL at C )

Top 5 in NL MVP Voting:

Johnny Bench, Cin.: 326 pts. – 22 of 24 first place votes, 97% share

Billy Williams, ChiC.: 218 pts. – 2 first place votes, 65% share

Tony Perez, Cin.: 149 pts. – 44% share

Bob Gibson, StL.: 110 pts. – 33% share

Wes Parker, LAD: 91 pts. – 27% share

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Reds went 102-60, to finish first in the NL Western Division by 14.5 games over the Los Angeles Dodgers while leading the league in home runs (191), batting (.270, tied with three other clubs), slugging (.436) & total bases (2414). Under new manager Sparky Anderson, “the Big Red Machine” sailed to the NL West title, benefiting from an array of big bats led by Bench. Won NLCS over the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3 games to 0. Lost World Series to the Baltimore Orioles, 4 games to 1.

Aftermath of ‘70:

In a lesser season for the Reds in 1971, Bench batted .238 with 27 home runs and 61 RBIs while continuing his Gold Glove play defensively. He was MVP for a second time in 1972, when he again topped the league in home runs (40) and RBIs (125) for a pennant-winning club. With outstanding ability behind the plate that included an excellent throwing arm, Bench won 10 Gold Gloves and was selected to 14 All-Star Games over the course of a career that lasted until 1983 and included being part of two World Series-winning Cincinnati squads. Capable of playing at first base and in the outfield to reduce wear on his body from catching, Bench ultimately ended up appearing primarily at third and first base in the final stages of his Hall of Fame career (he was elected in 1989).  Overall, in a tenure spent entirely with the Reds, who retired his #5, he hit 389 home runs with 1376 RBIs and a .267 batting average. Bench had another 10 home runs and 20 RBIs in 45 postseason games and was named MVP of the 1976 World Series.

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MVP Profiles feature players in the National or American leagues who were winners of the Chalmers Award (1911-14), League Award (1922-29), or Baseball Writers’ Association of America Award (1931 to present) as Most Valuable Player.