“I don’t think you can set up a computer to do a strike zone for a guy who is 6’5” tall and then a guy who is 5’8” tall. Where does it draw the line? One guy stands tall and another and another squats down, and it changes the lines. No, I still love the umpires; they do a great job. I do not have a problem with any of that.”

— Johnny Bench, Hall of Fame catcher

When you talk about baseball players that you remember and also see now who are fun to watch, one of my all-time favorites was Cincinnati Reds native of Oklahoma City catcher, Johnny Bench.

I go back to the days of Mickey Mantle and before, and admit my list, not including all, would be Mantle, Yogi Berra, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Nellie Fox, Ernie Banks, Al Kaline, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Fernando Valenzuela, Mark Fidrych, and so many more. Yes, there are many more that I loved to watch. Not enough ink in the typewriter to cover them all.

Oklahoma has produced six baseball Hall of Fame players that include: Johnny Bence, Mickey Mantle, Joe Rogan, Willie Stargell, Lloyd Waner, and his brother, Paul Waner. Add Bobby Cox to make it seven if you want to include him as an inductee as a manager.

Out of all the Hall of Famers whose names reside in Cooperstown, fewer than 20 have been catchers. A sample of those names would read like: Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Mickey Cochrane, Bill Dickey, Buck Ewing, Josh Gibson, Mike Piazza, Carlton Fisk, Joe Mauer, and Ivan Rodriguez. There are others.

When I start to try to classify a player as the best of all time, my mind plays games and tricks on me, like solving the “chicken and the egg” scenario. So it may be an overstatement to list Johnny Bench as the best ever, but maybe he could be considered one whose personality and leadership abilities, along with his baseball performance favored him as one of the most popular catchers during his era.

Born in 1947, the 78-year-old iconic Oklahoman is one who has come out in favor of his former teammate Pete Rose to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson are perched on the precipice of the vote of the Hall of Fame committee that decides such matters that propel each player to the highest status achievable in the world of Major League Baseball.

I always enjoyed watching the Cincinnati Reds during the 70s and the teams of Bench, Morgan, Rose, Perez, and Anderson, all Hall of Famers who loved to play and even more loved to win. Imagine adding to this list for those teams: “The Big Red Machine.” Augment the fore mentioned 5 names with additional teammates Dave Concepcion, George Foster, Cesar Gerononimo, Ken Griffey, Jack Billingham, Gary Nolan, Fred Norman, and Don Gullett, and you easily see why the ’75 and ’76 Reds were back-to-back World Series Champions. In that era, those Reds teams won six division titles, four National League pennants, and two World Series Championships.

Bench played his entire major league career from 1967 through 1983 with the Cincinnati Reds. Today, the game fosters the movement of players, so it seems that every time a contract is up, a player signs and goes to a new team.

Johnny broke into pro ball at age 17, playing in 65 games for the Tampa Tarpons, Class A, Florida State League in 1965. At age 19, in 1967, he was on the roster of the parent club and appeared in 26 games for the Reds in his first stint in the big leagues.

The second-round draft choice of the 1965 Major League Draft and former valedictorian of his high school class was off and running as a catcher and player destined for stardom.

Johnny Bench was not only fun to watch and possibly in the top five of all-time great catchers, but some also say he produced a long career with impeccable stats. His lifetime batting average was .267.

In his 17-season major league career, he played in 2,158 games with 8,669 plate appearances. His 2,048 hits also led to 389 home runs. I wonder how many of those hits and homers were game-winners.

He made the All-Star team 14 times, twice he was the National League MVP, and he was the National League Rookie of the Year in 1968.

He had 10 Gold Glove Awards, while leading the majors in home runs twice and runs batted in 3 times. His No. 5 is retired by the Reds, and he is on the All-Century Team and Major League All-Time Team.

Johnny Lee Bench was fun to watch, and his teams thrilled America’s fans for more than a decade. He was a smart, tough, all-out player who led and dominated some of the best teams in Major League history. When Bench put on that catcher’s mask, you knew he was ready to play some winning baseball.