MLB Network Johnny Bench special on 1/30/19
 

Hi All,

With Johnny Bench by far and away my favorite baseball player of all time, and having had the honor to meet him, I am super excited that on January 30th, 8:00 PM EST, that the MLB Network is doing a special on Bench, narrated by Martin Sheen. Just wanted to let anyone here that might be interested know.

Best,
John

Hi All,

Just a friendly bump for anyone interested in watching the Bench documentary, which premieres tonight.

Best,
John

can't wait!

Thanks for the heads up. One of the players I was obsessed with when I was a kid, and I have pretty much all of his major release cards.

Mlb does a great job on all its shows! I can say its one of my fav stations.

was really looking forward to watching this. bailed after 30 minutes. didn't realize that jb isn't really that likeable of a guy. and i was a huge fan of his back in the day

I respect that the special, or Johnny, might not be for everyone.

That said, I myself really enjoyed the special. It brought me back to my youth, and reminded me why I became a baseball fan and all of the memories, card collecting included that came with it.

My favorite Bench memory was getting there early, waiting for him to arrive at a signing. I was really hoping to get a picture with him as well. I don’t see that well, but from a distance I heard someone call over to me. It was Johnny. He called me over, and we chatted 5 or so minutes. He was appreciative of my kind words, and was super nice to me. It was a lifelong highlight that has not diminished with time. In fact, time has made it even more meaningful.

It was well done, never realized how much Johnny still loves himself though. He's still mad at Rose for getting all of the attention in '89 with his gambling stuff and took the attention off of his HOF induction. I think his middle name is "me".

Not to mention, three of the four guys interviewed were Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson and Bobby Knight? I'm not sure how these bios work but I would guess that Johnny was consulted and those are the three people you choose?

We were a little disappointed that the show made no mention of his Native American heritage or of his benighted start
with AAA Buffalo. However, we thought he came off as a fairly likable "regular guy" to whatever extent a guy regarded by many
as The Greatest Catcher in Baseball History can come off as a "regular guy" -- neither false modesty nor jerkball egotism.
At least on camera.