By Bill Black | NDN All-Stars Blog
The Greatest Catcher of All Time? The Game Still Says Yes
When you grow up watching baseball, you hear a lot of names tossed around as “the greatest.” But when it comes to catchers, there’s not much debate — it’s NDN All-Star #10 Johnny Bench (Choctaw). And after reading Gordon Wittenmyer’s recent deep dive article “Why greatest catcher in MLB history Johnny Bench ‘didn’t reach the level I could have'” for the Cincinnati Enquirer, I was reminded why that’s the case. If you haven’t read the article yet, make the time. It’s a full-circle look at how Bench didn’t just play the position — he reshaped it.
Bench Transformed the Catcher’s Mitt — and the Catching Mindset
Bench was already a star by 19. Rookie of the Year. Gold Gloves. MVPs. But what stood out most to me in this article wasn’t the stat line — it was how he changed the tools of the trade. After taking a couple of brutal foul tips off the thumb, Bench decided enough was enough. He pulled most of the padding out of his mitt, switched to a hinged glove, and started catching one-handed with his throwing hand tucked safely behind him. What seems standard today was revolutionary then — and not always welcomed.
Spoiler alert: he didn’t ruin catching. He made it better.
A Generation of Catchers Followed His Lead
The article walks through how guys like Bruce Bochy, Bob Melvin, and Dan Wilson all patterned their games — or their mental approach — after Bench. And it’s no exaggeration. Melvin even admitted he couldn’t hear the scouting report before his first big league start because Johnny Bench had just walked into the room.
A Health Scare Changed His Path — But Not His Greatness
What really hit me, and what separates this story from just a glowing career retrospective, is the moment things changed for Johnny. At the peak of his powers in 1972, doctors found a lesion on his lung. Back then, there was no non-invasive way to check if it was cancer. So they cut into him — a massive chest surgery, through muscle, bone, and nerves. The lesion was benign, but the damage was done. Bench said it himself: “It was never Johnny Bench anymore.”
Still, what he did after the surgery would be a full Hall of Fame career for most. More All-Star Games. More Gold Gloves. A World Series MVP. Four more 100-RBI seasons. He never let the surgery define him, even if it changed the path.
Personal Tragedies Forged His Mindset
The article also touches on the personal side — the tragedies and close calls that shaped who he became. A bus crash in high school that killed teammates. A near-fatal head-on collision with a drunk driver. These moments gave him a sense of perspective early on. “Life happens. And life doesn’t happen,” he said. That quiet strength carried into everything he did — on and off the field.
A Leader On the Field and in the Clubhouse
Sparky Anderson saw it too. As a first-year manager in 1970, he pulled Bench into leadership right away — not just in the clubhouse, but in game decisions. Bench, Perez, Morgan, and Rose became the core of what we now know as the Big Red Machine. But it was Bench who set the tone. “If we were on the field, they had to be on the field,” he said.
His Influence on Catchers Still Shows Up Today
And to this day, catchers are still walking the path he laid down. From the stance, to the gear, to the mindset — it all traces back to him. Melvin still remembers missing the scouting report in his MLB debut because he couldn’t stop staring at Bench. Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson has his jersey framed. And you can still find young kids wearing a Rawlings Johnny Bench model glove, like it’s 1975.
Johnny Bench Built a Bridge for the Future
Wittenmyer ends the piece with a moment that says it all. Bench quotes an old poem about a man who builds a bridge — not for himself, but for the ones who come after him. He says, “I built a good bridge.” And he did. Not just for catchers, not just for Reds fans — but for all of us who watched, learned, and dreamed a little bigger because of the way he played.
I was one of those kids. I started out playing ball on the Rez with no idea that Bench was Native too. I just knew he played the game like no one else — confident, smart, and built for the moment. Finding out later that he was Choctaw? That just made the bridge he built feel even more solid.
NDN All-Star #10 Johnny Bench might say he never reached his full potential. But for the rest of us? He gave us more than enough.
Bill Black is the creator and “General Manager of NDN All-Stars, celebrating great Native American athletes past and present. He is a first generation descendant of the Okanogan Band of the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, and resides in Omak, WA.
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