In other news, water is still wet.

i'll give him credit for not sounding like an old codger and coming right out and saying that the old-timers were better, or played the game right, etc. ... his comment was pretty diplomatic.

Is it bad that when I first see his name in the newsthread, my first response is "sad to see he has passed away."

Is it bad that when I first see his name in the newsthread, my first response is "sad to see he has passed away."

I always think "No runs. No drips. No errors." when I see his name.

Johnny Bench called.

and happy birthday to Joe Morgan - and Duke Snider!

I remember a quote from Bench when Carlton Fisk broke his record for HRs by a catcher:

"I thought about making a comeback, until I pulled a muscle vacuuming"

Modern players are better. They don't bring the best man home on their wedding night to play ping pong - and only Kris Benson would have advised his wife to pose nude in Hustler to collect $ 25,000.

Morgan and Snider on the same day? Yes, I think I can a happy birthday to those two guys. And yes, for those of you who were wondering about the old comment that the Duke had his stats slightly inflated because he was the only lefty bat in his lineup - it's true for about 4 years. But I doubt that constant platoon advantage was what made him into a Hall guy. He was just plain good. Over in the Hall of Merit's Most Meritorious Player threads, where we vote on players year by year, Joe Morgan is cranking out a very impressive run of #1 finishes. Happy Birthday, guys. - Brock Hanke

I always think "No runs. No drips. No errors." when I see his name.

Ha, yes that too. I also remember reading his autobiography when I was like 11 and he had a story about some groupie that wanted to go skinny dipping and that left quite an impression on me as an eleven year old. "I WANT TO BE A BASEBALL PLAYER!"

I always think "No runs. No drips. No errors." when I see his name.

I always think of the Johnny Bench hitting trainer: basically just a concrete block with a stick coming out the top, and a small plastic ball on another stick on top of that. You'd hit the ball, it'd spin around, and then a big rubber band would bring it spinning back around again. That was it. Great for developing a nice repeatable level swing, without having to chase balls or change batteries.

You never see Krylon products around anymore.

If someone challenges me to argue that Johnny Bench is one of the 5 best players ever, here is my take:

1 Get 100 fans to pick the best player ever at each of the 9 positions (pitcher, not DH).
2 Count up who has the most votes.
3 I suspect Bench only finishes behind Wagner, Gehrig, Schmidt, and Ruth. Cobb/Mays and Ted/Musial/Bonds each draw CF & LF support, and there are way too many 2B and SP candidates. Ergo, Bench is top 5!

I don't believe it for a minute, but thereyougo.