Got Johnny Bench Ball. It's real :-)

[Case12]

I couldn't wait till tmmrw to open the box.

Johnny Bench.

My first baseball glove I got when I was about 10 yrs old. That was about 50 years ago. My dad took me to the store and told me to pick out whichever glove I wanted. I wanted to be different than the other guys, so I picked a catchers mitt. Not just any glove. A Johnny Bench mitt!

For years I tried catching balls with that mitt. Tossing baseball with other guys using a catchers mitt was never easy for me. I didn't care - Mine was Johnny Bench! I oil it, flexed it, put a baseball in it, wrapped with a rubber band, and kept it under my mattress at night while I slept.

I never met Johnny, but we had a special glove to bond over. In a way I was his 10 year old "pal". Time went by, my mom probably sold my glove in a garage sale, I went to school, got married, got a job, had kids, and now grandkids.

I always wanted to meet him. Now this dang COVID thing is keeping us all locked up. So, I decided to send him a ball to sign, and sent him an email with this history. I asked him to personalize it to me.

I already had the holder and waited. Here it is. I got it in the mail today - 'To my pal, Casey' - Johnny Bench.

Screw COVID. One day I will meet him. But today I can feel like a 10 yr old boy has gotten closer to his great baseball 'pal' . Means a lot to me...

[Caseyatbat]

Awesome ball! Love the inscription! Not an easy name to find personalized

[w7imel]

Originally Posted by Caseyatbat

Awesome ball! Love the inscription! Not an easy name to find personalized

Did you not read the thread??? He sent it to johnny and he signed it for him

[Bigdaddy]

Great story. Johnny was my favorite player also. He played for the local minor league team, the Peninsula Pilots, the year I was born, before going up to the Reds two years later.

I've met him a couple of times and have always had a good experience.

[Chris Counts]

Congratulations! I first started following baseball in 1970, and Johnny Bench quickly became my favorite player — even though I grew up in Southern California. I turned 10 that summer. A half century later, I'm still at it. Just last week, I picked up my latest Johnny Bench piece, a 1971 Topps display box ...

[Klrdds]

Just came across this a few minutes ago
https://www.denverpost.com/2020/10/0...orabilia-reds/

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Klrdds

Just came across this a few minutes ago
https://www.denverpost.com/2020/10/0...orabilia-reds/

As could also be said for Blue Emu.... That won't stink!

[holybull]

I supercollect Johnny and Hank Greenberg....so that is a beautiful picture you posted...lol...you collect Hank too??

[Case12]

Thank you! I have one Hank item. Signed photo.

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by holybull

I supercollect Johnny and Hank Greenberg....so that is a beautiful picture you posted...lol...you collect Hank too??

I suppose I know the answer, but what does "supercollect" mean?

[holybull]

haha...My entire collection focuses just on those 2 players....I grew up with Bench as my favorite and about 10-12 years ago read about Hank and started collecting him too.....

[NYYFan63]

Originally Posted by Case12

I couldn't wait till tmmrw to open the box.

Johnny Bench.

My first baseball glove I got when I was about 10 yrs old. That was about 50 years ago. My dad took me to the store and told me to pick out whichever glove I wanted. I wanted to be different than the other guys, so I picked a catchers mitt. Not just any glove. A Johnny Bench mitt!

For years I tried catching balls with that mitt. Tossing baseball with other guys using a catchers mitt was never easy for me. I didn't care - Mine was Johnny Bench! I oil it, flexed it, put a baseball in it, wrapped with a rubber band, and kept it under my mattress at night while I slept.

I never met Johnny, but we had a special glove to bond over. In a way I was his 10 year old "pal". Time went by, my mom probably sold my glove in a garage sale, I went to school, got married, got a job, had kids, and now grandkids.

I always wanted to meet him. Now this dang COVID thing is keeping us all locked up. So, I decided to send him a ball to sign, and sent him an email with this history. I asked him to personalize it to me.

I already had the holder and waited. Here it is. I got it in the mail today - 'To my pal, Casey' - Johnny Bench.

Screw COVID. One day I will meet him. But today I can feel like a 10 yr old boy has gotten closer to his great baseball 'pal' . Means a lot to me...

Great story! Thanks for sharing! Congrats...


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[scmavl]

That is such a great story! Love it.

I had a similar-but-not-as-cool experience a couple of years ago. I grew up in Georgia, and Dale Murphy was my favorite player (early 80s). I, like you, got a Dale Murphy model Rawlings glove as my first "real" glove when I was 9 or 10. I'd always wanted to meet him, and in 2010 the local minor league team had Dale coming to the game to sign autographs as a promotion so I was going to have him sign my glove. But I ended up having to fill in as drummer in a friend's band for a two week summer tour... which of course is when Dale was coming.
Fast-forward to about 3 years ago and I was in the GM's office of the local minor league team (I was a season ticket holder and friend) and I told him that story. He reached into his desk and gave me this:




I know it's not a valuable ball, but that's not the point. It's that Dale signed it THAT DAY, the day I should've been there, so this was the next best thing. So nice of the GM to do that, too. It's a lifetime keeper for me. It represents both childhood fascination and adult friendship. Both very important things.

[2dueces]

Great story and ball. My father and I were at a Buffalo Bisons game and he got 2 Johnny Bench signed balls for me. He told me to hang on to these he's going to be great. I promptly went out and played with both. The ignorance of youth,