Fun snowy day research on Johnny Bench scorecard

[laughlinfan]

Hey Todd! Yeah - strange sequence to end the game, for sure. Maybe Chico attempted to bunt the runner over and failed, having to swing away later in the at bat? Mel Queen was hitting a blistering .188 with a .435 OPS going into the game. Hopefully Pete wasn't betting on the Reds yet, or I suspect he would have punched out the manager!

Thanks, Michael - I think I'll hang onto it for now - pretty neat thinking about it's origin 51 years ago!

[JoeDfan]

That is AWESOME!!!

[WillowGrove]

Marty I love stuff like this, snowy day research and finding a great item in your own collection. Congrats.

Also Chico Ruiz died in 1972 so I don’t think there is an abundance of his autographs out there. And lastly on using Mel Queen to pinch hit, I haven’t looked at their roster but I do know that Mel Queen played in the majors as an outfielder before converting to a pitcher. So he had some idea how to hit. But good question Todd. Maybe for another snowy day.

[runred41]

Being a reds fan in the 70’s and 80’s and since I’m from Oklahoma Johnny Bench was my baseball hero so that scorecard is really, really special in my eyes!

[WillowGrove]

So I did some checking and I’m pretty certain Mel Queen was the only left handed bat on the bench. Grizzled righty John Farrell was on the mound on his way to a really strong season and I guess Bristol wanted a veteran lefty batter to face him. Their other lefty reserve was Floyd Robinson who was sent to the minors a month prior.

Also back to Chico Ruiz, wiki says that he is the only man to ever pinch hit for Johnny Bench. So that makes the piece a notch cooler.

Congrats again on your find!

[holybull]

I certainly understand....I have been trying to get programs and ticket stubs from all his 1967 games....actually have his 2nd game....if you ever change your mind please let me know.....thanks....Michael.

[laughlinfan]

Thanks for the info, Peter! Didn't realize that Chico was the only guy to ever pinch hit for Bench! I am guessing that if my autograph guy had been watching Bench mash all year at Buffalo, he probably couldn't believe he was getting pulled in the bottom of the 9th with the tying run on base! Reading through his wiki page, I was reminded of Chico's famous "Bench me or trade me!" quote! Classic! I did not realize he lost his life just a bit more than a month after becoming a US citizen in 1972, at only 33 years old.