From Behind the Plate

From strictly a literary standpoint, there is not altogether a great deal of substance contained within "From Behind The Plate by Johnny Bench". It's more akin to a coffee-table style picture book, with minimal text passages. If you want a more detailed look at the life of the Hall-Of-Fame catcher, you might want to seek out the book "Catch You Later: The Autobiography Of Johnny Bench" (authored by Bench and William Brashler), which was published in 1979, four years before Johnny retired. But, despite the lack of a wealth of written narrative, "From Behind The Plate" (which was photographed in 1971 and 1972), is one of my all-time favorite baseball-themed books. Much of this praise is due to a rather sentimental attachment I have to this particular publication. It was late 1972. I was 10 years old. My favorite baseball team was the Cincinnati Reds. And my favorite player was Johnny Bench. And every time I walked past a certain bookstore in my hometown, what do you think I saw in the display window? It was this book, "From Behind The Plate", featuring a great action shot of Johnny grittily sliding into home plate at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium. I became fascinated by this book. I simply HAD to have it. But for a ten-year-old, the asking price of $7.95 (plus tax) -- a paltry sum for a first-run hardcover publication by today's standards -- was still a bit on the steep side. Therefore, I kept hoping I would get the book as a Christmas gift. Remember the agony of waiting for Christmas Day to arrive? Well, in December 1972, the excited anticipation I felt was doubled because of this obsession over this Johnny Bench book. December 25, 1972, finally did arrive, and I did, indeed, receive this book as a gift that Christmas. I can still recall the happiness I felt as I opened that package and first saw that cover pic of Johnny staring back at me. For a 10-year-old who was probably driving his family up the wall during that month before Christmas, it was quite literally a dream come true. .... And I still have that very same copy today. The dust jacket is a tad bit worn, but it's still in very good shape otherwise, and evokes those 1972 memories every time I open it up. Another unforgettable personal memory I have involving Johnny Bench also occurred in 1972. That being: acquiring, in person, Johnny's autograph. What a thrill that was for the little scared-stiff tyke (me!), to actually be standing right next to my favorite player, Johnny Bench himself. I was able to get John's signature (along with 12 other Reds' players) in the Riverfront Stadium player parking area, following the Reds' win over St. Louis on July 4, 1972. It's a prized memento from that great year of '72. All of the pictures in "From Behind The Plate" are in black-and-white (except the two excellent color photos on the dust jacket). But, despite the lack of color, there are many good-quality pictures here. We get a sense of what it's like to BE baseball great Johnny Bench, on the

This book was written early in Bench's career and is a fun look at his humble beginnings and clean cut life.

This book gives an excellent prospective of the baseball life and the personal life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench. Each page is filled with b/w photographs of Bench on the road, on the field, in the clubhouse, with his family and friends, and his hometown of Binger, OK. It is literally a "snapshot" in time of Bench's season with narrative for each photo by Bench himself.