Johnny Bench

by Lilly Housh, A.J. Chilson

Johnny Bench is one of baseball's greatest catchers. At the time of his 1983 retirement, he hit more home runs than anyone at his position. Bench made 14 All-Star Game appearances, and won 10 Gold Glove awards. He also won two Most Valuable Player awards, and was on two World Series championship teams. Such numbers made Bench's 1989 induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame all the more appropriate. However, Johnny Bench: The Baseball Hero from Binger, Oklahoma, written by A.J. Chilson and illustrated by Lilly Housh, is not mainly focused on Bench's incredible career with the Cincinnati Reds. Rather, it mostly goes into his formative years in a small Oklahoma town of Binger, where everyone there knows you. It was in Binger that young Johnny learned the values of both hard work and a good education. It was there, he got to experience both triumph and tragedy. But it was those things that drove Johnny to be successful as an adult, in both sports and in life.