I’m surprised I haven’t posted this 1977 Johnny Bench card already. I was thirteen in 1977 and despite being a Cubs fan, I had a healthy respect for Mr. Bench. I was certainly glad he was on my side when All-Star Game came ’round.
Johnny Bench was 29 in 1977 and so far, he was an All-Star every year save his first. So an excellent season by JB was not a surprise. He rebounded to 31 homers from his total of 16 in 1976, his lowest in the decade.
Bench batted .275 while driving in 109 runs for the Big Red Machine. This was probably his last truly great season as he never reached 30 homers again nor did he surpass 100 rbis.
| Split | G | GS | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 Totals | 142 | 134 | 563 | 494 | 67 | 136 | 34 | 2 | 31 | 109 | 2 | 58 | 95 | .275 | .348 | .541 |
Those who didn’t play APBA “back in the day” may not appreciate this card as much as others. It seems every MLB team has at least one slugger with five power numbers let alone four. That is now. In the seventies, it was a different era. A full time player (well, Bench played 142 games and started 134) was gold if he had Bench’s power.
…especially if he played a key position and well! Not surprisingly, Bench is rated as a Catcher-9.
I was a little curious about Johnny’s 44-7 since he batted .275. That’s a decent average for him but on the low end to receive a 7 there. I did a quick and dirty estimate of his card and he should bat around .280 so he’s not too far off.
Fun fact: Bench played a game in right field in 1977. He certainly had the arm for it.
These days, Johnny Bench is still keeping busy.
Man that is SUCH a classic card!!! The 1-5-5-6 combo is almost a religion to us ‘old-timers’ lol. So many chances for that 5 to go yard and theres no doubt that there will be a clutch time when that 6 will be a longball with a runner on 3rd. Absolutely no 22-0 complicating the issue!!!
It’s the Yogi Berra standard. Seems every year it was 5-5-1-6.
“Absolutely no 22-0 complicating the issue!!!”
LOL! I love that line. So true.
Awesome choice! 1977 was the first year I played APBA and, even though I was a Dodgers fan, I always looked forward to playing the Reds because of the combination of Johnny Bench and George Foster.
Seeing the 12 on 52 brings back memories.
Having those 2 5s was amazing, given ho often Rose and Morgan got on base.
How about doing a Monster Team Monday and showing the starting lineup for the Big Red Machine of 1975 & 1976?