Jonny Bench caught a fastball with his barehand? In a game? On purpose?

[BillScottCanRake]

I was reading an article on ESPN by Bill Simmons in which a part was devoted to the top five manly plays of all time. A baseball play was his number one:

 

1. The time Johnny Bench kept getting shaken off by a pitcher who wanted to keep throwing fastballs, so he caught the next fastball with his throwing hand. That will never be topped. That was the sports equivalent of Dalton catching someone's punch at the Double Deuce, then twisting the guy's arm around and breaking his neck.

 

Can anyone provide some additional information on that? That sounds like something straight from Bull Durham.

[TerraceReserved]

In the book Play Ball, by Joe Garagolia, he mentions it I believe. I've never heard of it elsewhere though.

[splitterpfj]

Yes, he did that, I heard him tell the story years ago on David Letterman. I believe he named the pitcher as Gary Nolan, but I'm not certain of that anymore.

 

He knew the pitcher was gassed, but the guy kept shaking him off, wanting to throw a fastball, so Bench walked to the mound and told him no, because he didn't have anything on it. The guy insisted, so Bench called for the heat, caught it barehanded, and threw it back to him.

[BillScottCanRake]

Great story, Splitter!

 

It sounded like he was trying to send a message to a stubborn pitcher, and that pretty much confirms it.

[zzzmanwitz]

He was no Dottie Henson

[alorrigan]

That's pretty good, but Mike Matheny taking a fastball in the face and walking it off is up there. Also that catcher who had his shoulder dislocated on a collision at the plate and snapped it back into place. Catchers are tough SOB's.

[SeriesFinale]

I don't even want to mention it, but Gueillermo Rodriguez catching a ball in the windpipe Sunday afternoon and then hitting his first career homerun the next inning was pretty impressive

[dadofandrew]

I bet no film exists of the Bench incident. The stories of "back in the day" are always made bigger and better. It's sad really, because it makes many believe great players like Mantle and Ruth were just chubby anecdotes.

[brewerjamie15]

Yikes. That is one tough hombre. I reached out with a bare hand to catch an errant throw by on of my little leaguers once and it stung like nuts for a while. Even tired, that fast ball was probably going around 85 MPH hey?