Baseball History: Johnny Bench

There’s an old superstition that “Good Things Come in Threes.”

Ironically, Johnny Bench has experienced that three times in the home run department.

Back in 1970, Bench hit three homers in a game for the first time in his career on July 26. He drove in seven runs that day as the Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 12-5 in Riverfront Stadium.

Bob Hertzel of the Cincinnati Enquirer covered the days events in a pair of articles.

“That’s the best day I had since I was nine-year(s) old and playing Little League ball in Oklahoma,” Bench said. “I was playing for a team in Cement, Okla. and hit three homers in a game.”

Reds manager Sparky Anderson offered high praise to Hertzel about his budding superstar catcher, who actually played in left field that day against the Cardinals.

“Johnny knows where is comes from and as long as he does he could be the greatest player of our time,” Anderson said. “He’s only 22 and already is the best there is.”

On his way to his first of two National League Most Valuable Player Awards, Bench got started early in the contest with a three-run homer in the first inning. He added a two-run shot in the second.

Leading off the fifth, Bench banged a solo blast. He also had a single in the sixth before knocking in his final run on a ground out in the eighth.

Unfortunately for the Reds, the win over the Cardinals would be the last victory of the season for rookie pitcher Wayne Simpson.

Simpson ended his only all-star season at 14-3 as he led the NL in winning percentage at .824. He would only make three more appearances after that due to his arm injury and would never be the same.

Not Again … Yes, Again

The second time Bench hit three homers in a game was as the reigning NL MVP in Philadelphia on May 9, 1973.

The victim? Carlton, who had won the Cy Young Award the year before after being traded to the Phillies.

Bench duplicated his feat against the lefty in a 9-7 win over the Phillies.

Although Bench drove in seven runs, the game-winner for the Reds was a two-run homer by Dave Concepcion in the top of the ninth off Barry Lersch.

A two-run blast in the first got things started for Bench before he hit a three-run shot in the fifth. The final long ball knocked in a pair gave the Reds a 7-6 lead in the seventh.

Pete Rose singled and scored on all three of Bench’s homers. Rose also singled before Concepcion’s shot.

The Third Time

Bench tagged another former Cy Young winner three times on May 29, 1980.

This time, it was Randy Jones of the San Diego Padres, who was the NL’s top pitcher in 1976.

Bench had solo shots in the second and fourth, while drilling a two-run blast in the eighth as the Reds went on to a 5-3 victory in San Diego.

Career Totals

In his Hall of Fame 17-year career, Bench would hit 389 homers with 327 coming as a catcher.

The 14-time all-star with 10 Gold Gloves behind the plate would hit eight homers while playing in left field with half of that total coming in two days in 1970. The day before Bench got hot against Carlton with the three bombs, he had a three-run blast off Jerry Reuss as the Reds topped the Cardinals 5-3.

Bench hit a dozen homers off Carlton and Don Sutton, which was his highest total against any opponent.

Phil Niekro was next on the list as Bench hit 11 off the Atlanta Braves knuckle ball ace. Jones and Reuss round out the top five for Bench as he hit seven long balls off both of those left handers.

Bench also drove in seven runs three times in a his career. The two times against Carlton and then in 1974 against the Montreal Expos in Cincinnati on Aug. 31.

Against the Expos, Bench had a three-run double off Steve Renko in the second and then he hit his third of 11 career grand slams in the sixth off Don Carrithers.

Reds Records

Bench’s three homers a game three times is the best total ever for the Reds.

Joey Votto tied the mark by doing it as a rookie in 2008 and then again in 2012 and 2015.

Scooter Gennett is the only Reds player to tie the major league standard of four blasts in a contest having accomplished the feat against the Cardinals on June 6, 2017.

Cincinnati’s record for RBI in a game is 10, which was established by catcher Walker Cooper on July 6, 1949. He had six hits with three homers against the Chicago Cubs at Crosley Field in a 23-4 victory. Gennett equaled that mark during his four-homer contest.