Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Winter 2019 - 20

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No Debate: Catching Great Johny Bench Captivates
at Law Foundation Holiday Benefit Luncheon
Continued from page 19

Brian C. Engelhardt and Law Foundation Events Chair, Mark
S. Caltagirone, talk candidly with keynote speaker, baseball Hall
of Fame catcher, Johnny Bench

Johnny Bench signed a few items during
the VIP Reception.

20 | Berks Barrister

him. In a battle of Maloney shaking signals off
and Bench continuing to call for the curve, Bench
eventually prevailed, and Maloney threw the
curve. The batter was frozen by the surprise of not
getting the fastball and was called out on strikes.
Maloney would develop a high regard for how
Bench called the game, at one point saying, "He'll
(Bench) come out on the mound and treat me
like a two-year-old, but so help me, I like it."
In "Catch Every Ball: How to Handle Life's
Pitches," an autobiographical work written by
Bench 25 years after his 1983 retirement, he
reflects upon his life experiences, including those
he had with pitchers, which he categorizes as falling into three
types. The least-troublesome type of pitchers were those to
whom, as related by Bench, "I would introduce myself to at the
beginning of a game, make sure his mind was on his business,
and tell him I would talk him through it." More problematic were
pitchers he described as a "wired 'type A' guy I'd have to pace
like a Kentucky Derby winner...watch his tempo, and generally
manage his game." Finally, Bench described pitchers who "drove
me crazy. I'd walk a mile just making trips from behind the
plate to the mound to keep his head in the game." In all three
instances, Bench related how, "you have to show them you're in
complete control" and that "if they have questions you've got
answers, and that every answer you have is aimed at making them
more successful."
Attendees at the Holiday Benefit Luncheon experienced
firsthand the force that is the personality of Johnny Bench.
Just as he had during his playing days when he controlled the
ballgame, Bench pleasantly, but firmly, determined the course
of our conversation. Immediately after his introduction, before
either Mark or I were able to ask him any of the questions we
had prepared, Bench told a very funny joke about a lawyer,
an accountant, a bar and a couple of dogs. How can you lose
with that kind of opening with an audience full of lawyers and
accountants, although no dogs, together with a bar open in the
back of the room?
Asked to recall certain aspects of the Big Red Machine,
Bench, understanding that he was speaking to a crowd hundreds
of miles away from Cincinnati, first probed my competency
to discuss the Big Red Machine and related matters. After
I identified the "Big Four" (Bench, Pete Rose, Joe Morgan,



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Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Winter 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Winter 2019

Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Winter 2019 - 1
Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Winter 2019 - 2
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https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/BerksBarrister_Springr2020
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/BerksBarrister_Fall-Winter2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/Berksbarrister_Summer2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/BerksBarrister_Springr2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/Berksbarrister_Winter2019
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/Berksbarrister_Summer2018
https://www.nxtbook.com/hoffmann/BerksBarrister/berksbarrister_winter2017
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