Johnny Bench the former Cincinnati Reds great catcher at the Hall of Fame induction that was held at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati on Sat Jul 15, 2023 commented this week Wed May 14, 2025 on the passing of his former teammate Pete Rose (AP file photo)

Best Catcher of the Modern era talks about Pete Rose

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González

Johnny Bench was Pete Rose’s teammate during the last Cincinnati Reds glory years in the 1970s; he knew Rose as well as any other player. Arguably the best catcher in the modern era of baseball, Johnny Bench spoke recently about Pete Rose, who last week was reinstated from baseball and soon could be posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown.

Bench talked to Dan Patrick on Wednesday’s show episode and explained why Rob Manfred might have decided. He said they wanted to wait until Rose died before reinstating his name. Rose died in September of last year, leaving the league free to lift his ban without any potential repercussions.

“I think there was some concern that he wanted to get into the game of baseball as far as what has been talked about,” Bench said. “He still wanted to be a manager or something like that. I think that created some problems, whether somebody would hire at this point, or what position they would be in. I think there was still an okay, we still have to have a particular caution here, we’ve got to put up some yellow flags, and in most cases, many red flags. Johnny Bench is 77 years old and lives in Rancho Mirage, California.

Amaury Pi-Gonzalez – Cuban-born Pi-González is one of the pioneers of Spanish-language baseball play-by-play in America. Began as Oakland A’s Spanish-language voice in 1977 ending in 2024 (interrupted by stops with the Giants, Mariners and Angels). Voice of the Golden State Warriors from 1992 through 1998. 2010 inducted in the Bay Area Radio Hall of fame.

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