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Hall of Famer catcher Johnny Bench was at a special fundraising event Sat, Sept. 28 at the high school.

Bench was available for pictures and autographs. He was also the key note speaker of the event with co-host of George Plaster. He was introduced by Tullahoma Mayor Ray Knowis.

Bench talked about life and baseball during his time. He walked the audience through growing up in Binger, Oklahoma. A town so small that when he came home as the Most Valuable Player in baseball no one was in town for the parade, everyone was in the parade. He told lessons he had learned throughout his life.

“Never expect people to be impressed with who you are or what you’ve done,” Bench said.

Johnny went on to say that if your kid wants to be a great catcher all they have to do is catch every ball. He said that goes for your life as well, if you catch every ball life throws at you then you’ll be successful. He went on and gave the people his “A, E, I, O, U’s” of life, things he thinks can contribute to success. After that Bench got into baseball. He was asked what it’s like to be recognized as the best catcher in history.

“I got on the plane, I didn’t get upgraded. They made me wait as group B to come on the plane. When I go to the movies, I have to stand in line. You know I wish it would, I’d like to walk around like ‘do you know who I am,’” said Bench.

Bench talked about how great his teammates were to him, especially with him being just 19 when he was called up to the majors. He walked everyone through the process of the team becoming the “Big Red Machine.” He talked about becoming World Champions and how it is the greatest moment you will ever have. Bench also said that it did not matter who you were, everyone that was a part of the team, coaches, players and trainers all became champions in that moment. He talked about being inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“It was the proudest time of my life, was being able to have my Dad sitting there proud as he could be of a son. And fulfilling his dream in a lot of ways, it was a blessing,” Bench said.

He also talked about how he goes back for the ceremony every year now. How the group of guys is just a brotherhood. Once the audience question time came up he was asked about people not in the Hall of Fame that he thinks should be. He said Dave Concepción. Then he was asked if he thought Pete Rose should be in. The person who posed the question said they thought he should be in.

“Go home and tell your kids there’s no more rules,” Bench responded.

Later he was asked about being in a slump.

“It’s like a soft bed, easy to get into and hard to get out of,” Bench said.

Then he gave some personal stories about his playing days. He ended the night thanking everyone. After that the auction winners were announced.

“On behalf of the Tullahoma Sports Council and the Tullahoma High School Softball and Baseball teams, we thank everyone for attending the Johnny Bench event Saturday night,” said Lane Curlee member of Tullahoma Sports Council. “The large crowd seemed to appreciate his stories, both baseball and life. He obviously has a great personality and was very engaging and humorous. Bench took many of us down memory lane as he talked about the Big Red Machine. There were attendees from Nashville, Murfreesboro, Lewisburg, Sparta and of course the immediate area all talking about how great the event was. Many want to know who we will invite next. A special thank you to all the event sponsors and attendees for making this great event possible.”