Published by Des Moines, IA: published by Norman Jacob, 1975
Seller: B & B Rare Books, Ltd., ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Signed
Condition: Very Good. First edition. Signed by Johnny Bench in blue marker on front wrapper. Publisher's original wrappers, with photo of Bench to front wrapper, lettered in red, yellow, and green. Very good, with light rubbing to edges of front wrapper, a touch of rippling to left edge of rear wrapper, small closed tear to bottom edge of rear wrapper, and previous owner's mailing address label affixed to front wrapper. Overall, a great, boldly signed copy. Johnny Bench is regarded by many to be the greatest catcher in MLB history. A member of the Cincinnati Reds for his entire career (1967 - 1983) and one of the "Great Eight" during the team's Big Red Machine era, Bench was selected as an All-Star fourteen times and won the Gold Glove award ten times. He also won two NL MVP awards (1970, 1972) and a World Series MVP award (1976). Bench was the highest ranked catcher on The Sporting News' list of the 100 greatest baseball players (#16) and was elected to the prestigious Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Signed.