What we watched: The Baseball Bunch...WITH MUSIC!

When Mike and I talked about The Baseball Bunch a few seasons back, we found some great episodes but had trouble finding the original theme song. Well, I recently discovered a great YouTube account called the Johnny Bench Archives, and whaddya know, it posted a great episode complete with theme song and original music. 

Not only do you get the full theme song, but you get a great montage of baseballers arguing with umpires to the tune of Dave Mason's "We Just Disagree." Guest Ron Luciano, an animated ump who wrote several popular books like The Umpire Strikes Back, is a tremendous addition to the show. He provides a perspective not often seen on the program, and more importantly, he gets to throw out the Chicken.

Looks like this account posted at least one other full episode a while back, so I am going to check that out, too. For now I am happy just to be able to play that theme song...again and again. 

And, oh, by the way, there is also this:

Joe Posnanski on BOTNS All-Star Chet Lemon

I'm a happy subscriber to Joe Posnanki's Substack, a prolific showcase for the veteran sportwriter's excellent writing (Just finished his great new book "Why We Love Baseball," too). Often he accepts reader challengers to explore some topic of their choosing. On September 12, he talked about A Batty-nominated athlete: Chet Lemon!

From his Substack on 9/12:

Brilliant reader Michael threw out an interesting challenge — it is to answer this question: Who was a better player, Kirby Puckett or Chet Lemon?

The conceit of the challenge and the analysis is that Puckett is an iconic baseballer of a certain era, while Lemon is just a random 70s/80s guy to many, yet their stats are a lot more similar than you might think when you use advanced numbers. Lemon actually scores higher in both accepted methods of calculating WAR, for example.

Who was the better player? I don’t think the answer matters as much as the question. Chet Lemon is underrated. He was one helluva player, who was not appreciated enough when he played.

I recommend you check out the whole thing, but I enjoy seeing Chet get some love. One thing Joe misses, though, is that great Baseball Bunch appearance Mike and I discuss on the podcast. Surely you have to weight that when comparing a player who was ON the Bunch to a player who was not.

Happy National Play Outside Day (Redux)

 (Note: This was supposed to publish Saturday, November 6, but due to a technical error--I botched it--it ran Wednesday morning. Please accept my apologies and enjoy National Play Outside Day on its true milestone date, now with a bonus embedded commercial.)

Yes, it's National Play Outside Day, which is the first Saturday in November, just in time for...the temperature to start falling dramatically. Well, hey, kids can bundle up, right?

What better way to get pumped up for playing outside than by watching The Baseball Bunch, which you recall we talked about this season.

Could The Baseball Bunch be in line for Batty consideration? Will there be a Batty for Outstanding Demonstration of Outside Play? Stay tuned!

If football is more your thing, how about picking up one of these sweet Nerfs?

AND if you aren't into those sports, why not just pretend it's summer and get this one out of the garage:

YouTube Spotlight: No, there wasn't a "Johnny Bench Show," unfortunately...right?

When I was collecting clips for this week's Baseball Bunch playlist, I got a big surprise when I saw a video from singer Lyn Christopher's official channel:

Note that the title of the clip says "Johnny Bench Show." What? There WAS a Johnny Bench Show?

Well, no, not quite. Though Bench was on many entertainment programs, including his multiple-episode run on Hee Haw, he never had his own talk show, per se.

Or did he? Christopher herself lists The Johnny Bench Show as one of her appearances when recounting her resume on social media, and makes it distinct from The Mike Douglas Show. Note in the clip below, Johnny refers to "Mike." Yet this doesn't look like the Douglas show.

Was this a pilot or test run that didn't get picked up? I can't find any info on a Johnny Bench Show. Does anyone have any knowledge about this?

Here is a brief bit of the interview they did:

Christopher released one album (self-titled) in 1973 with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on backing vocals!

The Baseball Bunch playlist is live!

After hearing us do the podcasting equivalent of throwing around the ol' horsehide for about 40 minutes, continue to enjoy The Baseball Bunch with us by watching our video playlist! In addition to the Chet Lemon episode we discuss (most of it, at least), when you click below you will find commercials, PSAs, talk show appearances, singing, and of course HIJINKS from the San Diego Chicken!

And remember you can visit our official YouTube channel anytime to hear past episodes of the podcasts and specific playlists for each one of them. BOTNS fever--catch it!

Show Notes: Episode 9-6: The Baseball Bunch

 *The Baseball Bunch aired August 1980-Fall 1985 in first-run syndication, then had exposure in reruns. The episode we discuss aired in 1980 or 1981.

*The excellent Sports Illustrated article we reference is right here.

*NBC broadcast the MLB Game of the Week from 1957 to 1989, with exclusive rights from 1966 till it lost the package. Vin Scully and Joe Garagiola became the #1 announce team in 1983. Bob Costas and Tony Kubek were the #2 team in that stretch.

*The first player to get a contract with an annual salary of a million bucks per year is Nolan Ryan, who signed a 4-year contract with the Houston Astros as a free agent after the 1979 season.

*Was baseball best in the 1980s? You tell us!

*Listen to us discuss the Punky Brewster 1984 NLCS episode here.

*To learn more about Chet Lemon, click here.

*Lance Parrish was in Diff'rent Strokes' "Baseball Blues" in season 7. Teammates Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker were in "A Sense of Debt" from season 4 of Magnum P.I.

*I think Mike thought Kevin McReynolds was the "Peanut" he was remembering, but Jim "Peanut" Davenport was a player, coach, and manager in the San Francisco Giants organization, including in the Eighties.

*The epic Braves-Padres brawl went on and on, and here is the ninth-inning action. We'll put a condensed version in this week's playlist! Here is a contemporary account of the saga from Ron Fimrite.

*Johnny Bench is a two-time MVP, 14-time All-Star, and was a first-year no-brainer entrant into the Hall of Fame in 1989.

*The San Diego Chicken, AKA Ted Giannoulas, returned to the Padres' ballpark in 2019. Here is an article on his origins with the Padres.

*Thanks for listening, and remember, have fun!

Episode 9-6: The Baseball Bunch "Chet Lemon"

Summer in America means baseball, so break out the peanuts and Cracker Jacks. For a few years in the eighties, Major League Baseball made an educational baseball show for kids--The Baseball Bunch. Johnny Bench, the Famous Chicken, the Dugout Wizard, and guest Chet Lemon teach the Bunch about shagging flies, eating right, and more.

Check out this episode!

Tomorrow on Battle of the Network Shows...