Good evening. This is Dead Legends. The newsletter that loves baseball as much as Lenny Dykstra likes flying private.

Let’s dive in.

Today’s story is about an baseball legend that escaped death multiple times.

It’s not a stretch to call Johnny Bench the greatest catcher of all time.

During his 17-year career he did pretty well for himself:

• Rookie of the Year in ‘68

• 14-time All Star

• 10 consecutive Gold Gloves

• 2x NL MVP

• 2x World Series winner

• World Series MVP

• Only guy to ever hit a grand slam off Jim Palmer

• Pete Rose’s #1 hater

The dude also had TONS of endorsements - everybody from Wheaties to Krylon spray paint wanted a piece of Johnny.

He even did a commercial for Sugar Daddy candy bars with his dad.

But the craziest part is that Bench almost died TWICE before ever stepping on a big league diamond.

Johnny grew up in Binger - a small town in Oklahoma.

In high school, the Binger baseball team’s bus lost its brakes, crashed into the guardrail, and flipped four times as it tumbled down a 50-foot ravine.

Two of Bench’s teammates were killed in the crash.

Johnny was knocked unconscious, but walked away from the accident completely unscathed.

A few months later after Reds selected him 36th overall in the draft.

In ’66, Bench played for the Peninsula Grays in the Single-A Carolina League.

He won the league Player of the Year award, hitting .294 with 22 home runs, which got him called up to Triple-A Buffalo.

Unfortunately, in his first inning behind the dish, he broke his right thumb - which completely ended his season.

On his way back to Binger in his ’65 Ford Fairlane, he was in another scary accident with a drunk driver and had to have 27 stitches in his head.

But he was back playing baseball the next season.

Bench got called up to the big leagues in ‘67, and the rest is history.

As he got into his 30’s, his stats declined and his body eventually gave out on him.

GIVE ‘EM THE CUTTER

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RIDICULOUS STATS

BASEBALL TRIVIA

STRANGE NAMES

If you're just joining us, we play this game every day where we try to find the weirdest names throughout baseball history.

Why? Don't ask us, it's just something we like to do.

If you've been rocking with us for awhile now, you know what time it is.

Today's winner is:

There’s one BIG reason to love Sixto Lezcano.

His best season was definitely ‘79 - he won a gold glove, hit .321, and had a .414 OBP.

Lezcano is also known for hitting a grand slam on Opening Day, twice.

According to the internet, he is still the only player to ever do so.

THE DEAD LEGENDS ARCHIVE

If you like this story, check out some of our past favorites:

• The Lawsuit: Foul balls for everyone

• The Tarp: Vince Coleman’s freak injury

• The Spy: Half James Bond, half Babe Ruth

• The Close Call: Roberto Clemente gets kidnapped in San Diego

• The Destruction of Disco: One of the wildest nights in baseball history