The Buster Posey Award, formerly known as the Johnny Bench Award, was created in 2000 to honor college baseball's top catcher in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The award is administered by the Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission and presented after the conclusion of the College World Series. Originally named for Johnny Bench, it was renamed in honor of Buster Posey in 2019.
Kelly Shoppach
Kurt Suzuki
Garrett Stubbs (left), with Johnny Bench.
John Lee Bench is an American former professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career, which lasted from 1967 to 1983, with the Cincinnati Reds, primarily as a catcher. Bench was the leader of the Reds team known as the Big Red Machine that dominated the National League in the mid-1970s, winning six division titles, four National League pennants and two World Series championships.
Bench c. 1972
Bench circa 1980
Bench's statue at Great American Ball Park
Bench signs autographs in Houston in May 2014.