This morning I saw a commercial for… uh, something or other… and it ended with a quick shot of former baseball player Johnny Bench flashing a smile at the camera. I had an instant flashback to a favorite Saturday morning show from my childhood: The Baseball Bunch.
Johnny hosted the show aimed at kids between 9 and 13 and each week he was out on the field with some kids and a famous baseball player, giving tips on how to improve your Little League game. The “team” (made up of boys and girls, how progressive!) even had their own Phillies-esque uniforms, if I remember correctly. The show would almost always end with the San Diego Chicken playing some sort of joke on the guest of the week. Tommy Lasorda was the “Dugout Wizard.” The show aired from 1980-1983 (and, presumably, for a couple years after in reruns).
While the show was somewhat high on the cheese factor, I absolutely loved it. The production values, the stars, the quirky little segments: it was all great for a young kid who played baseball (with varying degrees of success).
There’s precious little information on the web about the … Bunch aside from the above link and this Jump the Shark entry (ignore all the negative nellies).
Posted in Miscellaneous
Bud Templin April 15, 2007, 11:03 am
Iam 46 and grew up with Mel Allen and Baseball bunch. I miss those days.. I would watch the bunch and then go to the little league game. I wish I could watch them again.
Buddy
Ed Tonai June 1, 2007, 3:18 pm
I’m 34 and was on “The Baseball Bunch” with Linda (comment above). We, along with the San Diego (Famous) Chicken and original cast member Erik, were recently interviewed for the podcast “Just My Show”.
http://www.justmyshow.com/baseballbunch.html
Ed
Ryan June 1, 2007, 3:28 pm
Excellent, Ed! Thanks for sharing the link.