Dear Johnny,
Let me begin by saying that when high profile people make statements that belittle Jewish people in traditional ways, they show at the very least an incredible lack of sensitivity to the persecution we have suffered through as a people.
My name is David Groen. I was born on January 2, 1962 in the Jewish Hospital in Hamilton County Cincinnati. By that time, my parents, Holocaust survivors from Holland, had lived in Cincinnati since 1955 and had become avid Reds fans. So although we would move to a different city when I was just a year and a half, it was not surprising that growing up I would become a Reds fan myself. And while years later my devotion to the team would wane, I was incredibly fortunate that the first team I would love in sports, was one of the best baseball teams to ever play the game. The Big Red Machine.
What a team it was. I could name most players on the team, including the relief pitchers, but when it came down to it the team centered primarily around the exceptional play of Pete Rose, Joe Morgan, Tony Perez, in later years George Foster, and my personal favorite, you, Johnny Bench. I have always argued, often without pushback that you are the greatest catcher to ever play the game. Your defensive abilities were unmatched, and your accomplishments as a hitter, centered around clutch power, gave you a special flare for the heroic. I am 61 years old, and there are 3 things that anyone who knows me well can tell you. My favorite movie of all time is the Wizard of Oz. I think that when it comes to modern music there’s the Beatles and then everyone else. And my favorite baseball player of all time, certainly for as long as I can remember has been you, Johnny Bench.
But here is the problem I have today. Far more important to me than baseball is the importance I put on my Jewish faith. As the son of Holocaust survivors and someone who continues to fight in defense against hatred towards my religion and culture, I am very passionate when it comes to speaking out against those who belittle, mock, or hate the Jewish people. So when I found out about your recent “joke”, if I am to be very honest, tears started coming to my eyes. At a news conference honoring former Reds general manager Gabe Paul, who was Jewish, Pete Rose recalled, “When I got out of high school in 1960, Gabe Paul signed me to a contract for 400 bucks a month.” At which point Jennie Paul, Gabe Paul’s daughter joked, “that cheap, never mind”. That is when you chimed in, “He was Jewish”.
I know that many will say that there are far worse things said about Jews by far more relevant people, but for me this is personal. You were my childhood hero. When I was 24 and living in New York, I interviewed for a job to run a distribution center for a Proxy Solicitation firm. During the interview I was asked, if the world were made of candy and I could get anything I wanted, what job would I choose? Since I was focused more on getting the job, which I did, than I was on being 100% honest, I answered with my second choice, a broadcast journalist. If I would have been completely honest I would have answered, catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, because that was the job of my childhood hero, Johnny Bench. So when I say this is personal, it is because it transcends 50 decades of knowing that my first sports hero instinctively felt it was funny to belittle and make fun of who and what I am, and since it is next to impossible to go straight from having been my favorite baseball player for over 50 year to becoming the enemy, it ends up being heartbreaking for me and very personal instead.
So now, like so many others, you apologize to make it all go away. Well for me personally, since that is not enough, I have a suggestion. My mother’s younger brother and uncle I would never know, Bram Rodrigues, was murdered by the Nazis 3 weeks shy of his 19th birthday. You were called up to the Majors to play for the Reds at the age of 19. As a true sign of remorse for your lack of sensitivity, you, a man whose life became blessed when you got a dream job at the age of 19, should help me honor the memory of a young man who never made it to 19 because he was murdered just for being a Jew. Help me tell the story of how his violin made it back to the children of Bram’s sister, my mother, more than 70 years after his life was ripped away from him before he ever had a chance at achieving any of his dreams. http://bramsviolin.com/ . Do that Johnny, and I will not only accept your apology, but I might even go back to revering you as a baseball legend and a childhood hero.
Sincerely,
David Groen
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