Cincinnati Reds legend Johnny Bench apologized Sunday for an antisemitic comment he made a day earlier during a team event.
Bench was in attendance Saturday at a news conference to honor former Reds general manager Gabe Paul, who was Jewish, and former pitchers Danny Graves and Bronson Arroyo. The trio was being inducted into the Reds Hall of Fame.
Paul, who died in 1998, was represented at the event by his daughter, Jennie Paul. Near the end of the news conference, Pete Rose recalled his first contract negotiation with Gabe Paul, saying: “When I got out of high school in 1960, Gabe Paul signed me to a contract for 400 bucks a month.”
Jennie Paul quipped, “That cheap, never mind.”
Bench then responded, “He was Jewish,” which prompted laughter from some in the audience.
Bench said in a statement Sunday that his comment was “insensitive” and that he apologized to Jennie Paul.
“I recognize my comment was insensitive,” the Hall of Fame catcher said. “I apologized to Jennie for taking away from her father the full attention he deserves. Gabe Paul earned his place in the Reds Hall of Fame, same as the others who stood on that stage, I am sorry that some of the focus is on my inappropriate remark instead of solely on Gabe’s achievement.”
Jennie Paul told reporters that she did not hear Bench’s comment.
“I didn’t even hear him say that,” Jennie Paul said, according to The Athletic. “Johnny came up and said ‘Were you offended?’ and I said, ‘For what?’
“I didn’t even hear him say that. I suppose if I would’ve heard him say that, I would’ve said something, but I didn’t even hear him say that.”
Gabe Paul was the Reds’ GM from 1951 to 1960 and was responsible for the franchise’s acquisition of several great players, including Rose and Hall of Famers Frank Robinson and Tony Perez. He also oversaw the Reds’ integration of Black and Latin American players in the 1950s.