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FOUL TIP!

Johnny Bench was the Baseball Player.

Bolitha Laws was the Federal Judge.

Johnny Bench

“He was a baseball player with a contradictory name. In a 17-year Hall of Fame career with the Cincinnati Reds, Johnny Bench almost never sat on one.” Bench’s father said that being a catcher is the most direct route to becoming a major league baseball player. Bench took that advice and went on to be the greatest catcher ever — and 16th greatest player of all time — according to Sporting News in 1998. The Cincinnati Reds signed Bench during the amateur draft in 1965. Two seasons passed before he joined the Major League. He went on to be National League Rookie of the Year (1968), National League Most Valuable Player (1970 & 1972), World Series MVP (1976), a 14-time All-Star, a winner of 10 Gold Gloves, and a member of the All Century Team. Being known as a workhorse (catching an average of 127 games a season with a total of 2,158 games), Bench nonetheless “had his ways of communicating when enough was enough.” One story involved a game against the Dodgers. The previous night’s game had gone on until around one in the morning. It was a hot day, and the Dodgers were up, 10-0, while Cincinnati’s pitcher, Gerry Arrigo, struggled to throw hard. Bench knew that if Arrigo kept throwing like that, the game would last for hours. So, Bench repeatedly signaled for a curveball, only to have Arrigo reject it each time. Finally, Bench gave Arrigo a fastball sign. A few seconds later, the Dodgers dugout appeared empty. The players were all on the ground, rolling in laughter. Why? Bench had caught the ball with his bare hands. Stories like these are told when Bench attends dinners and other functions, which happens frequently. Over the years, he has been using his celebrity status to help support causes such as the Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and the “Catch the Cure” program of the Children’s Hospital of Cincinnati.

Bolitha Laws

Bolitha James Laws earned his LL.B. and LL.M. from Georgetown College Law School (now Georgetown University Law Center) in 1913 and 1914, respectively. He served as assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia before entering private practice in New York City. Laws later took a position as litigation counsel / assistant general counsel for the U.S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation before heading back into private practice in Washington, D.C. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Laws to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a court on which Laws would later be chief judge. Along with U.S. Court of Appeals Chief Justice Harold M. Stephens, Laws “played instrumental roles in the lobbying for court house funds.” In 1947 Laws and Stephens organized the Laymen's Committee on Improving the Administration of Justice, a group of lawyers and judges who discussed design possibilities that could expedite courtroom procedures. After $13 million was allocated to a project for a new courthouse, many saw the building’s completion as a personal victory for Laws.

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CORRECT!

Johnny Bench

“He was a baseball player with a contradictory name. In a 17-year Hall of Fame career with the Cincinnati Reds, Johnny Bench almost never sat on one.” Bench’s father said that being a catcher is the most direct route to becoming a major league baseball player. Bench took that advice and went on to be the greatest catcher ever — and 16th greatest player of all time — according to Sporting News in 1998. The Cincinnati Reds signed Bench during the amateur draft in 1965. Two seasons passed before he joined the Major League. He went on to be National League Rookie of the Year (1968), National League Most Valuable Player (1970 & 1972), World Series MVP (1976), a 14-time All-Star, a winner of 10 Gold Gloves, and a member of the All Century Team. Being known as a workhorse (catching an average of 127 games a season with a total of 2,158 games), Bench nonetheless “had his ways of communicating when enough was enough.” One story involved a game against the Dodgers. The previous night’s game had gone on until around one in the morning. It was a hot day, and the Dodgers were up, 10-0, while Cincinnati’s pitcher, Gerry Arrigo, struggled to throw hard. Bench knew that if Arrigo kept throwing like that, the game would last for hours. So, Bench repeatedly signaled for a curveball, only to have Arrigo reject it each time. Finally, Bench gave Arrigo a fastball sign. A few seconds later, the Dodgers dugout appeared empty. The players were all on the ground, rolling in laughter. Why? Bench had caught the ball with his bare hands. Stories like these are told when Bench attends dinners and other functions, which happens frequently. Over the years, he has been using his celebrity status to help support causes such as the Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and the “Catch the Cure” program of the Children’s Hospital of Cincinnati.

Bolitha Laws

Bolitha James Laws earned his LL.B. and LL.M. from Georgetown College Law School (now Georgetown University Law Center) in 1913 and 1914, respectively. He served as assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia before entering private practice in New York City. Laws later took a position as litigation counsel / assistant general counsel for the U.S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation before heading back into private practice in Washington, D.C. In 1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Laws to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a court on which Laws would later be chief judge. Along with U.S. Court of Appeals Chief Justice Harold M. Stephens, Laws “played instrumental roles in the lobbying for court house funds.” In 1947 Laws and Stephens organized the Laymen's Committee on Improving the Administration of Justice, a group of lawyers and judges who discussed design possibilities that could expedite courtroom procedures. After $13 million was allocated to a project for a new courthouse, many saw the building’s completion as a personal victory for Laws.

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