Johnny Bench named an all-time top 25 player under 25

Every year, Keith Law puts together a list of the top 25 Major League players under 25. Aroldis Chapman was on this year's list. Law's article inspired his colleage David Schoenfield to put together a list of the All-time top 25 players under 25. This is basically a list of what the ESPN.com writer feels are the best 25 seasons any player ever had while under 25 years of age.

Only one Reds player made the list, but he was pretty high on it. An age 22, Johnny Bench came in at number four on the list due to his feats from the 1970 season. Here's what Schoenfield had to say about Cincinnati's former backstop and the greatest catcher of all-time:

"The only catcher to make the list, Bench's value, in part, lies in that positional scarcity. Who was he in 1970? Only the NL MVP after leading the league in home runs and RBIs while possessing the strongest arm many had ever seen -- he started 130 games at catcher and allowed only 32 steals while throwing out 30. You did not run on Johnny Bench."

Let me post his numbers from said season as well:

What a beast! It makes me a little upset that I wasn't around back then to see such greatness, even though he wouldn't sign mine or my brother's baseballs the one chance I had to meet him.