Darren Rovell with a pretty incredible story:

When the auction began, some of the prices paid seemed a bit high. Someone paid $80,000 for Johnny Bench’s last home run bat, more than double the estimate and $90,000 for his last Reds jersey, nearly five times what it figured to go for.

There was the $32,500 winning bid for his Rookie of the Year Gold Glove and a $55,000 winning bid for the same trophy he won in 1975, when the Reds won their first of two consecutive titles. His championship rings from the two titles went for $115,000 and $125,000, respectively.

Little did Bench know that the person bidding on these items was Alan Horwitz, who had set up with the auction house to do whatever it took to buy the items back so that Johnny could have them again.

Filed under: good things can happen in 2020 after all.