Welcome to The Baseball Bunch (1982) guide at TV Tome. Viewers of a certain age will think back to this show as a simple, positive-light sports series for younger audiences. But as we know, there is always a story behind the series. Major League Baseball had felt the sting of the Players' Union strike that cut the 1981 season in half. In an attempt to win back trust, Major League Baseball Productions assigned a kids-oriented baseball show. Johnny Bench, the Cincinnati Reds' catcher whose team had been on here for details.