An interesting story is often told of baseball star Johnny Bench when he was a rookie catcher in 1968. During a Spring Training game, he kept signaling to star pitcher Jim Maloney to throw a curve ball. Maloney continuously shook off Bench's signal, opting to throw fastballs instead. The rookie catcher walked to the mound and told the veteran Maloney that his fastball wasn't fast enough and that he should throw some curve balls. Bench again signaled for a curve. Maloney shook of the signal and threw a fastball. Before the ball reached the plate, Bench took off his glove; he then caught the pitch barehanded.