Hall of Famer Bench rips Harper for bat flips

Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench is the game's latest legend to speak out against baseball's great bat flip debate.

Calling into the The Rich Eisen Show on Monday, the former Cincinnati Reds backstop responded to Bryce Harper's call for more emotion in baseball, saying those who flipped their bat in Bench's playing days were promptly dealt with their next time up.

Related: Ortiz targets bat-flip haters in expletive-laden tirade​

"You can flip your bat. We had guys do that ... and the next time up there was chin music. And if you want to play that way, that's fine," he said. "Bring back the excitement? OK, we'll bring back the brushback pitch, the knockdown pitch. That's all part of the excitement."

Bench is just one of several Hall of Famers who feel baseball should still be played with a sense of old-school respect, while a plethora of young, current MLB stars feel more authentic displays of on-field passion are warranted.

"I know a lot of the old-timers and a lot of people who watched baseball forever would love to see somebody have a little chin music," Bench continued. "If you want to do that, fine. Flip the bat, run around any way you want, but just expect the next time you come up to the plate, you better watching how much you dig into that batter's box."

Bench, a 14-time All-Star played 17 seasons in MLB - all with the Reds - between 1967 and 1983. He was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 1989 with 96.42 percent of the votes.