The Baseball Bunch
originally aired on TBS
The Baseball Bunch is an American educational children's television series. It was produced by Major League Baseball Productions, and starred Johnny Bench, Tommy Lasorda and The Famous San Diego Chicken alongside a group of eight children as "The Bunch" The original pilot for the series was filmed at Pepperdine University in Los Angeles in 1980. The Tucson location was selected specifically to accommodate the Major League players just prior to spring training. The series was intended to provide instructional tips to Little League aged children.
The series starred Johnny Bench as the coach to a fictional baseball team of eight little league aged children known as "The Baseball Bunch" The ninth team-member was "The San Diego Chicken" (played by Ted Giannoulas) who served as a comic foil to Bench as he would attempt to mentor the children. The series would also touch on some of the psychological challenges youngsters face, including addressing performance anxieties and sportsmanship.