Chief Bender

Charles Albert "Chief" Bender (May 5, 1884^[1] – May 22, 1954) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.

Early life

Bender was born in Crow Wing County, Minnesota as a member of the Ojibwa tribe - he faced discrimination throughout his career , not least of which was the stereotyped nickname ("Chief") by which he is almost exclusively known today.

Baseball career

After graduating from Carlisle Indian Industrial School and attending Dickinson College, Bender went on to a stellar career as a starting pitcher from 1903 to 1917, primarily with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics (though with stints at the end of his career with the Baltimore Terrapins of the short-lived Federal League, the Philadelphia Phillies, and the Chicago White Sox).

Over his career, his win-loss record was 212-127, for a .625 winning percentage (a category in which he led the American League in three seasons). His talent was even more noticeable in the high-pressure environment of the World Series; in five trips to the championship series, he managed six wins and a 2.44 ERA. In the 1911 Series, he pitched three complete games, which tied Christy Mathewson's record of three complete games in a World Series. He also threw a no-hitter in 1910.

Bender was well liked by his fellow players. Longtime roommate and fellow pitcher Rube Bressler called him "One of the kindest and finest men who ever lived." Ty Cobb called him the most intelligent pitcher he ever faced. Bender was also known as one of the best sign-stealers of his time; Mack often put this skill to use by occasionally using him as the third-base coach on days he wasn't scheduled to pitch.

When the upstart Federal League offered him a significant increase in salary, Mack knew he couldn't hope to match it and released him. However, Bender went 4-16 for the Terrapins, and later regretted leaving Philadelphia.

After two years with the Phillies, he left baseball in 1918 to work in the shipyards during World War I. He came back to coach for the Chicago White Sox and even made a cameo appearance on the mound in 1925. But his heart remained tied to Philadelphia. Mack kept him on the Athletics' payroll as a scout, minor league manager, or coach from 1926 until Mack retired at the end of the 1950 season.

Bender was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1953, less than one year before his death. In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time.

The Slider

The innovator of the slider is debated, but some credit Bender as the first to use the slider, then called a "nickel change", in the 1910s.^[2] Bender used his slider to help him achieve a no-hitter and win 212 games in his career.^[3]

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins
• List of Major League Baseball saves champions
• MLB All-Time Hit Batsmen List
• List of Major League Baseball no-hitters

Notes

References

• Kashatus, William C. (2006). Money pitcher: Chief Bender and the tragedy of Indian assimilation. Penn State Press. pp. 199. ISBN 9780271028620. 
• Powers-Beck, Jeffrey P. (2004). The American Indian integration of baseball. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 269. ISBN 9780803237452. 
• Swift, Tom (2008). Chief Bender's Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star. University of Nebraska Press. pp. 339. ISBN 9780803243217. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Chief Bender at the Baseball Hall of Fame
• The Deadball Era
• Chief Bender at Find a Grave