Books and articles about Chief Bender

Bender, for many years the only American Indian elected to the Hall of Fame, boldly created his own opportunities in a world still basically hostile toward his race. His father was a German settler in Minnesota, his mother a Chippewa. He grew up on a reservation, and was sent to a church-run school in Philadelphia when he was eight. After being returned to his mother, he bolted the reservation at 13 to attend the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania.

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He accepted his Indian identity, stoically doffing his cap to cheers for "The Chief," but signed autographs "Charley Bender." Being an Indian gave him separate glamour among the sons of white immigrants with whom he played, and small boys whooped their admiration. But it was his pitching skills that made him stand out.

Bender's career with the Athletics included two seasons as league leader in winning percentage (1910: 23-5; 1914: 17-3). He pitched a no-hitter against Cleveland in 1910. In the 1905 World Series, in which every game was a shutout, Bender blanked the Giants 3-0 in Game Two, the only game Connie Mack's club won. Christy Mathewson dominated the Series with three shutouts, and Joe McGinnity added his. Bender's 6-4 career WS record included nine complete games, three coming in 1911 when he twice came up against Mathewson, and defeated him once. Bender jumped to the outlaw Federal League for its final, 1915 season, and experienced his most dismal record (4-16).

An all-around player, Bender appeared in several games in the infield and outfield and pinch hit 29 times. He was an expert sign stealer, practicing his art from the coaching box between starts. He steered clear of temptations which wrecked others' careers, such as that of the briefly phenomenal Louis Sockalexis, whose disastrous misadventures were used to deny opportunity to other Native Americans. After his playing career effectively ended with the Phillies in 1917, Bender managed in the minors and coached in the majors. He maintained a solid family life in Philadelphia, based on values adopted while living on a Quaker farm during his school boy summers. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » April 20, 1903: Since yesterday was Sunday, today is both Opening Day and Patriot's Day in Boston. The Pilgrims play an a.m. game before 8,376 fans beating the A's Rube Waddell, 9–4. The Athletics take the afternoon contest, 10–7, watched by 27,658, behind Eddie Plank and Chief Bender. Cy Young and Long Tom Hughes pitch for Boston. » June 28, 1903: Detroit travels out of state for a home game-a Sunday match in Toledo, Ohio against the A's. Chief Bender tops the Tigers Joe Yeager, 7-3, before a crowd of 4,500. » September 27, 1904: In St. Louis, the Browns Willie Sudhoff and the A's Chief Bender face off for 10 innings without either team scoring. The game ends in a tie. » October 5, 1905: Athletics P Chief Bender has three hits, including a triple with three on, in an 8-0 victory over Washington. He relieves Andy Coakley in the 2nd game and wins 9-7. Overall, he has two wins, six hits, and eight RBI for the day. » October 10, 1905: In Game two at New York, Philadelphia's Chief Bender gives up a mere four hits for a 3-0 win. » October 14, 1905: Christy Mathewson pitches his 3rd shutout in six days, giving up six hits to Chief Bender's 5. The Giants win 2-0. The A's .161 team BA is the lowest ever for a WS; the teams' combined .185 is also the lowest. Each winning share is worth $1,142. The A's receive $382 each, but the club owners donate their share of the gate, raising the players' checks to $832.22. » May 8, 1906: Shorthanded because of injuries, Connie Mack puts pitcher Chief Bender in LF in the 6th inning in a game against the Boston Pilgrims. Bender, who banged his first homer on May 5, responds with two roundtrippers, both inside the park, off Jesse Tannehill, in the A's win. Bender will hit just three more homers in his 16-year career. » August 15, 1907: Chief Bender wins his 11th straight for the Athletics, 4-2, over Cleveland, to tighten the pennant race with the Tigers. The Chief is helped by right fielder Socks Seybold who pulls off an unassisted double play. He'll pull off another on September 10th against Boston. » August 17, 1909: Walter Johnson gives up four hits in topping the A's Chief Bender in 12 innings. The Nat's win 1-0, but the overwork will take its toll on the young ace. He will develop a sore arm and in his next two outing he will give up 27 hits. » September 18, 1909: Before 35,409, the largest paid baseball attendance ever, Chief Bender beats Bill Donovan and the Tigers 2-0 at Philadelphia to keep the A's in the pennant race. The A's are 14-8 against Detroit this year, setting an AL record for most wins against the pennant winner. Ty Cobb is the Triple Crown winner with a .377 BA, nine home runs (all inside the park), and 107 RBI. He also will lead the AL with 216 hits, 116 runs, and 296 total bases. His 76 stolen bases make him the only player ever to win a quadruple crown. » May 12, 1910: The Athletics Chief Bender pitches a 4–0 no-hitter against the Naps, missing a perfect game with one walk. Terry Turner walks in the 4th off the Chief and then is caught stealing. Bender will be 23–5, one of only two 20-game-win seasons the future Hall of Famer will have in 15 years. » May 17, 1910: Chief Bender follows up his no-hitter with a shut out, allowing four hits in beating the White Sox, 3–0. » October 17, 1910: With sore-armed Eddie Plank unavailable, Connie Mack will squeeze five complete games out of two pitchers in the World Series. Chief Bender's 4–1 three-hitter wins game one for the Athletics at Philadelphia. Frank Baker's three hits drive in all the runs needed to beat the Cubs' Orval Overall. » October 22, 1910: Frank Chance lines a 9th inning one-out triple to knot game four at 2–2. Jimmy Sheckard then singles in the 10th to give the Cubs the 3–2 win. Three Finger Brown, in relief, is the winner over Chief Bender, who goes all the way. » April 12, 1911: Before the start of the opener in Philadelphia, 2B Eddie Collins, the best player on the champion A's, is presented with a new automobile. Jumbo Vaughn and the A's Chief Bender then display tough pitching, each allowing a run apiece through seven innings, but Jack Barry's error in the 8th allows Otis Johnson to score the winning run for the Yankees. Hippo Vaughn allows four hits in the 2–1 victory. » September 25, 1911: John C. Bender, brother of Philadelphia great Chief Bender, dies on the mound during a game played in Edmonton, Alberta. » October 14, 1911: The Athletics go into the World Series minus their star rookie 1B Stuffy McInnis. The veteran Harry Davis replaces him and drives in the first run as Chief Bender tries again to outpitch Christy Mathewson. The Giants are dressed in the same black uniforms they wore in their 1905 conquest of the Mackmen, and this Series starts as their last meeting ended: Mathewson wins it 2–1. The largest crowd ever to watch a ball game—38,281—is at the Polo Grounds. Gate receipts are $77,379. » October 24, 1911: After six days of rain, Chief Bender gets another chance against Christy Mathewson. New York takes a 2–0 first-inning lead. But aided by an overflow crowd in the outfield, the A's collect seven doubles among their 11 hits, pick up three in the 3rd and one in the 4th while Bender shuts down the Giants, and the A's take a 3–1 lead in games. » October 26, 1911: Chief Bender cruises to his second victory, a 4-hit 13–2 breeze. The A's cap the win with a 7-run 7th, battering three tired Giant hurlers, Red Ames, Hooks Wiltse, and Rube Marquard. Overall, the Giants manage just 13 runs and a .175 BA off Chief Bender, Jack Coombs, and Eddie Plank. Because of the NL's extended playing season, this is the latest ending ever for a World Series, until the "Earthquake Series" of 1989. » October 7, 1913: Rube Marquard gets the call for the Giants against Philadelphia's Chief Bender in game one of the World Series. Bender yields 11 hits, but Frank Baker's home run and three RBI pace a 6–4 win over the New Yorkers. » October 10, 1913: The bottom of the Athletics batting order—Jack Barry, Wally Schang, and Chief Bender—drives in all the runs, as Bender wins his 4th straight World Series game, 6–5. » July 3, 1914: Chief Bender and Bob Shawkey whitewash the Yankees, 2–0 and 1–0, for an A's sweep. » September 27, 1914: At St. Louis, the Athletics clinch the AL pennant behind Chief Bender's 6–0 shutout as the Red Sox split a doubleheader. Bender allows 4 hits, two by Gus Williams, and he strikes out 5. Williams will end the year with 120 strikeouts, the first batter to K more than 100 since Sam Wise set the ML record in 1884 with 104. » October 9, 1914: The Boston Braves go into the World Series as underdogs, despite their strong finish. Only one regular, LF Joe Connolly, hit .300. Their strengths are pitchers Dick Rudolph, George "Lefty" Tyler, and "Seattle Bill" James, 2B Johnny Evers, who wins Chalmers' final MVP automobile, and SS Rabbit Maranville, their cleanup hitter. The Philadelphia A's Eddie Collins, with a .344 BA, wins the Chalmers AL award with 63 of 64 possible points. The A's have seven pitchers with 10 or more wins, led by Chief Bender's 17–3. Bender's World Series magic is quickly dispelled as the Braves knock him out in the 6th. Rudolph coasts to a 5-hit 7–1 victory. Hank Gowdy has a single, double, and triple. He will hit a World Series record .545, and Evers, .438. Only Babe Ruth will top Gowdy with .625 in 1928. Bender makes his last World Series appearance, finishing with a record 59 strikeouts. » November 1, 1914: Connie Mack begins cleaning house, asks waivers on Jack Coombs, Eddie Plank, and Chief Bender. Colby Jack goes to Brooklyn (National League). Plank and Bender escape Mack's maneuvering by jumping tfo the Federal League. Although all have some life left in their soupbones, they are near their careers' end, and departure is more sentimental than serious. Mack's excuse: retrenchment. Despite the pennant, Philadelphia fans did not support the A's and the club lost $50,000. » December 7, 1914: Chief Bender signs a 2-year deal with the Federal League; he will be assigned to Baltimore. » February 16, 1915: Home Run Baker, 28, announces retirement following a contract dispute with Connie Mack. He will sit out the 1915 season. Mack will also have salary problems with Chief Bender, Eddie Plank, and Jack Coombs, and rather than compete with the Federal League, he releases the stars. » August 21, 1917: Now with the Philadelphia Phils, Chief Bender, 34, pitches his 3rd straight shutout, winning 6–0 over the Cubs. In his last active season, Bender will turn in four shutouts and win eight with two losses and a 1.67 ERA. His mound partner from the glory days of the A's, Eddie Plank, will also close out his career, ending the season 5–6 for the St. Louis Browns with a 1.79 ERA. » December 15, 1930: Chief Bender is signed by the New York Giants as a pitching coach. He had coached baseball at the Naval Academy in 1930. » January 21, 1953: The Hall of Fame passes over Joe DiMaggio in his first year of eligibility and elects P Dizzy Dean and OF Al Simmons to Cooperstown. Dean gathers 209 votes while Simmons' total of 199 is one more than needed. Also joining DiMag, who finished 8th in the voting, are in order Bill Terry, Bill Dickey, Rabbit Maranville, Dazzy Vance, Ted Lyons, Chief Bender (9th) and Gabby Hartnett (10th). All will eventually make it. » July 27, 1953: Dizzy Dean and Al Simmons are inducted into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. Along with them, the veterans committee enshrines Chief Bender, Bobby Wallace, 19th-century manager Harry Wright, executive Ed Barrow, and umpires Bill Klem and Tom Connolly.