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Bender, Charles Albert (1884–1954)

Creator: 
Kate Roberts
Contributor: 
Minnesota Historical Society Press
Source: 
Minnesota 150 (F606 .R63 2007)
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Black and white photograph of Charles Bender, 1911.

Charles Bender during the prime of his baseball career, 1911. Photograph by Paul Thompson. Bender, who is credited with inventing the slider (a type of breaking-ball pitch), was born on the White Earth Reservation of Ojibwe. He pitched in and won six World Series games—a first in the sport.

The slider: it's one of the most effective tools in a pitcher's arsenal. A curveball with extra speed, it can throw off a batter's timing. Because it requires some nuanced wrist action, though, a slider can cause real wear and tear on a pitcher's forearm. Use it judiciously, and you can save a game. Use it too often, and you'd better grab an extra ice pack.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame credits Charles Albert Bender with inventing the slider. Like his patented pitch, Bender's life course was a circuitous one. He was born on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota, one of at least eleven children in his family. At age seven, he left home to attend boarding school in Pennsylvania. At thirteen, he enrolled in Carlisle Indian School, where he was a member of his school's track, basketball, football, and baseball teams.

After graduating from Carlisle in 1902, Bender began pitching for the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, semiprofessional team. Later that year, the legendary Connie Mack, who was then leading the Philadelphia Athletics, signed Bender to a $1,800 contract, and by the end of his rookie year, he had won seventeen games. Throughout his major league career, which included 212 wins, his greatest strength was his consistent performance, especially under pressure. "If I had all the men I've ever handled and they were in their prime and there was one game I wanted to win above all others," Connie Mack once said, "Albert would be my man."

Bender's grace under pressure extended beyond his steady performance on the pitching mound. Though proud of his Ojibwe heritage, he was never fond of his nickname, "Chief," and endured hackneyed war cries from fans as he took the mound during games. After his shutout in the 1905 World Series brought him to national attention, he quietly stated his case to the press: "I do not want my name presented to the public as an Indian," he said, "but as a pitcher."

In 1953, Bender became the first Minnesotan elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He died the next year.

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© Minnesota Historical Society
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

First published: July 21, 2011
Last modified: September 20, 2018

  • Bibliography
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Bibliography

Swift, Tom. Chief Bender's Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2010.

Thornley, Stew. Baseball in Minnesota: The Definitive History. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2006.

Related Resources

Secondary

Clendennen, G.W. "Minnesota's Greatest Baseball Player." Minnesota Monthly 17, no. 8 (August 1983): 15–18, 25.

Johnson, Sarah. "Charles Albert Bender." Minnesota History 60, no. 3 (Fall 2006): 128.

Kashatus, William C. Money Pitcher: Chief Bender and the Tragedy of Indian Assimilation. University Park: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006.

King, C. Richard. Native Americans in Sports. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, 2004.

Laliberte, David J. "Indian Summers: Baseball at Native American Boarding Schools in Minnesota." Master's thesis, St. Cloud State University, 2008.

Loew, Patty. "Tinker to Evers to Chief: Baseball from Indian Country." Wisconsin Magazine of History 87, no. 3 (Spring 2004): 2–13.

Meany, Tom. Baseball's Greatest Pitchers. New York: A.S. Barnes, [1951].

Powers-Beck, Jeffrey. The American Indian Integration of Baseball. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004

Pratt, Richard Henry. Battlefield and Classroom: Four Decades with the American Indian, 1867–1904. Edited by Robert M. Utley. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1964.

Ritter, Lawrence S. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It. New York: Macmillan, [1966].

Roberts, Kate. Minnesota 150: The People, Places, and Things that Shape Our State. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2007.

Warrington, Bob. "Charles Albert 'Chief' Bender: A Biographic Profile." http://philadelphiaathletics.org/charles-albert-chief-bender-a-biographic-profile/

Web

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Chief Bender.
http://baseballhall.org/hof/bender-chief

Related Audio

MN90: Inventing the Slider | Details

Related Images

Black and white photograph of Charles Bender, 1911.
Black and white photograph of Charles Bender, 1911.
Black and white photograph of Charles Bender, 1903.
Black and white photograph of Charles Bender, 1903.
Black and white photograph of Charles Bender, c.1910.
Black and white photograph of Charles Bender, c.1910.
Color image of Charles Bender baseball card, 1911.
Color image of Charles Bender baseball card, 1911.

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Turning Point

In 1905, Charles Albert "Chief" Bender pitches a shutout in the World Series and gains national attention.

Chronology

1884

Charles Albert Bender is born on the White Earth Reservation in northern Minnesota.

1902

Bender graduates from Carlisle Indian School and signs with the Philadelphia Athletics.

1905

He pitches a shutout in the World Series.

1953

He becomes the first Minnesotan elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

1954

Charles Albert Bender, long nicknamed "Chief," dies.