Crudest of all was how Jackie Robinson was berated when he made his heroic entrance to big league ball. Interesting how "Negroes" were disallowed for so long in baseball, yet a Native American or "Indian" like Chief Bender could be assimilated. That was one blessing for this talented man who was outside the Anglo norm.
Let's emphasize his real name: Charles Albert Bender. He was the consummate baseball man and baseball talent. How long ago? His heyday was before Babe Ruth. He began pitching around the turn of the century. Unlike so many stars who have their storied ups and downs, turbulence in their personal life etc., Bender was remarkably mature and stable. His pitching arm was resilient, carrying him through a most productive career.
He has a very significant niche in baseball history, separate from his non-Anglo background: he is credited with inventing the slider! That's quite a mark to be made. We hear about the slider pitch all the time. While effective, it can be hard on the already-delicate arm of a pitcher. It's a curve ball with extra speed. A pitcher had better have some ice packs handy.
Some reports have Bender as a native of Brainerd. That's my late mother's hometown. Most likely he was a native of the general Brainerd area, most certainly North Central Minnesota. He was the first Minnesotan elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, getting the nod in 1953. He doesn't seem well remembered in Minnesota, due most likely to having spent relatively little time here.
Bender's status as Native American followed him. He was proud of his Ojibwe heritage. However, after his ascent to fame in 1905, after pitching a shutout, he said he didn't want his name presented to the public as an Indian. He said he simply wanted to be known as a pitcher. A laudable aim to be sure, but one that would, alas, be elusive. We still remember him as "Chief" Bender. He endured hackneyed war cries.
We haven't advanced so far as a civilization, have we. I mean, it was like pulling teeth getting University of North Dakota to scrap its "Fighting Sioux" nickname. I remember when some crude hockey fans somewhere, I think in Duluth, taunted the UND team by chanting "smallpox blankets!" The horrible chant referred to a dark genocidal chapter of U.S. history.
Tom Swift wrote Bender's biography. Swift noted that the great pitcher was subjected to caricature treatment because of the Indian heritage. There were crude cartoons. Swift talked about all the exhibits of "narrow-mindedness," a phenomenon that would certainly stick around as we saw with Robinson's entry into the game. Bender threw one of the most dominating games in the early years of the American League, only to be subjected to being depicted in a drawing wielding a tomahawk and wearing a headdress.
Jackie Robinson was taught to disregard the taunts like those from the "evil" character in his biopic: Ben Chapman. Chief Bender indeed took his share of taunting from the bench or the stands. A fan might yell "back to the reservation!" How Bender handled it? Quite admirably, I'd say. He didn't get shook, and actually would smile at times. And then after he handled an inning with a real flourish, he'd get cocky himself and yell back "Foreigners! Foreigners!"
We know that Chief Bender was born in Crow Wing County. The exact date of birth is open to some debate. He was not 100 percent Native American as his father was German. His mother was part Chippewa. As a kid he got the Indian name "Mandowescence" which means "Little Spirit Animal." His family had 160 acres on the White Earth Indian Reservation.
He really found his home in baseball at an early stage of the sport's development. He's one of only a few pitchers to throw 200 or more innings at the age of 19. He was fortunate to not show evidence of arm overwork henceforth. Some pitchers like Gaylord Perry just seem immune to that. Bender threw a no-hitter in 1910. The 1911 World Series saw him tie Christy Mathewson's record of three complete games. His career win-loss record was 212-127 for a .625 winning percentage. His career ERA was 2.46.
Bender was known for unflappable poise in the World Series. A movie ought to be made about this guy's life.
Was it a case of "Minnesota Nice?" Bender was well-liked by his fellow players. Ty Cobb described Bender as the most intelligent pitcher he'd ever faced. Bender had a reputation as a sign-stealer. His groundbreaking slider pitch was called a "nickel curve" in its early years.
Bender came from a large family. He was just age seven when leaving to attend a boarding school in Pennsylvania. He graduated from Carlisle Indian Industrial School. He began his pitching in Harrisburg PA. Thus he is not closely associated with Minnesota. It wasn't long before Connie Mack, famous leader of the Philadelphia Athletics - yes, Athletics and not Phillies - signed the budding pitching prodigy to a $1,800 contract.
By the end of his rookie year, Bender fashioned 17 wins. The young man was on his way, building a reputation for consistency and resilience. He deserves to be better remembered today than he is, in Minnesota and everywhere.
He never encouraged the "Chief" name. But he never reacted to it in a visceral way - he kept his cool and let his pitching do the talking, thank goodness. He gets a pass for responding to his detractors with that "foreigner!" putdown. At the time of his death, at least one media account tapped into the regressive attitude by reporting that the great man had "gone to the happy hunting ground." Sigh. (Oh, but remember when our late State Senator Charlie Berg talked about "smoke signals!?")
Major League Baseball in pre-Babe Ruth times can get lost in a fog, like it's just too remote for us to understand or appreciate. I think Chief Bender would be a successful pitcher today! I refer to him as "Chief Bender" in the headline for this post because it's what stuck with him, and I feel most fans did not intend to be disrespectful with this reference. In researching for this post, I typed "Chief Bender" into search.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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