Bender, "Chief" (Charles A.)
Baseball
b. May 5, 1884, Brainerd, MN
d. May 22, 1954
The son of a German-American father and a Chippewa Indian mother, Bender played baseball and football at Carlisle Indian Institute in Pennsylvania and entered semi-pro baseball after graduating in 1902.
The Philadelphia Athletics signed Bender in 1903 and he won his first game in relief without ever playing in the minor leagues. He had a 17-15 record as a rookie.
Because of illness, Bender slipped to 10-11 in 1904. Despite missing five weeks of the 1905 season, he had an 18-11 record and he shut out the New York Giants for Philadelphia's only World Series victory.
During the next four seasons, Bender won 57 games while losing 35. His finest year was 1910, when he led the league with an .821 winning percentage on a 23-5 record. Bender beat the Chicago Cubs 4-1 in the first game of the World Series but lost the fourth 4-3 in 10 innings. Philadelphia won the series four games to one.
Bender again had the AL's best winning percentage, .773, in 1911, when his record was 17-5. After losing the opener of the World Series 2-1 to the New York Giants on 2 unearned runs, he won the fourth and sixth games as the As beat the Giants again, four games to two.
After a 13-8 record in 1912, Bender won 21 games and lost 10 in 1913, then beat the Giants twice in the World Series, becoming the first pitcher to win 6 Series games. He had a 17-3 record, including 7 shutouts and 14 victories in a row, in 1914, when his .850 winning percentage was best in the league for the third time.
Bender jumped to the Federal League in 1915. The league folded after that season, and he won 15 games while losing 9 for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1916 and 1917.
His major league playing career ended, Bender was a minor league player, college coach, and major league coach until his retirement in 1954.