Charles Bender
Chief Bender threw harder than almost anyone in the Deadball Era, yet his greatest weapon was a curveball that mystified hitters for two decades. The Ojibwe pitcher from Minnesota became Connie Mack's ace, posting a 2.46 ERA across 23 seasons while striking out 1,711 batters when whiffs were rare commodities.
His 212 wins tell only part of the story. Bender's ERA+ of 117 means he was consistently 17 percent better than league average throughout his career, with a peak season 77 percent above the norm. He was particularly dominant in October, helping the Athletics win five pennants and three World Series titles.
What separated Bender was his intellectual approach to pitching. He studied hitters relentlessly and adjusted his repertoire accordingly, becoming one of baseball's first true pitch artists. The Veterans Committee recognized his brilliance in 1953, making him the second Native American player inducted into Cooperstown.
Career · Hitting
16 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903 | PHA | 43 | 120 | 0 | 8 | .183 | — | — |
| 1904 | PHA | 31 | 79 | 0 | 5 | .228 | — | — |
| 1905 | PHA | 38 | 92 | 0 | 14 | .217 | — | — |
| 1906 | PHA | 44 | 99 | 3 | 13 | .253 | — | — |
| 1907 | PHA | 45 | 100 | 0 | 8 | .230 | — | — |
| 1908 | PHA | 20 | 50 | 0 | 2 | .220 | — | — |
| 1909 | PHA | 40 | 93 | 0 | 9 | .215 | — | — |
| 1910 | PHA | 36 | 93 | 0 | 16 | .269 | — | — |
| 1911 | PHA | 32 | 79 | 0 | 8 | .165 | — | — |
| 1912 | PHA | 27 | 60 | 0 | 4 | .150 | — | — |
| 1913 | PHA | 48 | 78 | 0 | 10 | .154 | — | — |
| 1914 | PHA | 28 | 62 | 1 | 8 | .145 | — | — |
| 1915 | BLF | 26 | 60 | 1 | 2 | .267 | — | — |
| 1916 | PHI | 28 | 43 | 0 | 5 | .279 | — | — |
| 1917 | PHI | 20 | 39 | 1 | 4 | .205 | — | — |
| 1925 | CWS | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — |
| Career | 507 | 1147 | 6 | 116 | .212 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
16 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1903 | PHA | 36 | 270.0 | 17 | 14 | 3.07 | 101 | 127 | 1.126 |
| 1904 | PHA | 29 | 203.7 | 10 | 11 | 2.87 | 93 | 149 | 1.110 |
| 1905 | PHA | 35 | 229.0 | 18 | 11 | 2.83 | 100 | 142 | 1.236 |
| 1906 | PHA | 36 | 238.3 | 15 | 10 | 2.53 | 106 | 159 | 1.074 |
| 1907 | PHA | 33 | 219.3 | 16 | 8 | 2.05 | 122 | 112 | 0.998 |
| 1908 | PHA | 18 | 138.7 | 8 | 9 | 1.75 | 137 | 85 | 1.024 |
| 1909 | PHA | 34 | 250.0 | 18 | 8 | 1.66 | 154 | 161 | 0.964 |
| 1910 | PHA | 30 | 250.0 | 23 | 5 | 1.58 | 177 | 155 | 0.916 |
| 1911 | PHA | 31 | 216.3 | 17 | 5 | 2.16 | 156 | 114 | 1.183 |
| 1912 | PHA | 27 | 171.0 | 13 | 8 | 2.74 | 123 | 90 | 1.181 |
| 1913 | PHA | 48 | 236.7 | 21 | 10 | 2.21 | 138 | 135 | 1.128 |
| 1914 | PHA | 28 | 179.0 | 17 | 3 | 2.26 | 130 | 107 | 1.196 |
| 1915 | BLF | 26 | 178.3 | 4 | 16 | 3.99 | 73 | 89 | 1.318 |
| 1916 | PHI | 27 | 122.7 | 7 | 7 | 3.74 | 74 | 43 | 1.394 |
| 1917 | PHI | 20 | 113.0 | 8 | 2 | 1.67 | 161 | 43 | 0.973 |
| 1925 | CWS | 1 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 18.00 | 25 | 0 | 2.000 |
| Career | 459 | 3017.0 | 212 | 127 | — | — | 1711 | — | |
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