Happy Birthday to the late and great Charles “Albert” Bender “Chief,” a Hall of Famer and one of the most clutch big-game pitchers of all time. Growing up was an uphill battle. As an American Indian, he spent five years away from his family in an educational home. Throughout his life and career, he dealt with racial prejudice. However, that wouldn’t stop him from carving a Hall of Fame career.

Charles Bender Career Statistics

212-127 W-L, 2.46 ERA, 3,017 IP, 1,711 SO, 1.113 WHIP

  • 3x World Series Champion

Bender debuted at 18 in 1903, pitching six innings in relief, earning the win against Cy Young. During his sixteen-year career, he never led the league in major pitching categories such as Wins, ERA, WHIP, Innings, or Strikeouts. He is and should be remembered for Consistency, Dependable, and Clutch Performance. Regarding Consistency, for eleven straight seasons, Bender never recorded an ERA above 2.87; also, during those eleven seasons, his WHIP was never higher than 1.236. Dependable, Bender took the mound not just to start games but to finish them as well. On games he didn’t start, he would sometimes come on in Relief; Bender led the league in Saves and Games Finished in 1913. Last but not least, Clutch Performances, 

“If everything depended on one game, I just used Albert– the greatest money pitcher of all-time,” said Connie Mack 

Not only did he win three World Series during his time with the Philadelphia Athletics, but in the postseason, Bender was 6-4 in ten starts. He went the whole game in nine of those Ten starts, over 85 Innings. In the Postseason, Bender complied a 2.44 ERA and 1.012 WHIP. Also, historically you don’t expect a lot from a Pitcher when it comes to Hitting, but Bender is regarded as one of the better offensive pitchers of all time. 

Bender’s Stats as Hitter:

.212 BA, 243 HITS, 6 HR, 116 RBI, .266 OBP, 102 RUNS

He notably hit two home runs in a game during the dead ball era.

Reference:

  1. Charles Bender Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/bendech01.shtml
  2. Swift, Tom. Charles Bender via SABR: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/charles-bender/