The greatest American Indian baseball player of all time, Charles Albert Bender, was, according to a contemporary, “the coolest pitcher in the game.” Using a trademark delivery, an impressive assortment of pitches that may have included the game’s first slider, and an apparently unflappable demeanor, he earned a reputation as baseball’s great clutch pitcher during tight Deadball Era pennant races and in front of boisterous World Series crowds. More remarkably yet, “Chief” Bender’s Hall of Fame career unfolded in the face of immeasurable prejudice. This skillfully told and complete account of Bender’s life is also a portrait of greatness of character maintained despite incredible pressure—of how a celebrated man thrived while carrying an untold weight on his shoulders.
With a journalist’s eye for detail and a novelist’s feel for storytelling, Tom Swift takes readers on Bender’s improbable journey—from his early years on the White Earth Reservation, to his development at the Carlisle Indian School, to his big break and eventual rise to the pinnacle of baseball. The story of a paradoxical American sports hero, one who achieved a once-unfathomable celebrity while suffering the harsh injustices of a racially intolerant world, Chief Bender’s Burden is an eye-opening and inspiring narrative of a unique American life.
“Signal thanks to journalist Swift for this authoritative biography of Charles Albert Bender . . . . Swift sets aside the myths about this most famous American Indian player while vividly describing him in the context of the famed Carlisle Indian School, baseball’s Golden Age, Connie Mack and his Athletics, and the effects of gambling and alcoholism on sports.”—Library Journal, Starred Review
“In Swift’s hands, Bender’s life unfolds gradually, as though he were a character in a novel, and the prejudice he experienced, though never justified, is set within the context of the times. Carefully researched—and documented—as well as stylishly written (uncommon in the genre), this belongs in most baseball collections.”—Wes Lukowsky, Booklist
“A gem. . . . [A] wonderful and impressively thorough new biography. . . . Swift’s mission is to reassert Bender as an important figure in the history of the game, both as a player and a groundbreaking figure. His book does well in both ways.”—Kevin Canfield, Chicago Sun-Times
“Fans of baseball’s Pre-Golden Age will appreciate the scholarship that went into Chief Bender’s Burden, Tom Swift’s sad but sweet biography of the Native American pitcher . . . from the University of Nebraska Press, a constant source of quality baseball literature.”—Ron Kaplan, ForeWord
“A fascinating study of the hardship and prejudice Bender endured, and the character he showed in the face of it all.”—Pat Borzi, MinnPost.com
“A substantial, vivid story of one of the best pitchers of the game’s early years.”—Mike Miliard, Boston Phoenix
“Chief Bender’s Burden [is] another fine offering from the University of Nebraska Press, a steady source of excellent baseball books.”—King Kaufman, Salon.com
“An entertaining, absorbing read. Tom Swift paints a vivid portrait of Charles ‘Chief’ Bender, an American Indian who rose to baseball stardom in the early 1900s and conquered mighty opponents as he silently struggled to cope with the effects of virulent prejudice. Swift breathes life into a long-dead hero who merits remembrance.”—Tom Stanton, author of Ty and the Babe and The Final Season
“Vividly written and carefully crafted, this book charges like a steam train, fueled by compassion and puffing with rousing courage.”—Tom Adelman, author of The Long Ball
“Meticulously researched and eloquently written, Chief Bender’s Burden brings alive a true master of America’s game. Bender’s rise from the playing fields of the Carlisle Indian School to the Baseball Hall of Fame is fascinating and inspiring. One contemporary commentator called him ‘the coolest pitcher in the game,’ and this is the coolest book on the shelf.”—Bill Crawford, author of All American: The Rise and Fall of Jim Thorpe
“Charles Albert Bender was raised on the White Earth Reservation in Minnesota, graduated from the Carlisle Indian School, and matured as an extraordinary World Series pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics. Tom Swift has created an outstanding, perceptive, memorable biography of a Native American Indian member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.”—Gerald Vizenor, author of The People Named the Chippewa
“Tom Swift has done a great service to Chief Bender and to baseball historians by telling the full and accurate story of Bender’s life for the first time.”—Norman Macht, author of Connie Mack and the Early Years of Baseball
“I'm not a big sports fan, but this is much more than a sports book. It is an historical document, it is a profile of an extraordinary man, and it is an insight into our nation’s character and values.”—Jim Wishner, host of “The Connection” on KTNF-AM 950
“Will be a delightful read for A’s fans of the great pitcher who was a huge part of the first two A’s dynasties.”—Max Silberman, Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society
"Offers keen, compelling insight into the hell Bender must have endured as a Native American excelling at the great American pastime. . . . Chief Bender’s Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star is written with flawless style. The subject fascinates. Pick an afternoon when you can relax and enjoy a good book, then go get this one."—Dwight Hobbes, Twin Cities Daily Planet
"Swift's account of the treatment of Native Americans and his richly detailed portrait of Philadelphia at the beginning of the 20th century will also interest general readers."—Minnesota Monthly
"I'll be the first to admit I don’t know much about baseball, but Tom Swift sweeps readers—even those clueless about the game—up in this epic, eye-opening, turn-of-the-century tale. . . . Swift combines painstaking research with great storytelling to take us along on Bender's remarkable journey. . . . This is a fascinating biography about an accomplished man, both on and off the baseball field, who struggled against mind-numbing prejudice and somehow still persevered."—Gail Huganir, Central PA