Charles Albert Bender, Philadelphia A’s

Clay County Histories

Markus Krueger | Program Director HCSCC

I find it funny that as a little boy I could not figure out how to tie my shoes, but I could effortlessly memorize baseball statistics going back to the 1880s. That’s just how little boy brains work. Baseball history was one of my first obsessions. And one of my favorite players was Charles Albert Bender, an early 20th century pitcher who was born in 1884 not far from my grandparents house in Crow Wing County, Minnesota. He grew up about 75 miles northeast of Moorhead near Bejou, Mahnomen County.
Charles Bender was Minnesota’s first Baseball Hall of Famer. His dad was German and his mom was Ojibwe. He ran away from an unhappy home to attend Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania. American history is filled with horror stories of Indian Boarding Schools, which were designed to suppress Native cultures and assimilate Indigenous kids into white society. But history is complicated and every one of us has a unique perspective. Young Charles loved the structure and new opportunities Carlisle gave him. He was scholastically brilliant, and he excelled at all sports.
Connie Mack, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics, saw Bender play baseball and signed him for his team in 1903. Since Charles was Ojibwe, he faced a lot of racism from fans as well as other players, but he always kept his cool. He received the nickname “Chief” Bender, which he never cared for. Charles Bender was one of the best pitchers of his generation, a World Series hero, credited with inventing the “slider” pitch. He died in 1954, the year after he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Let me tell you about another hero of mine. Kade Ferris – Giniw Wiidokaage (Eagle Helps Him) – was an Ojibwe and Métis historian, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and the Red Lake Nation. His website Dibaajimowin, Ojibwe for “stories,” is an important source for local Indigenous history that you can’t find anywhere else. He was one of the important advisors for our award-winning exhibit now at the Hjemkomst Center Ihdago Manipi: Clay County at 150. I felt the excitement of a little boy when I heard Kade Ferris was writing a young adult history book about Charles Albert Bender!
Kade and I talked about our shared childhood hero and how we wished more people remembered him. Philadelphia sports fans stopped cheering for his team when the A’s moved to Kansas City in the 1950s, to Oakland in the ‘60s, and it looks like they’ll be the Las Vegas A’s in 2028. We brainstormed plans to help Minnesota remember Charles Bender. Unfortunately, Kade died of cancer on November 4, aged just 54.
On May 29 the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks will host Library Night. The Moorhead Public Library, Fargo Public Library, and West Fargo Public Library will be handing out 600 copies of the book Charles Albert Bender: National Hall of Fame Pitcher by Kade Ferris to kids attending the ballgame. I want to thank our wonderful libraries, Kade’s widow Kristin, and the Minnesota Humanities Center for making this happen. Let’s pack the stands for them!