Money Pitcher: Chief Bender and the Tragedy of Indian Assimilation
- ISBN-10
- 0271028629
- ISBN-13
- 9780271028620
- Category
- Biography & Autobiography
- Pages
- 199
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2006
- Publisher
- Penn State Press
- Author
- William C. Kashatus
Description
Charles Albert Bender was one of baseball&’s most talented pitchers. By the end of his major league career in 1925, he had accrued 212 wins and more than 1,700 strikeouts, and in 1953, he became the first American Indian elected to baseball&’s Hall of Fame. But as a high-profile Chippewa Indian in a bigoted society, Bender knew firsthand the trauma of racism. In Money Pitcher: Chief Bender and the Tragedy of Indian Assimilation, William C. Kashatus offers the first biography of this compelling and complex figure. Bender&’s career in baseball began on the sandlots of Pennsylvania&’s Carlisle Indian Industrial School, where he distinguished himself as a hard-throwing pitcher. Soon, in 1903, Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack signed Bender to his pitching staff, where he was a mainstay for more than a decade. Mack regarded Bender as his &“money pitcher&”&—the hurler he relied on whenever he needed a critical victory. But with success came suffering. Spectators jeered Bender on the field and taunted him with war whoops. Newspapers ridiculed him in their sports pages. His own teammates derisively referred to him as &“Chief,&” and Mack paid him less than half the salary of other star pitchers. This constant disrespect became a major factor in one of the most controversial episodes in the history of baseball: the alleged corruption of the 1914 World Series. Despite being heavily favored going into the Series against the Boston Braves, the A&’s lost four straight games. Kashatus offers compelling evidence that Bender intentionally compromised his performance in the Series as retribution for the poor treatment he suffered. Money Pitcher is not just another baseball book. It is a book about social justice and Native Americans&’ tragic pursuit of the white American Dream at the expense of their own identity. Having arrived in the major leagues only thirteen years after the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890, Bender experienced the disastrous effects of governmental assimilation policies designed to quash indigenous Indian culture. Yet his remarkable athleticism and dignified behavior disproved popular notions of Native American inferiority and opened the door to the majors for more than 120 Indians who played baseball during the first half of the twentieth century.
Get the book
Other editions
-
- - pages
- Paperback
- Penn State Press
Similar books
-
The Money Pitch: Baseball Free Agency and Salary Arbitration
By Roger AbramsComing out of retirement, he reappeared on the baseball scene in 1901 to lead the opposition to the effort by Giants owner Andrew Freedman to convert the business organization of baseball from a joint venture of independent capitalists ...
-
The Best Team Money Can Buy: The Los Angeles Dodgers' Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse
By Molly KnightWhether it was fair to expect Ramirez to swing a bat through pain, this was the playoffs, and it was difficult to imagine champions like Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, or Michael Jordan asking out of a postseason lineup unless they were facing ...
-
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
By Michael LewisIn a quest to discover the answer, Michael Lewis delivers not only “the single most influential baseball book ever” (Rob Neyer, Slate) but also what “may be the best book ever written on business” (Weekly Standard).
-
What Makes an Elite Pitcher?: Young, Mathewson, Johnson, Alexander, Grove, Spahn, Seaver, Clemens, and Maddux
By Warren N. WilbertAtlanta : Turner Publishing , 1996 ( p . 72 ) . 7. Tom Seaver 1. Mazer , Bill , with Stan and Shirley Fischler . Bill Mazer's Amazin ' Baseball Book : 150 Years of Baseball Tales and Trivia . New York : Zebra Books , Kensington Pub .
-
Catfish: The Three Million Dollar Pitcher
By Bill LibbyPalmer won the Cy Young Award, but his Baltimore team was beaten by Hunter's A's in the playoffs. The first two games were played in Baltimore. It was Blue's turn so he started, but he was bombed out in the first frame and the Orioles, ...
-
Let the Fans Negotiate
By Chuck TroutIn this book, I address twelve major sports and made recommendations that are both unique and economically feasible for the owners, the teams, and the people (the fans) who generate the money to pay all the costs associated with ...
-
APPALACHIAN LEAGUE BASEBALL
By Allen LaMountainLeft-hander Jim Crawford was the top prospect that season with a 7–3 record and a 1.59 ERA for manager Billy Smith. The C'Stros sunk to last place in 1973 and drew only 13,673 fans. Lefty Mike Stanton, who went on to have a seven-year ...
-
Chief Bender's Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star
By Tom Swifthis time Bender wanted to be judged strictly as a pitcher, but he wasn't. ... how he stacks up numerically against his peers, and the natural place to begin such analysis is at his bronze bust at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
-
The Pitcher and the Dictator: Satchel Paige's Unlikely Season in the Dominican Republic
By Averell SmithThe Pitcher and the Dictator paints a rich portrait of one of the greatest barnstorming baseball teams.” —Dusty Baker, legendary Major League Baseball player and manager “The Pitcher and the Dictator is a gripping account of Satchel ...
-
Native Americans Today: A Biographical Dictionary
By Bruce E. JohansenThis engaging collection of Native American profiles examines these individuals' unique life experiences within the larger context of U.S. history.