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Chief Bender's Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star | 
 enlarge | Author: Tom Swift
Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $8.00
You Save: $16.95 (68%)
New (20) Used (5) from $8.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 38857
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 346
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 1.3
ISBN: 0803243219
Dewey Decimal Number: 796.357092
EAN: 9780803243217
ASIN: 0803243219
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: includes review slip information
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews:
Iron Man Bender May 1, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Speaking as a former archivist, "Chief Bender's Burden" is an archivist's dream: well researched with an exquisitely detailed bibliographic essay, and an index! But more than that, it is a book lover's dream. It is the brilliantly written story of a unique American, "the pitcher who looked in the face of pressure and winked." Author Swift replays the Deadball Era games with the enthusiasm of a modern day radio announcer. The inclusion of Bender's quotes on page 128 and 211, and paragraph one on page 275 alone make this book a gem. More than baseball history, it is pathos and glory and inspiration.
Beverly Hermes
A Baseball Bonus April 30, 2008
Even if readers are not affectionados of baseball, Chief Bender's Burden offers the bonus of a sensitive glimpse into some of the realities that can be masked by America's favorite pastime. Tom Swift has a distinctive gift for weaving play by play details into a larger tapestry of human brokenness and accomplishment. His honesty and integrity are refreshingly manifested in background and research notations.
More than just baseball April 29, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Tom Swift has written an outstanding book that shows how Bender's life story is about more than just baseball...It's about the experience of Native Americans during Bender's era. His book is an exciting and informative read that should be of great interest to both baseball fans and students of American history. As one who uses baseball history in education, I warmly recommend it.
Rabbi Shmuel Jablon, www.rabbijablon.com
Bender's life story reads like a novel April 21, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Chief Bender's Burden reads like a novel. Swift's style is fluid and never dull. He has managed to reconstruct Bender's life through impeccable research. The book's most exciting parts are the play-by-play of games Bender pitched. Details, including which pitches Bender threw, make this book an excellent read. What is most impressive is the daunting task of research included in telling Bender's story. Yet, Swift does not get bogged down in details and allows the story to unfold in a natural manner.
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