The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1903-08-04
SPORTING NEWS.
Find Of the Year in Baseball a
Carlisle Indian.
G. A. Bender Doing Good Work
for the Athletics.
WILL NOT TALK MUCH.
No One Had Heard Much OF Him
Before 1908.
Uses Straight Swift Ball Like
Cannon Shot.

Philadelphia, Aug. 4.-When Connie
Mack signed the Indian Bender last fall
and added him to his corps of pitchers
of the champion Athletics the knowing
ones touched their foreheads and shook
their heads. All the followers of base
ball knew full well that while Carlisle
was a marvellous producer of stars on
the gridiron the Indian college never had
shadow of standing in the national
game. A Carlisle Indian had never
made good in the big league. 1t was
predicted Bender would fall by the
wayside.
But Bender has proved wonder, and
the fans are willing to admit it The
young Indian has shot into the baseball
sky like comet to dazzle the astrono-
mers of the bleachers and the benches.
He comes pretty near being the find"
of the year.
Early in the season he struck a clip
| that bid fair to land him close to the
'front.' Of the procession if he kept up
the pace. He took hold like a veteran
His work since has been nothing short
of phenomenal in view of his age and
the fact that he was an unsea soned colt
that never trotted in such fast COM
pany before.
Personally, the youthful Carlisle In
dlan is study. He is scarcely 81 years
of age, yet he stands close to feet 2
inches in the stockings and weighs near
~ $50 pounds. He has the chest and
shoulders of grown man. And above
all he has the arm and the head for the
game. He is as cool as the proverbial
cucumber just off the ice.
It's pretty hard work to get Bender to
tell you much about himself He's a
sort of stole. Modesty is his character
istic trait He is not a talker: rather,
he impresses the chance acquaintance
as the typical Indian. quiet, reserved
and thinking every minute. He has the
Indian features, too, and the long,
straight black hair that is Characters
tic of his blood.
Nobody ever heard much about Ben
der until the opening of this ball sea-
son, when he appeared in Boston on
Patriots Day. went in in the third in
ming and pulled from the fire what ap-
peared to be a lost game. He won, 10
to Z. That was his debut-his coming
out party. Next he went against the
New Yorks and shut them out, to 0.
In his last game in Boston he was pit
ted against Dineen in a contest which
he should have won, the fans said, and
would have won had he not had all the
luck against him from the start
1t takes heap of questioning to find
/ out much about himself from Bender.
and, as a matter of fact, he never made
much of a record. His career has been
short, and he has achieved his fame in
/ rapid strides. He was born in Brainerd,
4 Mimi, the son of an Indian mother and
a white father. His name is Charles
Albertus Bender, and all his life he has
| been called AL.
Bender's strong point is his marvel
Gus control of the ball. He can put EN-
| through knot hole. He is a master of
all the curves, but his mainstay is a
, straight ball that comes first like a
cannon ball and next Just edges by the
plate. In addition to his ability in the
| box, Bender is an all-round player. He
can go out in the garden and show to
good advantage. 1t is proverbial that
| pitchers can't bat a little bit Bender
appears to be an exception to the rule.
He has already proved himself good
with the stick. He is a base runner, too.
/ In word-he's a ball PLAYER.