Loading...
64th out of 185 books
—
148 voters
My rating:
add to my books
Chief Bender's Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star
by
Tom Swift
The greatest American Indian baseball player of all time, Charles Albert Bender, was, according to a contemporary, s Burden is an eye-opening and inspiring narrative of a unique American life.
Hardcover, 346 pages
Published
April 1st 2008
by UNP - Nebraska
There is a good chance some of your friends read this book. Sign in to see!
sign in »
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-27
of
27)
I struggled to like (and to finish) this book. Charles Albert Bender, born on Minnesota's White Earth Reservation to an Ojibwe mother and white father and, essentially, raised at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, was an outstanding pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and the first native-born Minnesotan inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Given my love of baseball, Minnesota and history, this should have been my favorite book of all time.
Unfortunately, Swift adopts ...more
Unfortunately, Swift adopts ...more
view 1 comment
Did Charles "Chief" Bender encounter "immeasurable prejudice" during his days as a star pitcher during baseball's "Dead Ball Era"?
I'm not going to argue against the existence of racism. I'm not going to argue against it's taking a toll on people.
But author Tom Swift fails to make a compelling argument that such things affected Bender and his career. For every trial and tribulation faced in his professional life - frequent injuries, occasion...more
I'm not going to argue against the existence of racism. I'm not going to argue against it's taking a toll on people.
But author Tom Swift fails to make a compelling argument that such things affected Bender and his career. For every trial and tribulation faced in his professional life - frequent injuries, occasion...more
Other than wishing that Swift had done more to show the racism Charles Bender struggled with all his life, I enjoyed this look at baseball during the Deadball Era through the life of one Hall-of-Fame pitcher. Swift has researched Bender's life and accomplishments meticulously but he also immersed himself in the baseball culture and wider society of Bender's times. Fascinating book.
Steelman
marked it as to-read
Daryl Grigsby
marked it as to-read
Matthew Runyon
marked it as to-read
Andrew Godbold
marked it as to-read
Frank Chimkin
marked it as to-read
Tom
is currently reading it
Terry
marked it as to-read
Katie
marked it as to-read
Iranica
added it
Thomas
marked it as to-read
Keith
marked it as to-read
Maryanna
marked it as to-read
David
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Tom Swift is an award-winning journalist and freelance writer. He lives in Minnesota."
More about Tom Swift...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
