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November 20, 2004
Minnesotans in the Baseball Hall of Fame
I started a great book about baseball statistics today on the subway ride to work and, as I was reading it, began to wonder if there are any players from my home state of Minnesota in the Hall of Fame. If I had been thinking I would have known that Dave Winfield and Paul Molitor were inducted in 2001 and 2004, respectively.
But there is a third Minnesotan in the Hall - a pitcher whom I had never heard of before today. Charles "Chief" Bender (he was half Chippewa) was born in Crow Wing County, MN in 1884 and had a productive 16 years in the majors. Two of his career stats speak for themselves:
W-L: 212-167
ERA: 2.46
(source: baseball-reference.com)
I'd write more about him but there is already a great article about Bender at nickelcurves.com or check out his Hall of Fame plaque.
Posted on November 20, 2004 at 2:16 AM