Editing Chief Bender (section)

===Early career===
Bender debuted in the major leagues in 1903. He is one of only a few pitchers in the 20th century to throw 200 or more innings at the age of 19. His walks per nine innings rate were 2.17; only a few pitchers since 1893 have had a rate below 2.2 at the age of 20 or younger. That year, he also won a game against [[Cy Young]] and met his future wife Marie.<ref>Swift, p. 108</ref>

In 1905, Bender earned an 18–11 [[win–loss record]] with a 2.83 ERA, helping the A's win the AL pennant; but they lost the World Series in five games to the [[New York Giants (baseball)|New York Giants]]. Bender went 1–1 with a 1.06 ERA in the series, pitching a 4-hit, 3–0 complete-game shutout in Game 2, striking out 9. He went the distance again in Game 5, giving up just two earned runs in eight innings, losing 2–0 to [[Christy Mathewson]].

After solid seasons in 1906 (15–10, 2.53), 1907 (16–8, 2.05), 1908 (8–9 despite a 1.75 ERA), and 1909 (18–8, 1.66), he led the Athletics to the AL pennant in 1910, as Philadelphia went 102–48, {{frac|14|1|2}} games ahead of the second-place [[New York Highlanders]]. Bender led the AL in winning percentage, at .821, going 23–5 with a 1.58 ERA. He went 1–1 with a 1.93 ERA in the [[1910 World Series|World Series]] as the A's beat the [[Chicago Cubs]], who had gone 104–50 in the regular season, in five games. Bender pitched a complete-game three-hitter in the opener, striking out 8 and giving up only one unearned run. He lost Game 4 of the series in another complete-game effort, 4–3 in 10 innings. Bender pitched all {{frac|9|2|3}} innings for the Athletics, striking out 6.