I got a chance to meet the Chief Bender who was a scout for the Reds at a pre-draft workout at Riverfront Stadium in 1984. As the Reds staff members who were running the workout were being introduced, the name "Chief Bender" caught my attention.
I got a chance to ask him later if his name prompted many questions when he was introduced to people, and he looked surprised.
"Not as many as you might think," he said. "How the heck do you know who Chief Bender was? A little before your time, don't you think?"
I told him I read a lot of baseball books growing up, and he laughed. He impressed me as a very nice guy who realized how nervous most of us were and almost empathized with us. He definitely didn't have the "big-league" attitude that a lot of scouts carry around. At least that day he didn't.
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