Tinker to Evers to Chance
Encyclopedia
"Baseball's Sad Lexicon," also known as "Tinker to Evers to Chance" after its refrain, is a 1910 baseball
poem
by Franklin Pierce Adams
. The poem is presented as a single, rueful stanza from the point of view of a New York Giants
fan seeing the talented Chicago Cubs
infield of shortstop
Joe Tinker
, second baseman
Johnny Evers
, and first baseman
Frank Chance
complete a double play
.
The trio first appeared in a game together on September 2, 1902. They turned their first double play on the next day, September 3, 1902. Likely, this double play combination would never have existed if not for Frank Selee
, the Cubs' manager from 1902 to 1905 (Chance took over the managerial reins midway through the 1905 season because Selee was forced to step down due to illness). Selee saw that Chance, who was originally a backup to catchers Tim Donahue and Johnny Kling
, would be better suited as a first baseman. Chance at first opposed the move and even threatened to quit, but ultimately obliged. He quickly forgot his ambitions to be a catcher. Tinker, originally a third baseman, also shifted positions with a move to shortstop. And Evers, who was originally a shortstop, was switched to back up second baseman Bobby Lowe because of Tinker's move. When Lowe broke his ankle in the September 2 game, Evers came in to replace him. Evers then became the starter, and (somewhat like Lou Gehrig
famously did in the 1920s) would long remain in the job he originally won due only to another player's injury. The Adams poem has made them perhaps the most famed double-play combination in history.
This work was first published as "That Double Play Again" in the July 12, 1910, New York Evening Mail
(not on July 10 as numerous sources state). The Chicago Daily Tribune reprinted it as "Gotham's Woe" on July 15, 1910. Three days later, on July 18, the New York Evening Mail republished it under the title by which it is best known today, "Baseball's Sad Lexicon."
This poem can be sung to the tune of the French ditty "Vive la Compagnie!"
to see the Cubs–Giants game. The poem was such a hit that other sportswriters submitted additional verses to it. But it was FPA's that is remembered.
Tinker, Evers, and Chance were all part of the Chicago Cubs' World Series
-winning teams in 1907
and 1908
, as well as the pennant-winner in 1910. In 1911, the Giants finally overcame their repeated frustrations at the hands of the Cubs, capturing the first of three consecutive league championships as the Cubs dynasty faded.
All three players were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946
. Some have argued that their inductions — particularly those of Tinker and Evers — were based more on the fame generated by Adams' poem than by their playing ability, which was largely unremarkable.
Despite their celebrated success at turning spectacular plays in collaboration, relations between the teammates were said to have been often strained. Tinker and Evers feuded for many years, and player-manager Chance was reputed to have had an occasionally combative approach to discipline.
About 1913, when the Cubs had faded in the standings (they finished third in 1913), club owner Charles Webb Murphy fired manager Johnny Evers, and a number of baseball people made an effort to drive Murphy out of baseball. This involved the National League
president John Tener
, and Charles P. Taft, whose brother William
was President
at the time. The effort was successful, and Sporting Life
commemorated the affair with this variation on the poem:
Source: The National League Story, by Lee Allen
, 1961.
The fame of the double-play combination naturally led to the occasional trivia question "So who played third base?" The answer, during the period from 1906 to 1910, was Harry Steinfeldt
.
The phrase and double-play combination helped inspire the song "O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg" in the 1949 musical film, Take Me Out to the Ball Game
.
The expression is still used on occasion today, to characterize any process that happens with smoothness and precision, as a near-synonym to expressions such as "like clockwork" or "a well-oiled machine."
On the poem's 100th Anniversary, Tim Wiles, Director of Research at the Baseball Hall of Fame revealed a recent discovery. The poem was actually a part of series of poems published in the New York Evening Mail and the Chicago Tribune. During the research process, combing the archives in the New York Public Library and the Center for Research Libraries, they have now uncovered 29 poems, 15 of which detail a specific play or game that had occurred during the 1910 season, with Baseball’s Sad Lexicon having been the first poem published.
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
poem
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
by Franklin Pierce Adams
Franklin Pierce Adams
Franklin Pierce Adams was an American columnist, well known by his initials F.P.A., and wit, best known for his newspaper column, "The Conning Tower", and his appearances as a regular panelist on radio's Information Please...
. The poem is presented as a single, rueful stanza from the point of view of a New York Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
fan seeing the talented Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
infield of shortstop
Shortstop
Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...
Joe Tinker
Joe Tinker
Joseph Bert Tinker was a Major League Baseball player and manager. He is best known for his years with the Chicago Cubs dynasty which won four pennants between 1906 and 1910; and for his feud with double play partner Johnny Evers. Tinker was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in...
, second baseman
Second baseman
Second base, or 2B, is the second of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a base runner in order to score a run for that player's team. A second baseman is the baseball player guarding second base...
Johnny Evers
Johnny Evers
John Joseph Evers was a Major League Baseball player and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1946...
, and first baseman
First baseman
First base, or 1B, is the first of four stations on a baseball diamond which must be touched in succession by a baserunner in order to score a run for that player's team...
Frank Chance
Frank Chance
Frank Leroy Chance was a Major League Baseball player at the turn of the 20th century. Performing the roles of first baseman and manager, Chance led the Chicago Cubs to four National League championships in the span of five years and earned the nickname "The Peerless Leader".Chance was elected to...
complete a double play
Double play
In baseball, a double play for a team or a fielder is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. In baseball slang, making a double play is referred to as "turning two"....
.
The trio first appeared in a game together on September 2, 1902. They turned their first double play on the next day, September 3, 1902. Likely, this double play combination would never have existed if not for Frank Selee
Frank Selee
Frank Gibson Selee was an American Major League Baseball manager in the National League . In his 16 year Major League career, he managed the Boston Beaneaters for 12 seasons, and the Chicago Orphans for four.He was noted for his ability to assess and utilize talent, which gave his teams a great...
, the Cubs' manager from 1902 to 1905 (Chance took over the managerial reins midway through the 1905 season because Selee was forced to step down due to illness). Selee saw that Chance, who was originally a backup to catchers Tim Donahue and Johnny Kling
Johnny Kling
John Kling was a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Chicago Cubs , Boston Rustlers & Braves , and Cincinnati Reds .-Early years:John Gransfield Kling was born and raised in Kansas City, the son of John and...
, would be better suited as a first baseman. Chance at first opposed the move and even threatened to quit, but ultimately obliged. He quickly forgot his ambitions to be a catcher. Tinker, originally a third baseman, also shifted positions with a move to shortstop. And Evers, who was originally a shortstop, was switched to back up second baseman Bobby Lowe because of Tinker's move. When Lowe broke his ankle in the September 2 game, Evers came in to replace him. Evers then became the starter, and (somewhat like Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
famously did in the 1920s) would long remain in the job he originally won due only to another player's injury. The Adams poem has made them perhaps the most famed double-play combination in history.
Text of the poem
- These are the saddest of possible words:
- "Tinker to Evers to Chance."
- Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds,
- Tinker and Evers and Chance.
- Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,
- Making a Giant hit into a double –
- Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
- "Tinker to Evers to Chance."
This work was first published as "That Double Play Again" in the July 12, 1910, New York Evening Mail
New York Evening Mail
The New York Evening Mail was an American daily newspaper published in New York City.The paper was made up of the New York Evening Express, which dated from 1836, and the Daily Advertiser. It was eventually merged with the Evening Telegram, which became the New York World-Telegram in 1927.From New...
(not on July 10 as numerous sources state). The Chicago Daily Tribune reprinted it as "Gotham's Woe" on July 15, 1910. Three days later, on July 18, the New York Evening Mail republished it under the title by which it is best known today, "Baseball's Sad Lexicon."
This poem can be sung to the tune of the French ditty "Vive la Compagnie!"
History
Adams wrote the poem for his column "Always in Good Humor" in the Evening Mail; he signed it with his nickname, FPA. Adams, a native of Chicago and a former newspaper columnist there, penned the poem on his way to the Polo GroundsPolo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
to see the Cubs–Giants game. The poem was such a hit that other sportswriters submitted additional verses to it. But it was FPA's that is remembered.
Tinker, Evers, and Chance were all part of the Chicago Cubs' World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
-winning teams in 1907
1907 World Series
The 1907 World Series featured the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Tigers, with the Cubs winning the Series four games to none for their first championship....
and 1908
1908 World Series
The 1908 World Series matched the defending champion Chicago Cubs against the Detroit Tigers in a rematch of the 1907 Series. In this first-ever rematch of this young event, the Cubs won in five games for their second consecutive title....
, as well as the pennant-winner in 1910. In 1911, the Giants finally overcame their repeated frustrations at the hands of the Cubs, capturing the first of three consecutive league championships as the Cubs dynasty faded.
All three players were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946
Baseball Hall of Fame balloting, 1946
Elections to the Baseball Hall of Fame for 1946 were conducted by methods refashioned and then fashioned again during the year. As in 1945 the Baseball Writers Association of America voted by mail to select from recent players and elected no one...
. Some have argued that their inductions — particularly those of Tinker and Evers — were based more on the fame generated by Adams' poem than by their playing ability, which was largely unremarkable.
Despite their celebrated success at turning spectacular plays in collaboration, relations between the teammates were said to have been often strained. Tinker and Evers feuded for many years, and player-manager Chance was reputed to have had an occasionally combative approach to discipline.
About 1913, when the Cubs had faded in the standings (they finished third in 1913), club owner Charles Webb Murphy fired manager Johnny Evers, and a number of baseball people made an effort to drive Murphy out of baseball. This involved the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
president John Tener
John K. Tener
John Kinley Tener was a Major League baseball player and executive and, from 1911 to 1915, served as the 25th Governor of Pennsylvania.-Biography:...
, and Charles P. Taft, whose brother William
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
was President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
at the time. The effort was successful, and Sporting Life
Sporting Life (US sports journal)
The Sporting Life is a defunct US newspaper published in Philadelphia, PA, that ran from 1883 to 1917 and from 1922 to 1924.A British paper of the same name ran from 1859 to 1998....
commemorated the affair with this variation on the poem:
- Brought to the leash and smashed in the jaw,
- Evers to Tener to Taft.
- Hounded and hustled outside of the law,
- Evers to Tener to Taft.
- Torn from the Cubs and the glitter of gold,
- Stripped of the guerdons and glory untold,
- Kicked in the stomach and cut from the fold,
- Evers to Tener to Taft.
Source: The National League Story, by Lee Allen
Lee Allen
Lee Allen may refer to:*Lee Allen , wrestler and coach*Lee Allen , baseball historian*Lee Allen , saxophone player*Lee Allen , American artist and ocularist...
, 1961.
The fame of the double-play combination naturally led to the occasional trivia question "So who played third base?" The answer, during the period from 1906 to 1910, was Harry Steinfeldt
Harry Steinfeldt
Harry M. Steinfeldt was a third baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds , Chicago Cubs and Boston Rustlers . Steinfeldt batted and threw right-handed. He was born in St...
.
The phrase and double-play combination helped inspire the song "O'Brien to Ryan to Goldberg" in the 1949 musical film, Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game prior to writing the song. The song is traditionally sung during the seventh-inning stretch of...
.
The expression is still used on occasion today, to characterize any process that happens with smoothness and precision, as a near-synonym to expressions such as "like clockwork" or "a well-oiled machine."
On the poem's 100th Anniversary, Tim Wiles, Director of Research at the Baseball Hall of Fame revealed a recent discovery. The poem was actually a part of series of poems published in the New York Evening Mail and the Chicago Tribune. During the research process, combing the archives in the New York Public Library and the Center for Research Libraries, they have now uncovered 29 poems, 15 of which detail a specific play or game that had occurred during the 1910 season, with Baseball’s Sad Lexicon having been the first poem published.
Reference in popular culture
- Ogden NashOgden NashFrederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
's poem "Line-Up For Yesterday", written in 1949, mentions the famous trio:
- 'E' is for Evers
- His jaw in advance;
- Never afraid
- To Tinker with Chance
External links
- "Remembering 'Tinker to Evers to Chance'" – Chicago Tribune
- "'Baseball's Sad Lexicon': 100 Years Old Today" – Bleed Cubbie Blue
- "Baseball's Sad Lexicon for National Poetry Month, with Tim Wiles" – Baseballisms
- Joe Tinker – baseball-reference.com
- Joe Tinker – Baseball Hall of Fame
- Johnny Evers – baseball-reference.com
- Johnny Evers – Baseball Hall of Fame
- Frank Chance – baseball-reference.com
- Frank Chance – Baseball Hall of Fame
- Tinker to Evers to Chance! – Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
- Chicago Cubs official site
- San Francisco Giants official site