|
"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 have never existed if it were not for Frank Selee, the Cubs crafty manager from 1902-1905 (Chance took over the managerial reigns 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 obliged. He quickly forgot his ambitions to be a catcher. Tinker, originally a third baseman, was switched to shortstop for the same reasons as Chance was. And Evers, who was originally a shortstop, was switched to backup second baseman Bobby Lowe, because Tinker was filling the position. When Lowe broke broke his ankle in the September 2 game, Evers came in to replace him. Evers then became the starter, similar to the way Lou Gehrig would become the first baseman for the Yankees in the 1920's. The Adams poem has made them perhaps the most famed double-play combination in history. 1910 (MCMX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a common year starting on Sunday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar. ...
A view of the playing field at Busch Memorial Stadium, St. ...
The Chinese poem Quatrain on Heavenly Mountain by Emperor Gaozong (Song Dynasty) Poetry (from the Greek , poiesis, making or creating) is a form of art in which language is used for its aesthetic qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its ostensible meaning. ...
Franklin Pierce Adams (November 15, 1881 – March 23, 1960), was an American columnist (under the pen name F.P.A.), writer, and wit, part of the famous Algonquin Round Table of the 1920s and 1930s. ...
Major league affiliations National League (1883–present) West Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers NY, NY, 3, 4, 11, 24, 27, 30, 36, 42, 44 Name San Francisco Giants (1958–present) New York Giants (1885-1957) New York Gothams (1883-1885) Troy Union Cities / Trojans (1879-1882) Ballpark AT...
Major league affiliations National League (1876–present) Central Division (1994–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 10, 14, 23, 26, 42 Name Chicago Cubs (1902–present) Chicago Orphans (1898-1901) Chicago Colts (1890-1897) Chicago White Stockings (1870-1889) (a. ...
The position of the shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. ...
Joe Tinker baseball card, 1912 Joseph Bert Tinker (July 27, 1880-July 27, 1948) was a Major League Baseball player and manager. ...
The position of the second baseman Second base redirects here. ...
Johnny Evers baseball card, 1911 John Joseph Evers (July 21, 1881 - March 28, 1947) was a Major League Baseball player and manager. ...
The position of the first baseman First base redirects here. ...
Frank Chance baseball card, 1909-11 Frank Leroy Chance (September 9, 1877 - September 15, 1924) was a Major League Baseball player at the turn of the 20th century. ...
After stepping on second base, the fielder throws to first to complete a double play In baseball, a double play (denoted on statistics sheets by DP) is the act of making two outs during the same continuous playing action. ...
September 3 is the 246th day of the year (247th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ...
1902 (MCMII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...
Tim Donahue (born June 8, 1870 in Raynham, Massachusetts; died June 12, 1902 in Taunton, Massachusetts) was a catcher in Major League Baseball. ...
Categories: 1875 births | 1947 deaths | Baseball players | Boston Braves players | Chicago Cubs players | Cincinnati Reds players | Baseball stubs ...
Henry Louis (Lou) Gehrig (June 19, 1903 – June 2, 1941), born Ludwig Heinrich Gehrig, was one of the most outstanding American baseball players of the twentieth century, setting more than a score of Major League and American League records and voted the greatest first baseman of all-time by the...
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 in the New York Evening Mail on July 10, 1910 and is now in the public domain. The New York Evening Mail was an American daily newspaper published in New York City. ...
The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...
Notes on the text - A gonfalon (Line 5) is a pennant or flag, referring in this context to the National League title.
- "Hitting a double" in baseball means a two-base hit, but "hitting into a double" refers to hitting into a double play (two outs on a single play), most commonly accomplished by a ground ball hit to the shortstop (Tinkers) thrown to the second baseman (Evers) to force the runner out who had been on first base and then thrown to first base (Chance) to complete the play.
A gonfalon is an ensign or flag emblematic of royalty. ...
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the National League, is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada (until 2005 when the Montreal Expos moved to Washington) and the worlds oldest extant professional team sports league. ...
History Adams wrote the poems 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 Grounds 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. The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in New York City used by Major League Baseballs New York Giants from 1883 until 1957, New York Metropolitans from 1883 until 1885, the New York Yankees from 1912 until 1922, and by the New York Mets in...
Tinker, Evers, and Chance were all part of the Chicago Cubs' World Series-winning teams in 1907 and 1908. All three players were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946; it has been speculated that the fame they enjoyed through the poem penned by Adams contributed to their selection. For other events named World Series, see World Series (disambiguation). ...
The 1907 World Series featured the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Tigers, with the Cubs winning the Series in 5 games (4 wins and 1 tie) for their first championship. ...
The 1908 World Series matched the defending champion Chicago Cubs against the Detroit Tigers in a rematch of the 1907 Series. ...
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, located at 62 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, is a semi-official museum operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of baseball-related...
See previous election: 1945 and next election: 1947 The 1946 elections to select inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame marked a dramatic revision of the methods used one year earlier. ...
Despite their celebrated success at turning spectacular plays in collaboration, relations between the teammates were said to have often been strained. Tinker and Evers feuded for many years, and player/manager Chance was reputed to have had an occasionally combative approach to discipline.
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 is an early-20th century Tin Pan Alley song which became the unofficial anthem of baseball -- though neither of its authors had ever been to a game. ...
See also Franklin Pierce Adams (November 15, 1881 – March 23, 1960), was an American columnist (under the pen name F.P.A.), writer, and wit, part of the famous Algonquin Round Table of the 1920s and 1930s. ...
External links |
Feeds |
Contact