TINKER TO EVERS TO CHANCE | BASEBALL ALMANAC

Baseball's Sad Lexicon by Franklin Pierce Adams

This legendary poem pays tribute to Cubs shortstop Joe Tinker, second baseman Johnny Evers and first baseman Frank Chance. The author, Franklin Pierce Adams, was a Chicago Cubs fan, a sportswriter for the New York Evening Mail, and a poet thanks to an article that his editors said was too short — making him pen Baseball's Sad Lexicon (Tinker to Evers to Chance) to fill that space while on his way to cover a game at the Polo Grounds.

Baseball Almanac Top Quote

"(Johnny) Evers was a great player, a wonderful pivot man. But boy, how he could ride! (Frank) Chance used to say he wished Evers was an outfielder so he couldn't hear him." - Joe Tinker

Baseball's Sad Lexicon

Tinkers to Evers to Chance

Tinker to Evers to Chance

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."
Research by Baseball Almanac
baseball almanac flat baseball

baseball almanac fast facts

Some historians believe that Joe Tinker (SS), Johnny Evers (2B), and Frank Chance (1B) should not have been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Do you agree? Disagree? Share your opinion on Baseball Fever.

Vin Scully Reciting Baseball's Sad Lexicon. 2 August 2014.
Hear the History by Baseball Almanac

Did you know that the poem's original title was That Double Play Again? Franklin Pierce Adams thought the lines "weren't much good" so he made some changes, altered the title to Baseball's Sad Lexicon and six days later the version above appeared in print. Yet, most fans still believe it was / still is called Tinkers to Evers to Chance!

The trio first appeared in their infield positions together on September 13, 1902, and they turned their first double play on September 15, 1902. Why did we make part of this fact bold? The Hall of Fame trio first appeared in a lineup on September 1, 1902, but Evers started at shortstop‚ Tinker played third‚ Chance was at first‚ and veteran Bobby Lowe was covering second. The box score:

TINKER TO EVERS TO CHANCE FIRST MLB GAME

Tinker to Evers to Chance | First Major League Baseball Game Together
1 September 1902 | The Philadelphia Inquirer