Baseball's Sad Lexicon by Franklin Pierce Adams on 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 was Franklin Pierce Adams who 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 to fill that space while on his way to cover a game at the Polo Grounds.

"(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." - Johnny Evers

Published: New York Evening Mail (July 10, 1910)

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."

Baseball's Sad Lexicon by Franklin Pierce Adams ©

Some historians believe that Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers and Frank Chance do not belong in the hall of fame. Do you agree? Disagree? Share your opinion on our baseball message boards.

Click the Radio to Hear Baseball's Sad Lexicon

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, some 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.

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