The poem “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon” written by Franklin Adams was published in the New York Evening Mail. on July 18, 1910. It’s probably the most famous poem ever written about the Cubs, and it was so memorable it probably got Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance elected into the Hall of Fame.
The poem went as follows…
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 weighty with nothing but trouble: “Tinker to Evers to Chance.”
Adams was, of course, a Giants fan. And Giants fans had seen just about enough of Tinker, Evers and Chance. After all, the Cubs had won four of the previous five pennants–and each time the Giants were their biggest rival.
1910 also marked the end of the Tinker to Evers to Chance era of dominance. They played their final game together early in the 1912 season.
Adams got the last laugh. He may have immortalized the Cubs double play combination, but in the next fourteen years the Giants were in the World Series seven times.
