| Baseball's Sad Lexicon | |
|---|---|
| by Franklin Pierce Adams | |
The three Chicago Cubs of the poem | |
| Original title | That Double Play Again |
| Subject(s) | Baseball |
| Publisher | New York Evening Mail |
| Publication date | July 12, 1910 |
| Lines | 8 |
| Full text | |
 Baseball's Sad Lexicon at Wikisource | |
"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 eight-line poem is presented as a single, rueful stanza from the point of view of a New York Giants fan watching the Chicago Cubs infield of shortstop Joe Tinker, second baseman Johnny Evers, and first baseman Frank Chance complete a double play. These three players helped the Cubs win four National League championships and two World Series from 1906 to 1910.
"Baseball's Sad Lexicon" became popular across the United States among sportswriters, who wrote their own verses along the same vein. The poem only enhanced the reputations of Tinker, Evers, and Chance over the succeeding decades as the phrase became synonymous with a feat of smooth and ruthless efficiency. It has been credited with their elections to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946.