Happy baseball opening day! One of the most famous works of art about the sport is the poem, “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon” by New York newspaper columnist Franklin Pierce Adams. The 1910 poem is about the Chicago Cubs double-play combination of Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance. In the poem, a New York Giants fan calls “Tinker to Evers to Chance” as “the saddest of possible words,” bemoaning the players’ ability to turn a hit into a double play. Richard Brundage narrates the poem in this video:
The line “Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble” always puzzled me. But “gonfalon” refers to a flag or pennant, so the line is a reference to the Cubs capturing the National League pennant, which they won four times (1906-1908, 1910) while going on to win two World Series wins (1907-1908). The poem first appeared in the New York Evening Mail in July 1910, and the Cubs would go on to win the pennant that Fall. But it was the last for the dynasty, as the poem’s author Franklin Pierce Adams got to see his New York Giants take the gonfalon in 1911 and the following two years (but not the World Series).
The poem’s biggest effect may have been the fame it heaped upon Tinker, Evers, and Chance. Fans have noted that the three men made double plays at around the average of the league and their batting averages were less than spectacular. So many believe the New York poem was the reason all three Cubs were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. Meanwhile, the other Cubs infielder who was left out of the poem, Harry Steinfeldt, never made it to the Hall of Fame.
So whether your favorite player this day is a big-name star like the poetic double-play trio or a lesser-known player like Steinfeldt, enjoy your opening day, where every team is still in the race for the gonfalon.
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