Baseball’s Sad Lexicon: FanGraphs Poetry Contest
In 1910, Franklin Pierce Adams wrote one of the two most famous poems in baseball history. Adams described “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon”, articulating the plight of suffering New York Giants fans. The Giants were doomed to failure, Adams explained, because of the efforts of three slick-fielding infielders on the rival Chicago Cubs: Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance.
A century later, baseball boasts a handful of great shortstops and second basemen. Some of those stars own far more impressive resumes than Tinker, Evers, and Chance (three of the least deserving Hall of Fame choices ever, who owe much of their candidacy to Adams’ oeuvre).
Yet despite the amazing resumes of Derek Jeter and other modern middle infielders, no double play combination has had a poem — or anything close — written in its honor in 100 years. This is especially sad in the case of Alan Trammell and Lou Whitaker, arguably the best keystone combo of the past 30 years, given their combination of skill and longevity by each other’s side. If someone had written a great poem about the two Tigers greats, they’d likely be in the Hall of Fame, too.
