Joe Tinker

Tinker started his illustrious career at shortstop with the Chicago Cubs in 1902. He was a member of the great Cubs team during the first decade of the 20th century. He was part of a doubleplay combination along with secondbaseman Johnny Evers and firstbaseman Frank Chance. The three were immortalized in Franklin P. Adams' Baseball's Sad Lexicon.

Despite being part of the keystone combo for those great Cubs teams, Evers and Tinker did not get along. The story was that they did not speak to each other off the field and on the field the most they would communicate would be who was covering second base on a play.

During the Cubs' heyday, Tinker was noted more for his fielding than his hitting (lifetime .263 average) except against one particular pitcher. That pitcher was Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson who Tinker hit over .350 against.

After his stint with the Cubs, Tinker was traded to the Reds at the end of the 1912 season. Tinker was then sold after the 1913 season to the Brooklyn Robins (Dodgers) for $15,000. Tinker demanded a share of $2,000 of the purchase price and when he was refused, jumped to the Federal League to play and manage the Chicago Whales.

Tinker was successful as manager of the Whales, leading them to a close second place finish in 1914, and to the Federal League pennant in 1915.

After the league had folded, Tinker went back to the Cubs and managed them for one season. He no longer had the magic as the Cubs dropped to 5th place in 1916.

Tinker was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1946 along with Cubs teammates Frank Chance and Johnny Evers.