Johnny Evers

Johnny Evers
Second Baseman
Born: July 21, 1883(1883-07-21) Troy, New York
Died: March 28, 1947(1947-03-28) (aged 63) Albany, New York
Batted: Left	Threw: Right
MLB debut
September 1, 1902 for the Chicago Orphans
Last MLB appearance
September 6, 1929 for the Boston Braves
Career statistics
Batting average	.270
Home runs	12
Runs batted in	538
Teams
As Player Chicago Orphans/Cubs (1902-1913) Boston Braves (1914-1917) Philadelphia Phillies (1917) Chicago White Sox (1922) Boston Braves (1929) As Manager Chicago Cubs (1913, 1921) Chicago White Sox (1924)
Career highlights and awards
World Series champion: 1907, 1908, 1914 National League pennant: 1906, 1910 1914 National League MVP
Member of the National
Baseball Hall of Fame
Induction	1946
Election Method	Veteran's Committee

John Joseph Evers (July 21, 1883 – March 28, 1947) was a Major League Baseball player and manager. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1946. He was born in Troy, New York.

Evers' last name originally rhymed with beavers rather than severs, but he came to accept both pronunciations.

Career

Evers, a second baseman, made it to the big leagues with the Chicago Cubs in 1902 and played for the Cubs through 1913. During those years he appeared in four World Series and won two, (in 1907 and 1908). One of the smallest men ever to play in the major leagues, Evers reportedly weighed less than 100 pounds (45 kg) when he first broke in, and generally played at a weight under 130 pounds (59 kg). His combative play earned him the nickname "The Crab."

Evers with the Cubs, circa 1910

In 1914 Evers was traded to the Boston Braves, which proved to be a spectacular combination — the Braves won the World Series, and Evers won the Chalmers Award (a forerunner of the MVP award). Evers played with the Braves until 1917, when he was claimed off waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies in mid-season. He retired from playing after that season, having batted .300 or higher twice in his career, stolen 324 bases and scored 919 runs.

Evers is best known to modern-day fans as the pivot man in the "Tinker to Evers to Chance" double play combination, which inspired the classic baseball poem Baseball's Sad Lexicon, written by the twenty-eight-year old New York Evening Mail newspaper columnist Franklin Pierce Adams in July 1910. He was also the player who alerted the umpires to Fred Merkle's baserunning error in the 1908 pennant race, costing the Giants the pennant.

A 1911 Johnny Evers T205 Tobacco Card

In 1914, he set the single-season record by getting ejected from a game 9 times.

Evers managed three teams, the 1913 Chicago Cubs, the 1921 Cubs, and the 1924 Chicago White Sox. Over his managerial career, he posted a 180-192 record.

Later life

He later served as a scout for the Boston Braves and as business manager and field manager of the International League's Albany Senators.

Johnny Evers died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1947 in Albany, New York, and is interred in St. Mary's Cemetery in Troy, New York.

Evers is mentioned in the poem "Line-Up for Yesterday" by Ogden Nash:

Line-Up for Yesterday

E is for Evers,
His jaw in advance;
Never afraid
to Tinker with Chance.

— Ogden Nash, Sport magazine (January 1949)

Career Hitting

G	AB	H	2B	3B	HR	R	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
1,784	6,137	1,659	216	70	12	919	538	324	778	142	.270	.356	.334	.690

See also

• List of Major League Baseball leaders in career stolen bases
• Chicago White Sox all-time roster
• List of members of the Baseball Hall of Fame

External links

• Johnny Evers at the Baseball Hall of Fame
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Johnny Evers managerial career statistics at Baseball-Reference.com
• Chicago Cubs Team History
• Baseball Hall of Fame: Fiery Evers a legendary figure in Cubs lore

Sporting positions
Preceded by Frank Chance Fred Mitchell	Chicago Cubs Manager 1913 1921	Succeeded by Hank O'Day Bill Killefer
Preceded by Kid Gleason	Chicago White Sox Manager 1924	Succeeded by Ed Walsh