Johnny Evers - Legacy

Legacy

Evers retired in 1918, having batted .300 or higher twice in his career, stolen 324 bases and scored 919 runs. He frequently argued with umpires, and received numerous suspensions during his career. His combative play and fights with umpires earned him the nickname "The Human Crab".

Evers served 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 New York Evening Mail newspaper columnist Franklin Pierce Adams in July 1910. Evers, Tinker, and Chance were all inducted in the Hall of Fame in the same year.

The Merkle play remains one of the most famous in baseball history. The ball used in the Merkle play was sold at an auction in the 1990s for $27,500, making it one of the four most valuable baseballs based on purchase price. Evers' role in Merkle's boner cemented his legacy as a smart ballplayer.

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

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