Voting Station

Frank Chance

Please vote to return to collections.

Baseball Player

The Resume

    (September 9, 1877-September 15, 1924)
    Born in Fresno, California
    First baseman for the Chicago Cubs (1898-1912) and New York Yankees (1913-14)
    Manager of the Chicago Cubs (1905-12), New York Yankees (1913-14) and Boston Red Sox (1923)
    Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame (1946)
    With teammates Joe Tinker and Johnny Evers, subject of the poem 'Baseball's Sad Lexicon':
    'These are the saddest of possible words:
    Tinker to Evers to Chance
    Trio of bear cubs and fleeter than birds
    Tinker and Evers and Chance
    Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble
    Making a Giant hit into a double
    Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble
    Tinker to Evers to Chance'

Why he might be annoying:

    Originally a backup catcher, he resisted being moved to first and threatened to quit baseball.
    He incited a riot at New York's Polo Grounds after physically assaulting pitcher John McGinnity.
    He was the first player ejected from the World Series (Game 3, 1910).
    As Cubs manager, he ordered outfielder Solly Hofman to postpone his wedding until the off-season so it would not interfere with his playing.
    He would fine his players if they shook their opponents' hands after a game.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His managerial stats (including a .693 winning percentage from 1906 to 1910, the best five-year record in the majors) make him the member of Tinker to Evers to Chance most likely to have made the Hall of Fame if that poem had never been written.
    He was nicknamed 'The Peerless Leader.'
    He went deaf in one ear, suffered frequent headaches and developed blood clots on the brain from being hit repeatedly by beanballs.
    While recovering from brain surgery, he was fired by Cubs owner Charles Murphy after getting into a hospital room argument over releasing players to save money.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 40 Votes: 7.50% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 43.75% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 10 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 25 Votes: 72.00% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 25 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 17 Votes: 58.82% Annoying