“If you didn’t honestly and furiously hate the Giants, you weren’t a real Cub.” — Joe Tinker
Joe Tinker is one of the most balanced players to ever play shortstop. Only five players in baseball history have accumulated 30 Wins Above Replacement on both offense and defense. There’s the three great Orioles’ infielders: Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken Jr., and Luis Aparicio, then there’s Ozzie Smith. Finally, there’s Joe Tinker, the only one of the five who earned more defensive WAR than offensive WAR.
Tinker was the best of the three players in the famed Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance double play combo that led the Cubs to four pennants from 1906-1910. Ironically, the three men were transferred to their positions in the major leagues: Tinker had been a third baseman, Evers was originally a shortstop, and Frank Chance started his professional career as a catcher. The three men were not close friends, and all three later earned a paycheck managing the Cubs.
Asked for trade rather than play for his teammate
Tinker asked to be traded in 1913 rather than play under Johnny Evers (who had been appointed player/manager). The two played side-by-side for a decade but barely spoke to each other. On the field they maintained a symbiotic relationship, respecting the talent they saw in each other. The Cubs traded Tinker to the Reds, where he too became a player/manager, but after one season he quit when he was informed that the front office was sending officials on road trips to spy on his players.
Money lured Tinker to the Federal League in 1914 to manage the Chicago Chi-Feds. The Federal League was a legitimate challenge to the two-league system of Major League Baseball. The league had several wealthy owners, but they made one huge mistake: the Federal League did not institute the reserve clause. That rule held players to their team indefinitely, and it was important in the success of major league baseball. But players in the Federal League were free agents every year, which resulted in chaos. Tinker was a good manager in the Federal League, he won a pennant and his name drew fans to the ballpark. He was the first man to manage the home team in Wrigley Field (known as Weeghman Park at the time), but when the Federal League folded after the 1915 season, Joe and the Chi-Feds receded into history. Tinker wasn’t unemployed long, the Cubs hired him as manager in 1916. In his one season at the helm of the Cubs, the 35-year old Tinker played sparingly and managed a few of his old teammates, like Three-Finger Brown and Wildfire Schulte, before he was fired again.
