The slightly-built but temperamental Evers was nicknamed “The Crab” for the way he sidled up to grounders. He joined the established Tinker and Chance full-time in 1903. Evers had identical .350 World Series averages in 1907 and 1908, knocking in the winning run in the fifth and final game. Ironically, 1910, the year Adams fashioned his poem, was the final season that the trio played together. Evers was hurt for most of 1911, and player-manager Chance had retired as a player to devote his full energies to managing. Evers and Tinker, despite their on-field teamwork, didn’t speak to each other their final years together, the result of some imagined slight, and often traded punches in the clubhouse. Despite the fighting, Evers enjoyed his best season in 1912, when he hit a career high .341, and replaced Chance as a manager in 1913. In February 1914, he was traded to Boston, where he formed another slick double-play combination with shortstop Rabbit Maranville. In the Miracle Braves sweep of the Athletics in the 1914 Series, Evers batted .438 and drove in the winning runs in the final 3-1 victory.
When Evers came back from Europe and WWI, he coached briefly for former enemy John McGraw on the Giants and was assistant manager for the Cubs in 1921. In 1923, he joined the crosstown White Sox as a coach, and managed the team in 1924. He entered the Hall of Fame six months before his death, and was the last surviving member of the double-play combo.
