Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA)

By Wikipedia

"Baseball's Sad Lexicon", also known as Tinker to Evers to Chance after its refrain, is a 1910 baseball poem by Franklin Pierce Adams. The poem is presented as a single, rueful, stanza from the point of view of a New York Giants fan seeing the talented Chicago Cubs infield of shortstop Joe Tinker, second baseman Johnny Evers, and first baseman Frank Chance complete a double play.

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."

• A gonfalon (Line 5) refers to a flag or pennant, and Adams uses the phrase "pricking our gonfalon bubble" to describe the repeated success of the Chicago Cubs and their celebrated infield against their National League rivals, his beloved New York Giants.
• A "double" in baseball usually means a two-base hit, but here it means a double play.

Tinker, Evers, and Chance were all part of the Chicago Cubs' World Series-winning team in 1908. The Cubs have not won the World Series since. All three players were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946; it has been speculated that the fame they enjoyed through Pierce's poem contributed to their selection. The quality of the three players is dubious in respect to their induction, as many much better players have not been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Hall of Famers? The second most overrated threesome in history?

Despite their celebrated success at turning spectacular plays in collaboration, relations between the teammates were said to have often been strained. Tinker and Evers feuded for many years, and player/manager Chance was reputed to have had an occasionally combative approach to discipline.