John Joseph Evers (July 21, 1881 - March 28, 1947) was a Major League Baseball player and manager. He was born in Troy, New York. The name originally rhymed with beavers rather than levers, but Evers came to accept both pronunciations during his life.

Evers, a second baseman, made it to the big leagues with the Chicago Cubs in 1902 and played for the Cubs through 1913, during which time he appeared in three World Series and won two (in 1907 and 1908). One of the smallest men ever to play in the major leagues, Evers reportedly weighed less than 100 pounds when he first broke in, and generally played at a weight under 130 pounds.

In 1914 Evers was traded to the Boston Braves, which proved to be a spectacular combination - the Braves won the World Series, and Evers won the Chalmers Award (a forerunner of the MVP award). Evers played with the Braves until 1917, when he was claimed off waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies in mid-season. He retired from playing after that season, having batted .300 or higher twice in his career, stolen 324 bases and scored 919 runs.

Evers is perhaps best known as the pivot man in the "Tinker to Evers to Chance" double play combination immortalized in the poem "Baseball's Sad Lexicon " by New York newspaper columnist Franklin Pierce Adams.

Evers managed three teams, the 1913 Chicago Cubs, the 1921 Cubs, and the 1924 Chicago White Sox. Over his managerial career, he posted a 180-192 record.

Evers was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. He died the following year in Albany, New York.

External links

• Baseball Hall of Fame biography