Joe Tinker

Tinker was born in Muscotah, Kansas, on July 27, 1880. His twin sister died at a young age. When Tinker was two, his family moved to Kansas City, Kansas. There, he began to play baseball for his school's team when he was 14 years old. He played in semi-professional baseball for Hagen's Tailors in 1898, winning the city championship. In 1899, he played for a team based in Parsons, Kansas, until it disbanded. He then joined a team representing Coffeyville, Kansas, as a third baseman, for the remainder of the year. Tinker started his professional baseball career in 1900, at the age of 19, when Billy Hulen, a teammate of Tinker's with the Coffeyville squad, recommended him to George Tebeau, the manager of the Denver Grizzlies of the Western League. Playing as a second baseman for Denver, Tinker batted .219 in his first 32 games. Tebeau sold Tinker to the Great Falls Indians of the Montana State League in June. Great Falls sold Tinker to the Helena Senators, also in the Montana State League, for $200 later in the season due to the team's financial insolvency. In 1901, Tinker batted .290 for the Portland Webfoots of the Pacific Northwest League as their third baseman. He led the league with 37 stolen bases. Receiving interest from the Chicago Cubs and the Cincinnati Reds of the National League (NL), Tinker decided on the Cubs when teammate Jack McCarthy told him that he felt mistreated from his time with the Reds. ==Major league career==

Chicago Cubs When he purchased Tinker's contract, Cubs manager Frank Selee was seeking a replacement at shortstop for Barry McCormick, who had joined the St. Louis Browns of the rival American League. Tinker won the job during spring training. Led by Tinker, Evers and Chance, the Cubs had a 116–36 win–loss record in the 1906 season, a record for victories that only was matched by the Seattle Mariners in the 2001 season, in which the Mariners played ten more games than the 1906 Cubs. Prior to the 1907 season, Tinker underwent surgery for appendicitis. Tinker batted only .154 in the 1907 World Series, but the Cubs defeated the Detroit Tigers in five games. In the 1908 season, Tinker played all 157 games on the Cubs' schedule. In addition to batting .266, he led the team with 146 hits, six home runs, 14 triples, and a .391 slugging percentage. In the game characterized by Merkle's Boner, Tinker hit an inside-the-park home run against Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants, prior to Fred Merkle's baserunning gaffe. In the 1908 NL playoff game, which was a replay of the Merkle game, Tinker hit a leadoff triple off of Mathewson in the third inning, which ignited a four-run rally that helped Chicago to clinch the pennant. Tinker also hit a home run off of Bill Donovan, the first home run hit in a World Series following the 1905 rules agreement. In 1909, Tinker, who earned $1,500, demanded a $2,500 salary. He accepted a $200 raise. The Cubs reached the 1910 World Series, and though Tinker batted .333 in the series, the Cubs lost to the Philadelphia Athletics in five games. Following the 1910 season, Tinker threatened to quit the Cubs and play baseball in Australia over a salary dispute. Tinker led the NL with 486 assists in the 1911 season and led all shortstops in putouts with 333. In August 1911, Chance suspended Tinker for the remainder of the season for using profanity, though he was reinstated two days later. Garry Herrmann, the owner of the Reds, identified Tinker as an ideal candidate to become his player-manager for the 1912 season. According to Tinker, shareholders of the Reds approached Tinker about his interest in the job, and he then met with Charles W. Murphy, the Cubs' owner, and Chance, then serving as the Cubs' manager. They forbade him from taking the role with Cincinnati, which left Tinker unhappy. Herrmann began to listen to entreaties from his players, who wanted to retain Clark Griffith as manager, Tinker finished in fourth place in the Chalmers Award voting following the season, Cincinnati Reds Murphy named Evers the new manager of the Cubs for the 1913 season. Tinker did not want to play for Evers Murphy was unhappy with Tinker's high salary demands, which led him to agree to trade Tinker to the Cincinnati Reds in December 1912. The Reds received Tinker, Harry Chapman and Grover Lowdermilk in exchange for Red Corriden, Bert Humphries, Pete Knisely, Mike Mitchell, and Art Phelan. He signed a contract for an undisclosed salary. Tinker missed several weeks during the 1913 season when he gave blood for his wife's blood transfusion. Tinker finished the season with a .317 batting average, .445 slugging percentage, and a .968 fielding percentage, all career highs, in 110 games. However, the Reds as a team struggled, finishing the season with a 64–89 win–loss record. Chicago Whales and Cubs In October 1913, Tinker and Herrmann conferred, leading to Tinker signing a contract to remain the Reds manager for the 1914 season. However, Herrmann fired Tinker in November, leaving him to seek a contract from another team. Tinker complained that Herrmann did not seek his input on player transactions, while Herrmann charged that Tinker did not accept his authority. Charles Ebbets, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, viewed Tinker as a good replacement for the released Bob Fisher, their shortstop in 1913. The Cubs, Giants, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Philadelphia Phillies were also interested in acquiring Tinker. Ebbets secured Tinker's release from the Reds for $15,000, with another $10,000 to be paid to Tinker. The teams also agreed to swap players, with Earl Yingling and Herbie Moran going to Cincinnati and Dick Egan joining Brooklyn. Ebbets entered contract negotiations with Tinker. However, Tinker never received the $10,000 promised to him by Ebbets. He insisted on a $10,000 salary for the 1914 season, higher than the $5,000 Brooklyn was willing to pay. Tinker was willing to accept a three-year contract if it paid $7,500 per season. Tinker decided to jump to the Federal League rather than sign with Brooklyn, signing a three-year contract worth $36,000. He was considered the first "star" player to jump to the Federal League, though he signed with the Federal League the same day as Mordecai Brown. Joining the Chicago Federals (later known as the Whales) in the Federal League, Tinker served as player-manager. In his role, he signed other major league players to the Federal League, though he could not lure American League pitchers Walter Johnson from the Washington Senators or Smoky Joe Wood from the Boston Red Sox. The Whales drew more fans than the Cubs in those two seasons. The Whales finished in second place in 1914, with Tinker batting .259 despite suffering a broken rib during the season. Tinker tore a muscle in May 1915, ending his season prematurely. With Tinker managing, the Whales won the pennant in 1915. Due to the high combined salaries of the Cubs and Whales, which included Brown and Roger Bresnahan, Tinker was tasked with releasing extraneous players from their contracts. He served as the player-manager of the Cubs for the 1916 season. Career summary (left), James A. Gilmore (center), and Tinker (right) at the groundbreaking ceremony for Weeghman Park in 1914 Tinker was the starting shortstop for the Chicago Cubs from 1902 to 1912. He was a speedy runner, stealing an average of 28 bases a season and even stealing home twice in one game on July 28, 1910. He also excelled at fielding, often leading the National League in a number of statistical categories (including four times in fielding percentage). During his decade with the Cubs, they went to the World Series four times, winning in 1907 and 1908. Despite being just an average hitter, batting .268 for his career in an era of high batting averages, Tinker had a good amount of success against fellow Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson, batting .350 against the Hall of Fame pitcher over his career. In 1908, he was arrested for assault when he got into a fight with a fan at a saloon he owned. He was acquitted of the charge. ==Later life==

In December 1916, Tinker became part-owner of the Columbus Senators of the American Association, with Thomas E. Wilson serving as the principal owner. The duo paid $65,000 for 75% ownership of the team. Tinker also served as the team's manager. He allowed Grover Hartley to succeed him as manager in 1919 and chose Bill Clymer to manage the team for the 1920 season, leading Hartley to request a trade. Tinker's wife continued to suffer through poor health, so Tinker sold his interest in the Columbus team after the 1920 season and moved to Orlando, Florida. Tinker became owner and manager of the Orlando Tigers of the Florida State League. He remarried in 1926, to Mary Ross Eddington of Orlando. Jack Hendricks of the Reds served as Tinker's best man. He married his third wife, Susanna Margaret Chabot, in 1942. Tinker ended his involvement in professional baseball, focusing instead on his real estate ventures during the Florida land boom of the 1920s. He developed a successful real estate firm, buying and selling land in Orange County and Seminole County. During the 1930 season, Tinker returned to baseball as a coach for the Buffalo Bisons of the International League, who were managed by Clymer. Tinker became the manager of the Jersey City Skeeters of the International League after the dismissal of Nick Allen in August. The owner of the Springfield Ponies of the Eastern League attempted to convince Tinker to manage his team in 1931. Tinker assumed managerial duties for the Orlando Gulls in mid-May 1937, succeeding Nelson Leach. However, he resigned the position in July of that year, as the team was unable to pay his salary. During World War II, Tinker worked at Orlando Air Force Base as a boiler inspector. According to some tellings, Tinker and Evers did not speak to one another again following their fight for 33 years, until they were asked to participate in the radio broadcast of the 1938 World Series, played between the Cubs and the New York Yankees. Neither Tinker nor Evers knew the other had been invited. However, in 1929, Tinker joined with Evers in signing a 10-week contract to perform a theatrical skit on baseball in different cities across the United States. in Orlando, Florida Tinker had serious health problems in his later life. Complications of diabetes mellitus and Bright's disease left Tinker near death in 1936, when his physician believed he had 24 hours to live, and 1944, when he was placed in an oxygen tent. However, he returned to health and scouted minor league players for the Boston Braves in 1946. Tinker developed an infection relating to diabetes that in 1947 required the amputation of a toe and persisted until his left leg above the knee was amputated as well. Tinker died at Orange Memorial Hospital in Orlando on July 27, 1948, his 68th birthday, of complications from diabetes. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery and survived by his four children. ==Honors==

Tinker was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. Evers and Chance were inducted that same year. Local leaders in Orlando held a testimonial dinner in his honor in 1947. Tinker Field, a former stadium once in the shadow of Camping World Stadium (previously known as the Citrus Bowl), and the Tinker Building, Tinker's office in Orlando, are on the National Register of Historic Places. ==See also==