In the spring of 1916 Joe Tinker Jr., ten-year-old son of Chicago Cubs Manager Joe Tinker “wrote” a series of articles that appeared in newspapers across the country. Tinker’s articles provided tips for playing each position:
“To be a winning pitcher you must have control…The best way to gain control is to get another boy to get in position as a batter then pitch to him. Don’t throw at a stationary target.”
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“(Catchers) Stand up close to the batter and don’t lose your head if the pitcher becomes wild. Try to steady him with a cheerful line of talk. Practice every spare moment.”
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“Stand close to the plate when batting. Don’t lose your nerve if the pitcher tries to bean you. Some fellows like to choke their bats or grip the handles about four inches from the end. My father don’t approve of the style…Don’t argue with the umpire. If you are hot-headed you hurt your chances to connect with cool-headed pitching.”
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“Learn to start in a jiffy. That is the first point emphasized by my dad in teaching me to run bases.”
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“Playing short offers many chances for individual star plays and the work of a good man will have a great effect on the score card.”
Photos of Joe Tinker Jr. demonstrating what his dad taught him
Joe Tinker Jr. and his younger brother Roland were the Cubs mascots during their father’s season as manager in 1916. In 1924 Chicago newspapers reported that Tinker Jr. was headed to the University of Illinois to play baseball for Coach Carl Lundgren, the former Cub pitcher. There is no record of Tinker ever playing at the school.
1916 Chicago Cubs. Joe Tinker Jr. seated right, Roland Tinker seated left.
Younger brother Roland played for two seasons in the Florida State League.
In 1938 newspapers reported that Joe Tinker Jr. had become a dancer with a vaudeville group called the Sophistocrats. Tinker Jr. told reporters:
“Father isn’t disappointed because I took up dancing. In fact he approves.”
It’s unclear whether “Joe Tinker Jr.” was actually Joe Tinker Jr. The newspaper articles all said he was 22-years-old. Joe Tinker Jr. would have been in his thirties; however his brother William Jay Tinker would have been 22 in 1938.
When Joe Tinker was elected to the Hall of Fame he compiled his all-time team for Ernest Lanigan, then curator of the Hall:
Pitchers: Mordecai Brown, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Christy Mathewson and Ed Walsh
Catchers: Johnny Kling and Roger Bresnahan
First Base: Frank Chance
Second Base: Eddie Collins
Third Base: Harry Steinfeldt
Shortstop: Honus Wagner
Outfield: Artie “Solly’ Hofman, Ty Cobb, Fred Clarke, and Sam Crawford.
Though he named several Cubs, Tinker did not include his former teammate Johnny Evers. In 1914 Evers had famously slighted Tinker, with whom he was engaged with in a long-term feud, after Evers and his Boston Braves teammates won the World Series. William Peet wrote in The Boston Post :
“(Walter “Rabbit” Maranville’s) the best shortstop the game has ever known.
“Better than Joe Tinker; your old side partner?
“Yes, he’s better than Tinker.”
While the two finally broke their silence at Frank Chance’s deathbed in 1924, they never reconciled.
Evers died in 1947, Tinker in 1948.
Joe Tinker circa 1946
Joe Tinker Jr. died in 1981, Roland “Rollie” Tinker died in 1980, and William Tinker died in 1996.
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