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Johnny Evers. One of the greatest ballplayers and competitors that has ever lived. Sadly though he is remembered by many only thanks to a poem with the line “Tinkers to Evers to Chance.” In fact those three names are so linked that the three were featured in a biography together by author Gil Bogen who wrote "Tinker, Evers, and Chance--A Triple Biography" in 2003. He couldn’t even get his own biography...til now. In this book Dennis Snelling tells the story and life of Johnny Evers, one of the fiercest competitors ever and the heartbeat of the teams that he played on. Although he has become known as a sourman who couldn’t hit and who only was famous thanks to the poem, Snelling reveals just how great of a player, and teammate, that Evers was. Also make sure that you read the endnotes as they contain some interesting additional stories and pay attention to the wonderful photos scattered throughout the book of Evers, his teammates, and other contemporaries.

Snelling gives us an indepth look at how Evers played the game and defined his position for years to come. Snelling shows us the pressures that Evers applied to himself to winning, his attempts to keep his business afloat, his broken marriage, the death of his young daughter, and the loss of his best friend in a car that he was driving. Its no wonder that Evers was often described as a crabby man after all of that. Snelling brings Evers to life so that we have a better understanding of the man, and the player, that he was.

If all you know about Evers is that poem, do yourself a favor and pick up this book and learn just how great of a player he was. You won’t regret it. Four out of five stars. ( )

Read this book and you will get to know the man in the middle of the most famous double play combination in baseball history: Tinker to Evers to Chance.

Begin reading about a boy from Troy who became the man who can: the man who helped his teams win the World Series, not once, not twice, but three times. And twice it was the Chicago Cubs who won the World Series. And hell did not freeze over.

One of the best baseball books I've read this century!

http://www.moibibliomaniac.com/2014/09/johnny-evers-baseball-life-by-dennis.html ( )

Meticulously researched and eminently readable, Dennis Snelling’s biography of Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman Johnny Evers is a splendid book. Famed as the center of the Tinker to Evers to Chance double-play combination, Evers lived and breathed baseball from his early years until his death, and Snelling’s book chronicles his life vividly. Evers’s Major League career as a player extended from 1902 to 1917, primarily with the Chicago Cubs and Boston Braves. Known for his fiery disposition and no holds barred style of play, he energized all the teams he played for. His fielding techniques forever changed the game. The essence of Evers’ life, his passion for baseball, emerges clearly from this book, enhanced by quotes from his contemporaries. Well reproduced photographs further enhance the book. ( )

This was a very good book, especially in the sense that I knew next-to-nothing about Evers before reading it, BUT I felt that it lacked depth in places and could have added more context about Evers' personal life. I have no idea what evidence is available, but it felt as though there was too much hinted about his personal life and too little actually said, and that the author had enough to go into significantly more detail than he did. At the same time, the book is titled 'A Baseball Life,' so maybe I don't have any right to argue with how it is presented.

I also don't feel that sufficient context was provided for many of Evers' achievements (or whatever you might call his ejections/suspensions). How many second basemen in history have won three World Series titles? How many who didn't play for the Yankees? And the same questions can be asked about many of Evers' other accomplishments.

Before reading this book, I wondered how much information beyond baseball statistics Snelling might have found, but I need not have worried. He offers insights into Evers' character and motivations, and weaves Evers' personal life into the season by season account of his baseball career. Thanks to this book, I know much more about Evers (and Tinker and Chance) than the doggerel verse which assures all three immortality. It is an enjoyable read and a must for baseball fans. ( )