The poem only enhanced the reputations of Tinker, Evers, and Chance over the succeeding decades as the phrase became synonymous with a feat of smooth and ruthless efficiency.

Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon[a] bubble, Making a Giant hit into a double[b] – Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble: "Tinker to Evers to Chance."

[3] Frank Chance joined the Chicago Cubs in 1898 as a reserve catcher, backing up Tim Donahue and Johnny Kling.

[6] In the replay of the Merkle game, Tinker hit a triple off Mathewson that started the rally that gave the Cubs the victory, clinching the pennant.

[11] Franklin Pierce Adams wrote a weekly column for the New York Evening Mail called "Always in Good Humor".

While reflecting on Tinker, Evers, and Chance as he traveled to the Polo Grounds to see the Giants play the Cubs, Adams wrote the poem that would become Baseball's Sad Lexicon.

[19] As a consequence, National League president John K. Tener and newspaper owner Charles P. Taft (who also owned the Philadelphia Phillies) made a successful effort to drive Murphy out of baseball.

[21] Sporting Life commemorated the affair with this variation on the poem:[20] Brought to the leash and smashed in the jaw, Evers to Tener to Taft.

Torn from the Cubs and the glitter of gold, Stripped of the guerdons and glory untold, Kicked in the stomach and cut from the fold, Evers to Tener to Taft.

[12] Andy Coakley, a teammate with the Cubs as well as a coach for Columbia University, regarded Tinker, Evers, and Chance to be the best infield in baseball history.

[28] 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, between the Cubs and the New York Yankees.

[29][30] However, in 1929, Tinker joined Evers in signing a ten-week contract to perform a theatrical skit on baseball in different cities across the United States.

For example: Ogden Nash, in his 1949 poem "Line-Up For Yesterday: An ABC of Baseball Immortals," referred to the trio of players in a stanza for the letter "E":[34] E is for Evers His jaw in advance; Never afraid To Tinker with Chance.

Walt Kelly, in the May 7, 1953 installment of the Pogo comic strip, depicted the character Simple J. Malarkey (a caricature of Senator Joseph McCarthy) advising a preacher that the Constitution "can't guarantee what happens after you speak up... it don't pay to tinker forever with chance, ha ha like the fella says.

[36][37] Like Nash, Miller emphasized the double meaning of the names, creating a visual pun by featuring a piece from a Tinkertoy set ("tinker"), a pocket watch ("evers"), and a die ("chance") on the album cover.

[39] The song, also titled "Baseball's Sad Lexicon," appears on the album We Chase the Waves by McCaughan's solo project, Sundowner.