Ogden Nash – Lineup for Yesterday, Part 1

In the course of my research for the Tris Speaker and Jimmy Foxx GotP posts I stumbled across this poem by Ogden Nash. It seemed to fit in with the theme of the blog thus far and so I thought I’d post it with some accompanying images. In order to keep this from being a marathon post that no one would read, I’m going to break it into three parts. As with the GotP posts there will be an image key at the end that identifies all of the cards (none of which, unfortunately, are in my own personal collection).

Originally published by Sport Magazine, January 1949.

A is for Alex

The great Alexander;

More Goose eggs he pitched
Than a popular gander.

B is for Bresnahan

Back of the plate;
The Cubs were his love,
and McGraw his hate.

C is for Cobb,

Who grew spikes and not corn,

And made all the basemen

Wish they weren't born.

D is for Dean,

The grammatical Diz,
When they asked, Who's the tops?

Said correctly, I is.

E is for Evers,

His jaw in advance;

Never afraid

To Tinker with Chance.

F is for Fordham
And Frankie and Frisch;
I wish he were back
With the Giants, I wish.

G is for Gehrig,

The Pride of the Stadium;
His record pure gold,
His courage, pure radium.

H is for Hornsby;

When pitching to Rog,

The pitcher would pitch,
Then the pitcher would dodge.

I is for Me,
Not a hard-hitting man,
But an outstanding all-time
Incurable fan.

Image Key:
1. Grover Cleveland Alexander – 1914 Fatima T222
2. Roger Bresnahan – 1912 T207 (Brown Backgrounds)
3. Ty Cobb – 1910 T3 Turkey Red
4. Dizzy Dean – 1935 Rice Stix UM7
5. Johnny Evers – 1911 T205 (Gold Borders)
6. Frankie Frisch – 1934 National Chicle Diamond Stars R327
7. Lou Gehrig – 1934 Goudey R320
8. Rogers Hornsby – 1919 W514