Frank Chance

Profession: Baseball HOF First Baseman

Nationality:

Biography: Frank Chance was an American professional baseball player and manager, best known as a player for the Chicago Cubs—although they were then named the Orphans—and the New York Yankees.

As a first baseman, alongside shortstop Joe Tinker and second baseman Johnny Evers, he was part of the iconic double-play trio "Tinker to Evers to Chance." The trio were legendary, even inspiring a poem by Franklin Pierce Adams titled Baseball's Sad Lexicon.

Chance had a successful playing career, but he is perhaps best remembered for his managerial abilities. He succeeded Frank Selee as manager in 1905, and under his leadership the Cubs won four National League pennants and two World Series titles, in 1907 and 1908. They did not win another World Series title until 2016.

After leaving the Cubs, he went on to manage the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox but did not achieve the same level of success as he did in Chicago. He was nevertheless selected posthumously for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946, being inducted alongside both Tinker and Evers.

Born: September 9, 1877
Birthplace: Salida, California, USA
Star Sign: Virgo

Died: September 15, 1924 (aged 47)