Line-Up for Yesterday
"Line-Up for Yesterday: An ABC of Baseball Immortals" is a poem written by Ogden Nash for the January 1949 issue of SPORT Magazine. In the poem, Nash dedicates each letter of the alphabet to a legendary Major League Baseball player. The poem pays tribute to 24 players altogether, plus one winking reference to himself (under "I") as a fan of the game, and concludes with a final stanza in homage to the players collectively.
Baseball players referred to in the poem
| Letter | Player | Verse |
|---|---|---|
| A | Grover Cleveland Alexander | A is for Alex
The great Alexander; More Goose eggs he pitched Than a popular gander. |
| B | Roger Bresnahan | B is for Bresnahan
Back of the plate; The Cubs were his love, and McGraw his hate. |
| C | Ty Cobb | C is for Cobb
Who grew spikes and not corn, And made all the basemen Wish they weren't born. |
| D | Jay "Dizzy" Dean | D is for Dean,
The grammatical Diz, When they asked, Who's the tops? Said correctly, I is. |
| E | Johnny Evers | E is for Evers,
His jaw in advance; Never afraid |
| F | Frankie "Fordham" Frisch | F is for Fordham
And Frankie and Frisch; I wish he were back With the Giants, I wish. |
| G | Lou Gehrig | G is for Gehrig,
The Pride of the Stadium; His record pure gold, His courage, pure radium. |
| H | Rogers Hornsby | H is for Hornsby;
When pitching to Rog, The pitcher would pitch, Then the pitcher would dodge. |
| I | Nash, the Author | I is for Me,
Not a hard-hitting man, But an outstanding all-time Incurable fan. |
| J | Walter Johnson | J is for Johnson
The Big Train in his prime Was so fast he could throw Three strikes at a time. |
| K | Willie Keeler | K is for Keeler,
As fresh as green paint, The fastest and mostest To hit where they ain't. |
| L | Nap Lajoie | L is for Lajoie
Whom Clevelanders love, Napoleon himself, With glue in his glove. |
| M | Christy Mathewson | M is for Matty,
Who carried a charm In the form of an extra brain in his arm. |
| N | Louis "Bobo" Newsom | N is for Newsom,
Bobo's favorite kin. You ask how he's here, He talked himself in. |
| O | Mel Ott | O is for Ott
Of the restless right foot. When he leaned on the pellet, The pellet stayed put. |
| P | Eddie Plank | P is for Plank,
The arm of the A's; When he tangled with Matty Games lasted for days. |
| Q | Connie Mack | Q is for Don Quixote
Cornelius Mack; Neither Yankees nor years Can halt his attack. |
| R | Babe Ruth | R is for Ruth.
To tell you the truth, There's just no more to be said, Just R is for Ruth. |
| S | Tris Speaker | S is for Speaker,
Swift center-field tender, When the ball saw him coming, It yelled, "I surrender." |
| T | Bill Terry | T is for Terry
The Giant from Memphis Whose .400 average You can't overemphis. |
| U | Carl Hubbell | U would be 'Ubbell
if Carl were a cockney; We say Hubbell and Baseball Like Football and Rockne. |
| V | Charles "Dazzy" Vance | V is for Vance
The Dodger's very own Dazzy; None of his rivals Could throw as fast as he. |
| W | Honus Wagner | W is for Wagner,
The bowlegged beauty; Short was closed to all traffic With Honus on duty. |
| X | Jimmie Foxx | X is the first
of two x's in Foxx Who was right behind Ruth with his powerful soxx. |
| Y | Cy Young | Y is for Young
The magnificent Cy; People batted against him, But I never knew why. |
| Z | Zenith | Z is for Zenith
The summit of fame. These men are up there. These men are the game. |
Statistics
- 18 of the players were also in the Hall of Fame at the time, and all but one (Bobo Newsom) would eventually be inducted.
- 8 players—Cobb, Gehrig, Hornsby, Johnson, Mathewson, Ruth, Wagner, and Young—would be elected to the All Century Team in 1999.