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 an iconic Major League Baseball player. Altogether, the poem pays tribute to 24 players, 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 | Jerome "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 'Ubell
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 and trivia
- 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.