Tinkers to Evers to Chance

[Dr_Paprika]

The famous (in its day) poem celebrating the Chicago basemen and their alleged ability to throw lots of double and triple plays makes reference to "bursting a gonfalon bubble". What the heck is gonfalon?

[BobT]

Gonfalon is another word for "pennant"

[DSYoungEsq]

From the website Merriam-Webster Online (http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary):

2 : a flag that hangs from a crosspiece or frame

Just in case you wanted some actual evidence supporting BobT's assertion. ;)

[Dr_Paprika]

The dictionary I looked it up in, which was admittedly cruddy, said "banner". Shoulda made the connection, but didn't. Shouldn't have stolen all those Dilaudids.

[BobT]

My book of poems that contains "Tinker ..." has an asterisk next to "gonfalon" and says it means "pennant", so I don't claim to have an all-ecompassing vocabulary.

[DSYoungEsq]

Damn, Bob, I thought you simply knew that word by heart. ::sigh:: another cherished illusion blown away...

[Dr_Paprika]

Doesn't this beg the question why this word isn't in wider use? "Damn! The Expos lost again. So much for their gonfalon hopes". "The race for the gonfalon is especially tight this year".

[BobT]

Just read an early 20th century sports page reporting baseball game stories. You'll see words like "gonfalon" and many others that haven't been in vogue since before Ring Lardner was a sportswriter.

[zev_steinhardt]

Originally posted by Dr_Paprika
Doesn't this beg the question why this word isn't in wider use? "Damn! The Expos lost again. So much for their gonfalon hopes".

That's because the Expos never really have a chance to capture the gonfalon! :)

Zev Steinhardt