COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- During a period of baseball history known for low scoring, strategy driven games, a kid from the Collar City was considered one of the best.

“Getting on base. He had one of the best walk to strikeout ratios of his time, his unbelievable adeptness at bunting and his great fielding ability made him a wonderful all-around player,” said Erik Strohl, V.P. of exhibitions and collections at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

Johnny Evers made his major league debut for Chicago in 1902. At the peak of his playing career he stood just 5 foot 9, 135 pounds.

“The uniform hung on him like a tent because he was so slender and the bat looked like a utility pole in his hands,” said Tim Layden, Sports Illustrated senior writer.

Evers was recognized as one of the league’s smartest players. Known too for his surly temper, says Strohl.

“He would often fight with teammates, with opposing players, with umpires, and he had a mouth that didn’t stop,” said Strohl.

His win-at-all-cost attitude helped Chicago win four National League pennants and two campionships, including the 1908 season, the last time the Cubs won the World Series.

Evers was part of a double play combination immortalized in the poem “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon”, made famous by the memorable line, “Tinker to Evers to Chance.”

“You write a poem about a double play combination, I mean, obviously they were pretty good to do that,” said Strohl.

It was the pinnacle of Evers’ career according to Layden.

“The greatest years of his life were in Chicago. They were his original team. They were the team that plucked him out of Troy and gave him the start,” said Layden.

Evers and Layden are related. In 2012, Layden wrote about the legacy of his great-uncle. A man he never met.

“He also went through a lot of tragedy in his life so it was fascinating,” said Layden.

In 1910, Evers was riding in a vehicle struck by a trolley car. His friend, a local sportswriter, a passenger in the car, was killed.

“That was really one of the first things that sent Johnny down the road to nightmares and mental instability and it really bothered him and stayed all the way to his death,” said Layden.

He lost a daughter to illness, separated from his wife and filed for bankruptcy.

However, in the end he found peace giving back to the game he loved. He ran a sporting goods store in Albany and served as superintendent of Albany’s Bleeker Stadium.

“Constantly coaching and teaching sandlot kids, you know, baseball. He pretty much always had that connection,” said Strohl.

Johnny Evers was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1946. He died less than a year later.

Now, more than a century after Evers lead the Cubs to their last World Series, the North Siders have another chance.

“I would be shocked if he wasn’t rooting for the Cubs,” said Strohl