Date:    Mon, 8 Jun 1998 19:56:44 -0500
<br>From:    Gerald Cohen <gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UMR.EDU>
<br>Subject: Re: "tinner" in 1910 baseball poem
<br>
<br>    My thanks to the people who have responded to my query about the 1910
<br>baseball poem, particularly to Gregory Downing for his 6/5/98 ads-l
<br>message.  His comment about "off the reel" meaning "immediately"  is right
<br>on the mark.
<br>
<br>    "Tinner" remains a problem, however.  The dictionaries give "tinner" as
<br>a miner of tin, or a tinsmith, but neither fits the poem.  In the context
<br>of the poem, "tinner" seems to mean "an unproven talent."  The poet says:
<br>"Sign me up--I'm now a tinner/But I've trained with all the good ones."
<br>I.e., he hasn't played in the big leagues yet, but his preparation has been
<br>excellent.
<br>
<br>     Here is part of the third verse, with the second and third lines of
<br>interest now:
<br>
<br>     I can hit like Honus Wagner, I can steal like Tyrus Cobb,
<br>     In the field I'm all the grapefruit [i.e. I'm the cat's whiskers], at
<br>the bat I'm on the job--
<br>              Never entered any college
<br>              But I'm there on inside knowledge--
<br>    [etc. etc. etc.]
<br>
<br>     So, "never entered any college"--i.e. hasn't played in the big leagues,
<br>  "but I'm there on inside knowledge"---i.e., I've learned the game
<br>elsewhere.  This seems to repeat his observation a verse earlier that he's
<br>a "tinner" but has "trained with all the good ones."
<br>
<br>    Still, what all this has to do with "tin" remains a mystery. Maybe
<br>Jonathan Lighter has something about this in his files.
<br>
<br>--Gerald Cohen
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<br>gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]umr.edu
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