Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-04-15
ATHLETICS WON
FROM NATIONALS
Record Breaking Crowd Saw Fast Game With an
Exciting Finish That Nearly Pulled
Victory Out of Defeat.

Fourteen thousand enthusiastic fans
yelped themselves foolish out at American
League Park yesterday afternoon over a
heart-disease finish between the Nationals
and the Athletics in the opening game of
the uineteen-six season. And fourteen thou
sand is a conservative estimate, for the
faithful urnstiles registered 1864. and this
doesn't include the frees and the over
~ he fence specialists who turned out in good
numbers.
But thousand or so doesn't make any
difference In this particular instance. Ii
was admittedly the biggest crowd that ever
turned out to see a Washington ball team
get busy-opening day, double-header or
any other old time-and enthusiasm was on
tap a. freely as beer at a bolermakers'
tall Pity there wasn't a chance to use 1t
III Up. too, for had the Nationals trimmed
he visitors in the ninth-and IL looked for
single notwithstanding moment that they
would-its a safe bet that the roof of the
grand stand would be resting comfortably
somewhere out Benning way, and that the
hleachers would have gone up in bonfire
smoke long ago. But stanley's nearly-good
try hoped In the basket, and so there's
some holler left over for next time.
No Kick on the Weather.
No kicks coming on the weather. The
tempered breeze blowing from down south
somewhere wouldn't have bothered the
handspring Of an unacclimated llama,
much less the tempered fiippers of a bunch
of conditioned diamond specialists. and the
weather man didn't act nasty until long
after the excitement was over.
The score-if anybody is dead anxious to
know twas 1 10 }, with the Athletics sit
Ting on the top step. But, cutting out sta
.istics. 1t was a mighty even scrap, with
Poor Lo Bender having shade the better
II the box argument over Hughes. Stahl
and Nil. for the Home Sweet Home de-
partment, and Monte Cross for the Dream
towns, contributed the only specimens of
common or garden errors.
And does that boy Schalfy look good?
DID he handle himself like the real thing?
Just ask any fan who saw the game He'll
tell you a few things. He may not put out
the same lines of conversation next week.
The state of the weather and the opinion
of fan are right changeqble things. But
from the present lay Of the cards it looks
as 81 Schalhy had won himself a home.
He's got a 1eweled hip movement and a
rubber-lined shoulder swing that are remi-
niscent in some slight degree Of the Cieve-
land Napoleon And he doesn't wait for
The leather to register on his time card be-
fore he begins 10 move. He's after il
from the crack of the big stick and yes
terday afternoon he developed more energy
than a per diem government employe on
labor day Which is moving some
The Crowd
National park is right sizeable place.
In the good old days of what's the use
FOG regulars was considered a pretty size
able crowd. But when this aggregation of
39G gathered in the grand stand and over
flowed into the bleachers il looked Ike the
Senate chamber two hours after adjourn
ment Yesterday department store uurs-
cry ON o"rgatG day coUlan I have been any
more crowded.
There were a lot Of the real fair folks
on hand as early as o'clock There was
. good sized crowd az 2.3o Three saw a
banner aggregation ON the grounds and
aIter that X was a constant inpour until
some time after the game was under way
Out al Beuuing the ponies were circllng
the track, and up on Capitol Hiil some dis.
tHSu-sheu citizens Were laying corner
stone and talking about it. And. althouen
tEt report Was drifting round last night
that some folks hil<ed out 10 the track 10
LUt the 3oohcs out OF business and others
dTii cd W on Capitol I'm TO hear the PresI-
dent read tho riot act to the muck-rake
brigade It's right hard for anybody who
his head
For everybody was there. No exceptions
noted. There Were distinguished citizens
and citizens not so distinguished and ciu-
zens not distinguished at all. And the H..
des-bleSs 'ern-were out IN force There
were lots of CLEANS froni-ther swell lamps
and the line OF horSehide lingo and diamond
slang handed around loose and promiscuous
by ruby lips during the afternoon made the
utterauces Of Billy Baxter and George AIDE
sound like quotations from Henry James.
Few Frills, but Lots of Base Ball.
There wasn't any street parade--which
didn't make anybody unhappy-and the
game was a strictly no-fowers affair Our
ord friend the floral horseshoe didn't appear
once during the afternoon, and even the
sair-haired willing worker didn't grab of
a bunch OF orchids. In fact. there were
very few frlls. but plenty OF base ball 10
make up the difference.
Before the warm-up OF the Athletics there
a parade without and within the in
closure. Pistorio's band leading the men,
bers of the warning aggregations in sun
dance that wound up with march from
outfield to infield and up to the plate. And
there was some music TO stir 14oo0 base
ball pulses that didn't need 1t little bit.
Z was a mighty ma tient crowd and see Cd