Evening journal., 1908-03-18
FANS PLAY AN
IMPORTANT PART
he Can Make or Break a
Baseball Aggregation
by HOWIing

'rhe fan. as our fellow scribe
opines," says a baseball writer. lis in
many ways an unreasonable nut;' but
don't 60 betting any good money that
the fan isn't pretty wise to what he is
doing. We are not making the side
Of the "bug" against the magnate or
the player, but the fact that he raises
an awful yelp when his team gets out
Of the running is the one thing whicn
booms the good old game along.
Suppose the fan didn't care whether
his club won the pennant or finished
last2 That he would flock out just as
quickly to see a tail-ander as a PEN
nant champ There'd be an awful
hustle every year to huild up a PEN
nant team then. wouldn't there? Every
magnate in every league would bo
spending his coin and working over
time the same as usual to deliver the
goods? No. ne knows what band
music he is going to hear and It
doesn't make a noise like. To- the
conquering hero comes either.
There are Of course. magnates and
club owners who would try just as
hard to win every year whether il
meant any extra change at the gate
or not. and there are also some who
wouldn't. And while it is hard luck
on those who spend just as much
money and try just as hard, and yet
fall down. still it is the law of the
human will that to those who deliver
shall be handed the lnurel-to those
who fall-the lemon and of there
were laurels for everybody, viotors or
victims, the path of progress would
soon be choked with weeds.
but as 1t is now the mad voice Of
the fan helping in the wilderness
keeps the patch Of progress pretty we'll
cleared up. Those with pennant win
ners are trying to keep them so, and
those with tail-enders are toiling with
moist and clammy brows in an effort
to emerge from the rut It is this
very unreasonableness of the fan taht
has kept the game advancing. In his
enthusiasm he is wrought up beyond
himself and It only stands TO reason
that when his enthusiasm is punctured
he should drop below the normal"
The scribe brings up this point:
Suppose a club owner is doing the
best in his power to get a winning
team; suppose his manager Is manag-
ing the best he knows how; suppose
the players signed are playing their
best ban and yet the team is low in
the race Should not the fan be loyal
under these oircumstances-just as
loyal as if the club was winning.
Ethically. they probably should. in
reality they won't-for the fan is
looking for results. Effort is a fine
thing. but unless It is linked with ac-
complishment It IS soon overlooked. II
! is enough in the club owners or the
/ players own heart to know that he
has done his best. but the world at
large looks at his standing in the race
or his average for the year. And
knowing this, each club owner and
each BAH player viii work twice as
hard as he would II averages or stand
ings were never chalked up for inspec-
tion.
ITO the victor belongs the hunk of
the spoils, and whether this is right
or not. It at least gets better results
and this is something anyway The
fan at least should. and the right kind
Of fan will give club owners. man
ayers and players a fair show before
/ the anvil boom IS started. The lSnocker
/ isn't a fan by a dozen leagues for the
| lSnocker has his wallop ready the sec
ond the gong peals out"