Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-02-02
UMPIRE EVANS ON
BASE BALL FANS
IShoWs Wisdom in Pra!sing the
| Enemies Of the
Arbitrat0rs.
BY Billy Evans.

Base ball is recognized as the great
national game.
The base ball fan must be recognized
as the great national character.
Every branch of sport has its followers,
but the base ball fan for loyalty and en-
thuiasm has them all played off the
board. For six months base ball holds
the attention of the United States, and
during that time it makes Il crazy rooter
out Of the banker. the superintendent
the business man and the employee. Base
ball is truly the game of the masses.
Much of the popularity of the game is
due to the excellent management of the
men prominent in base ball and the Won
derful playing ability of the men engaged
in it. Yet the men who have made base
ball what it is, the men who have made
fancy salaries possible, the men who sup
port the enterprise in every way, are the
fans. The clean business policy and the
honesty of the sport makes it appeal to
the public more than any other branch
of athletics. and each year sees the game
growing in popularity.
There are many, many types of base
ball fans rooters or whatever you choose
to call them. One man will enjoy going
to the game and keeping quiet. The man
on his right will get lots of pleasure out
of applauding every good play. while
the man on his left puts in his time
handing out d line of talk to the players
and umpire. Sometimes his free mono
logue is funny, and then sometimes it is
no..
The fan who jars most on the players
is. the man who believes he is just little
bit wiser on how the game should be
played than the members Of the different
teams who are drawing fat salaries fol
their services. 1t is surprising to note
| how many rcoters there are who think
| they know just a little bit more about
catching than Billy Sullivan or. Johnny
King: who know tri.ie more about the
art Of pitching than Bill Donovan, Nor
decai Brown or Addie jess; who car
hand Laioie tips on how to play second
base. and can tell Hal Chase how to field
d bunt or explain to Wagner how short
stop should be covered. $50
Take any old city in any old league
during any time in the summer. Let the
home team lose hard game. and al
you have to do is, walk down the mair
street drop into some place of bust.
ness known as base bail Headquarters and
in a minute you will learn just how the
game was Nost and Just how it could
have been won. The base ball fan leads
them all as critic. and it's really sur
prising to learn how wise whole lot OF
them really are.
No manager in years has made a greater
hit with the base ball public than Hughey
Jennings. who was fortunate enough to
win a pennant for Detroit in his frs;
wear as an American League manager
Jennings was popular because he was
always handing the crowd something new
His style of coaching was distinctly his
own, and his tin whistle will be talked
about in base ball circles for years
1t certainly was caution the way the
fans took to the tin-wastle stunt. Inside
! of week after Jennings brought the
too.er into action there were at least Il
hundred fans in Detroit who took a
whistle with them TO the game. After
Jennings and his whistle were Suppressed
the fans helped him out by doing the
Whlsting stunt every time a good play
was made The habit was taken up by
the fans in a number Of other cities. and
| 1T was very unusual thing to have q
game pulled off in the American League
without hearing the footing of a shrill
whistle
In Philadelphia a fan went Hughey
Jennings one better during the initial ap-
pearance of the Tigers in that city, and
presented him with an auto horn. Some
of his old-time Baitimors friends came
over TO see the Tigers play the first time
the club came to Washington, and they
brought with than a cornet for Hughey
II Is needless to saw that the presenta-
lion of those two Matchmaking dev ces
helped Danish the whistle. At the Gloss
of the season Jennings had enough in
struments in his possession to start a
brass band on the road.
In no city do the fans root like the
Windy city enthusiasts. and no fans are
more loyal to their clubs than the Chi
cago rooters. The line is closely drawn
by the followers of the White Sox and
the Cubs and although the National
League club won the worlds champion
ship it would be hard to make any of
tina South Side rooters believe that the
Cubs had anything on the White Sox.
The stock yards OF the several big meat
concerns are located On the South Side
in Chicago. and the employees of these
places are all strong fer Co-niskeys club.
During the season of 1906. when the
White SoN were fighting hard for the
lead and battling en- foreign grounds a
Comiskey supporter worked up novel
stunt 20 cheer On the followers of Jones'
Ii was simple, but 1t made a big hit with
~. "A large large ffourieaf clover was made out