Evening star., 1909-09-12
CULLENESQUElETTER
FROM NEW YORK
Praise for Washington Fans,
and Figures Out KetcheII a
Winner Over Langford.
By Clarence L. Cullen.
,rrcspondence OF Tho Star.

NEW YORK. September II. 1909
u must be handed to Washington for its
loyalty TO a loser.
The Giants played here the other after
noon to paid admission of exactly 46I
persons About 5000 folks can be stuffed
into the Polo Grounds. That's about how
many would have beer stuffed in there
hid the Giants any chance to cop the
rag.
But being out of he rag race. why.
there were 467.
Didn't make any difference that the
Giants are third in the race and pretty
sure to finish in the money They're not
bunting gatherers, nor even jeopardizins
the pennant fabric: hence the oh-so-lone-
some bunch OF chilled. unhappy fans who
take in the games at the Polo Grounds
these days.
Same goes for the Yanks. There'll he
lust about enough fans dribbling through
OF the season TO keep the ticket grabbers
from going to sleep ir the mellow Indian
summer sunshine.
The answer Is that New York howls for
a winner or notlin. There is just about
as much craftsmanship in this view as
there is i'm barrel of tired tripe But
that's N'Yawk all over for you. The
large, leaping young winnersky for them,
or nobody.
Do the NYawkerS care for the game or
base ball?
Ye-es-if their teams can pinch the pen
nant
Otherwise. two mixes multiplied by a
Haven't the N'Yawk fans any interest.
then. in the game of ball AS game?
They HAVE not!
This line of thinks flashed through my
mind the other afternoon at the Polo
Grounds when I gaZed around and saw
the tremenjus array OF nice clean lum :
Der. uncluttered by fans sitting thereon
Just a few indurated fans huddled up on
the grandstand, sayin not word and
letting 'em play the old thing through
without ary cheer, even though the
Giants were gathering. Twas the sad
dest occasion at which I've off1clated as
a humble witness and auditor In 10. these
many myriads of rains and SHOWS and
things.
Well, to hand 1t to Washington.
/ don't know how Washington is max
ing out with its tai-endins this year
what kind OF aujences the home games
are pulling, that is to say. But I've often
seen quite few thousands of folks at
the Washington games when the club
was just as fag-endish In Its position as
II Is at the present time. The gang
go out and look 'em over, anyhow. just
for the air and the outing and to see the
other felers work and even to dish up
tie proper and appropriate need of ap-
pause when. the home bunch put up
anything creditable.
O. course. the Washington gangs
would've liked to see their base ball peo-
pie farther up the line in the percentage
column. They'd been wisttully waiting
for the team TO shoot farther up for
many a long and weary year But, when
they found that the team wasn't going to
gather anything but the cellar position,
why, they stuck around. sort o, just be-
cause they're built that way down near
the Potomac. Didn't blow the hull thing.
Didn't sulk and splutter and say they
weren't goin' L play no more. as the
fans do here and in a lot OF other major
league base ball towns that ] might men,
tion.
Considering that little group of 467 per-
sons who witnessed the game here that
speak Of you're to remember also that
there's a population of quite a few mil
lions here for the ball business TO draw
from. In Washington there's popula-
tion of something over 100000 about one
third colored. Yet they mooch UP to the
gate and slide in their pieces of metal
and look the Washington games over
even il the team IS anchored right along
In the basement.
1t simply MUST be handed to the
Washington fans when the talk is on the
subject of stickers-around.
Saw Stanley ketchell at his Long Island
training quarters yesterday. He'd just
got through picking and sailing away
some four or five sparring partners who.
were sorry they'd taken the job, and he
was the healthiess looking said-to-be-a-
souse that ever / clapped wick on in my
life. He weighed 1872. having pulled off
three pounds within very short time.
His skin was as good as an English dairy
maids for healthfulness Of color: there
was no more fab on his chops than there
is on the forearm of a weight-thrower,
and, generally, he was the sculptor's idea
of fine and well-nigh perfect athlete.
All of this atop of the fine old pickle
pickle stories they've been printing in the
New York papers for the last few weeks;
that they kept right on printing, In fact,
until ketch blew into town from Califor-
mia last week and showed them how
wrong they were.
Did you get that rum stuff they were
ladling out about me-" said ketchell. not
seemingly sore about It. but just a little
chagrned and perturbed. Fine line of
betel nut stuff. wasn't 1t? They had 1t
that Willus Britt. my manager. and 1
were registering and rioting all over the
resorts of California on one monolithic
toot, 'openin wine,' as the gink calls it,
for all the bilge performers on the slope,
trying TO beat the Berry Wall hot-rags
record i'll the matter of dude raiment. en-
deavoring TO bust into society at the re-
sort hotels, dancing around Miss Maudie
and Miss Maize at the hotel hops, and all
that sort of junk. The thing that bothers
me Is this: If we were SO soused up to
and above the eyebrows. how could we
have pulled that society gag shat they all
were writing about with pens in both
mitts? And isn't 1t the wonder that Will
lus and i didn't both get the Brooklyn
boys-the d. t.'s. that is to say-and have
to be carted off to the bC..-out ward?
LAS matter of fact. l believe I've had
about four drinks since / left the At
iantic seaboard several months ago. I've
been out In the California mountains
hunting with my father and brother. Also
I've been engaged in locating and buying
a ranch for my mother. Yet come back
here and find the gang with both hands
up and beseeching me to flag the flagon
and crawl into the whip-socket of the
water wagon and abjure the suds and be-
have and things. Nice little line of break
fast food for fellow to have to assimi-
late as soon as he gets off the train,
Isn't it?''
Think you'll be putting this Langford
person away" I asked Ketchel
Il won't say it just right out like that
was Ketch's reply. II don't make ii a
practice TO get so smack-dab on record
as all that comes to. But when it's over
Samll know that he's been to the mitt
works But he's a dangerous dinge I'm
no. Understanding him. I've seen him
fight He's got mules kick in either
hand One of the hardest wallopers
ever saw. I'll tell you this: II / lick
LangfOrd I'll feel perfectly confident that
I'll be able to take care OF Johnson, tor
/ firmly believe that Langford can salt
Johnson away the best day the Galveston
dinge ever saw I'm not taking any my
chances with the Langford person. I'll
be on edge when / trot into the ring for
him. He'll have to come pretty nigh
Killing me before I'll let 'em say ten over
me. That's the best / can hand out.
Put and Ketch looked at the horizon In