The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-10-06
BIRMINGHAMS MOST ARDENT BASEBALL FAN,
 JOHN MQUEEF, ONE THOUSAND FANS DECLARE;
 TURNER, STRADFORD JONES FOLLOWING CLOSI
SHELBY, BUSSEY, KAY, OLIVER AND OTHERS MADE GOOD RACES-15,O ,OO0 VOTES CAST IN CONTEST CONDUCTED BY SPORTING WRITERS
By BILL AK

By BILL AK
 Who are the real fans of Birming- ham?
 The fans themselves have expressed the verdict.
 They are John Mcoueen, oscar C.. Turner, Matt Stradford and Harry Jones'
 In the voting contest which was held under the auspices of the Birming- ham Sporting Writers association. 15,- 900 ballots were cast The winners re- ceived the following:
 Mcqueen, ITS; Turner, 1895; Strad- ford, s9s; Jones, ss7.
 Others received flattering mention. John W. Sibley got 975 votes; Henry B.. Gray, 900; w w. Bussey, sSs; Sam Oli- yer, ss7; Roy Kay, ss6; Jim Jones, 7S9; Rick Woodward, TOO; Eugene l.. Brown, 609; Joseph II. Woodward. 507, and Jones G. Moore. 800.
 w. A Gibson of Littleton brought up the rear with a total of 303.
 Winners Real Fans
 There can be hardly doubt but that the winners deserve the honors. There are no men more frequently at baseball games than the quartette mentioned above. They are there rain or shine. win or lose. Sometimes they grumble, but on the following afternoon they re- turn just the same.
 John Mcqueen was first of the lot. He has been a follower of the game for years and years. He goes to the park shortly after o'clock. seats himself quietly watches the practice. Follow ing the moments of excitement. he ex- presses his satisfaction or his disap- pointment, but not in. a loud and osten- tatious fashion. Therefore, no one has thrown a bottle at his head up to the present writing.
 Turner Is of altogether a different ed to the effect that he has as yet got the bottle" But instead of the grand stand, he sits in the boxes, or rather one of them, for Saturday afternoon finds him where he was on Monday. He takes the box to the extreme right of the grandstand, and with him, as a rule are Sam Oliver, Roy Kay and John W. sibley each of whom in the contest received honorable mention. MT. Tur ner roots" throughout the game, and can be heard, ever and anon, calling visiting players by their nick names. Sometimes they replied or retort. as the case might be, but they haven't downed Oscar as yet
 Stradford and Jones
 The third and fourth man differ also. Stradford is a baseball student. He sits in the press box-although it was not there or from the scribes that he procured his knowledge. At nights he studies the history of the game, and he can tell at the present time how many bases Collins stole in 1902, and how many men Lajoie's bludgeon pushed over in 1900 He never indulges in loquacious dialogue, and when he does express himself 1t is in dulcet tone, kind of sotte vocc. as the case might be.
 Jones sits with Henry Gray in the box to the left of that of oscar Tur- ner. Jones is probably more human in baseball sense than either Of the other winners. He takes the game seri- ously. When we lose, he knows why we lost and wonders. with horrid frown why we didn't do contrary to that which we did do. When We win. we are the best in the world, according to Mister Harry, and he is almost in |variably correct.
 Contest Highly Exciting There was much excitement during the contest The balloting was begun on the last day of the season of 1912. It was continued for practically three weeks
 Early in the race Turner took the lead with Mcqueen close second At the end of the first week Stradford was on top. At the conclusion of the sec ond McQueeen was ahead and there he remained until the end. | The winners were never in danger save once, when John w. Sibley pressed into the big four.
 There will be another contest next season.
 Prizes will be distributed in April.