Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1925-07-02
Some Ceremony

Some Ceremony
There was a light touch Of senti-
ment connected with the game in
those days, by the introduction of
short ceremony at its conclusion,
that probably the young generation
of the present have never heard Of
Immediately at the close of the
game, the opposing teams would
line up facing each other, and when
all were ready the captain of the
home team would step out and re-
quest of his men, "Three cheers for
the visiting nine" These were given
with vigorous good will, then the
compliment was returned by the
visitors, and all wound up by the
whole crowd joining in with 'ti-
GER, much resembling an Indian
"Pow-woW''.
This had a tendency to 'iron out"
some of the rough spots that may
have developed during the progress
of the game and all left the grounds
with an apparently friendly feeling.
Origin of the term "Fan"
Judging from the way that the
word "fan" is used nowadays, it is
evident that many people have a
vague idea as to the original mean
ing of the term, or how it original
ed. 1t first came into use about
the middle seventies, at the profess
sional base ball games in the large
cities The patrons Of the game
who habitually occupied the bleach
ers, and took all the punishment
connected with them, without a muir
muir, soon became known as
Fanatics. In the newspaper re-
ports of the games, the fanatics
always came in for a large share of
notoriety, and they were the butt
of many jokes, and much sport was
III IIGEls III IIllO w cIJ LlIC
name came to be commonly used,
and like many other words in very
common use, it was soon abbreviat-
ed, and fanatic, became simply
"fan". So, originally, a fan.
was strictly speaking, an enthus-
iastic bleacher, and no matter how
enthusiastic a patron of the grand
stand might be, he was not EMIT
led to the distinction Of being a
Fan. Nowadays the term seems
to have been expanded, so as to
include and to apply to most any
body who has enthusiasm enough
to attend a game or sport of most
any kind.
Final
1t is now in the neighbOrhood Of
some sixty years since the game
originated, and it is still going as
strong as ever. In fact it is the
most popular game we have today,
and will probably continue as such
for many years to come. It's
strongest competitor, and at the
same time it's ally in way, is the
automobile; but while this may be
properly cIassed as a sport, it can
hardly in any sense of the word be
classed as a game.
OF the old original squad, only
a few remain; but, George Dodd and
Henry Mould, are still with us, and
Jim Briscoe, / understand, still re-
sides in Denver.
There have been many slight
changes in the game during these
years, the main effect of which has
been to cut down the score to al
most the zero point, mainly by put
ting the batsman all but out Of
business.
The tendency of amateur teams
to employ professional or sem-pro-
fessional players, is much to be re-
GREETED, as it removes much of the
local interest and pride, and makes
the winning, or even the playing,
too much a matter of financial re-
sources. However, the game has
been improved in many respects.
1t is faster, consequently less tire
some, and everything, SO to speak,
goes more like clockwork. The
players themselves have probably
developed more speed and skill, but
however, the most credit is always
due to those who "blaze the trails"
rather than to those who follow on
later, and the men whom [ have
mentioned in these few lines, are
the ones who blazed the base ball
trails into Baraboo.
Editors Note: o. D. Brandenburg
says that Langdon could not knock
a ball from the home base at the
library over the courthouse-it was
too far and besides the player was
a left hand batter. He might have
sent the ball over the building from
another position.
Mr.. Brandenburg, also says that
Wells was afterwards in the legis- |