Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 118, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 May 1911 — ADVICE TO EXCITABLE FANS [ARTICLE]

ADVICE TO EXCITABLE FANS

Series of “Don’ts” That May Be Applied to Rooters of All Classes « In Any City. With the baseball pennant racers finally cut loose the fans in every city and town that is represented by teams of diamond experts are ready for another strenuous campaign. The baseball solons have framed many rules governing the national pastime, but they have never seen fit to give words of advice to the rooters who keep the sport-alive with the money passed into the box office windows. Fandom includes all classes of citizens and in order to keep them in check the following warnings have been framed by a person who knows something about the unbridled enthusiasm of those who follow the fortunes of their favorite teams: Don’t roast players for making errors. Don’t shout words of advice to the players. Don’t pan the manager when his team loses. Don’t try to climb over the fence with new clothes on. Don’t go home angry in the hour of defeat. Laugh and be merry. Don’t eat more than six bags of peanuts unless your team is losing. Don’t elbow your neighbor and step on his corns unless he’s a cripple. Don’t try to explain the game to a woman while other men are listening. Don’t Indulge in open abuse 'of visiting players so that they can get at you. Don’t call the umpire a robber because you hear others applying this name. Don’t pan the team when the manager’s errors of judgment are to blame. \ Don’t pocket foul balls while the sleuths are looking squarely in your direction. Don’t try to score a game unless you know the difference between a run and an error. Don’t put the lighted end of a cigar into your mouth when your, favorite knocks out a four bagger. Don’t throw cushions or pop bottles at the umpire or the visiting players unless you are hidden from view. Don’t try to identify the players for the benefit of the unsophisticated unless you are absolutely sure of your ground. Don’t root for the visiting team unless you are Isolated in the grandstand and you can’t speak above a whisper. Don’t show how little you know about inside ball by telling your neighbor why such and such a play didn’t go through. \ Don’t cheer and throw your hat in the air when a home player knocks the ball over the fence a foot outside the foul line. * Don’t throw newspapers or other missiles at persons who come in late and can’t find seats unless they are small and timid. Don’t roast the umpire when he calls a strike on a ball that passes over the middle of the plate and retires your hero to the bench.