Are you really the wildest fan ever?
By Nathan Wolf Smith
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Do you think you are the wildest fan ever? Well, take a
look at this.
It’s 1908 at the Polo Grounds. You and 5,691 other
Giants fans run on the field, jubilant. Hey, the Giants just
clinched the National League pennant.
Fast forward 61 years, to 1969 at Shea Stadium. When
you look up toward the bleachers, you see hundreds of signs,
cheering on the Mets.
Now make a jump of only 6 years, to 1975, in The Great
American Ballpark. When you look at the jumbotron, you see
signs cheering on the Reds.
Now back to the present. No crazy stuff. Just fans
settling in their seat for a ballgame, and the occasional sign.
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So now you see the four fan eras of baseball.
Running, signs, jumbotron, and settled. So, now that
you’ve “seen it all,” do you still think you’re the
wildest fan ever?
You still might think you are a wild fan. Do you
run on the field after a big win? I don’t think so. Do
you hold up signs? Probably not. Aha! So you are
not the wildest fan in history.
Yes, once upon a time, it was a tradition to run
on the field after big wins. The tradition died with
the 1920’s. And yes, people used to wave around

signs like lunatics. But that lasted until 2000. And
that is sixty years, not twenty. So basically, we
modern fans aren’t as wild as we think we are. So
next time you jump and down at a ballgame,
remember there have been wilder actions. Much
wilder actions.
Run on the Field!

 After big wins,
it was customary
for fans to run
on the field. In fact, in 1912
Smokey Joe Wood’s
secret weakness was was
discovered: he needed to
warm up before games.
This was because some devout fans lost their regular seats. And
losing your seat was the worst thing that could happen to you.
Rivalries

 Rivalries were intense
between fans, but were
virtually not existent
between players. Here
Ty Cobb and Honus
Wagner, possibly the two
greatest rivals in baseball,
shake hands.
The Dodgers

 The Dodgers had some
of the wildest
fans ever, and they even had a
band! That is the biggest show of
devotion ever! Period.
The Mets

 During the 60’s, the
Mets were the most fun
team in baseball, and
usually, you could
only see signs of
encouragement for
the Mets. Not the fans.
But you
could certainly
hear them!
The Jumbotron

 During the 1970’s,
when you looked at
the jumbotron, you
would see
encouragement
to the home team.
The Present

Compared with the
craziness of the past,
fans of today are very
laid-back.

…but there are
fun accessories,
too!