83-Year-Old Norfolk Fan Set to Bait Umpires Again
Norfolk, Neb., Feb. 18 --- Norfolk's No. 1 baseball fan, Reuben R. Lanman, who has had a profound interest in the the great national sport since he was 9, Thursday celebrated his eighty-third anniversary and wished the 1939 season would soon get under way.
Dad Lanman, as he is called by all his acquaintances, is known to all fans who attend Norfolk State league games, which he seldom misses. When he thinks an umpire needs what he calls a "roasting," he gives it to him.
Many a time, Dad has been seen to lean against a grandstand post and shout at the umpire he thought made a bad decision: "You old stinker, open your consarn eyes."
"Umpires," he says, "generally do the best they can, but I got to roast them once in a while."
These "roastings" always take form when Dad thinks a bum decision has been called against the Norfolk team.
Born February 16, 1856, in Appanoose County, Iowa, he homesteaded in 1879 near Plainview, and 30 years ago moved to Norfolk where he established one of the first oil firms in the city. He still owns an oil company.
