The word "fan" meant "fanatic" back in 1908, as good a description as any for the hero of this Essanay comedy. Claiming that he's been called away on business, a baseball devotee leaves wifey behind to watch his beloved Chicago White Sox in action. Unable to afford the price of a seat, he is obliged to watch the game through a knothole in the park fence. Catching a foul ball, he is permitted entrance in the ballpark, only to be tossed out again after getting mixed up in rhubarb with another fan. Bruised and battered, our hero returns home, where his angry wife awaits him with blood in her eye and a meat cleaver in her hand. Several scenes were filmed during an actual White Sox game at the old Comiskey Park. A Baseball Fan was released by Essanay in the same year that the Chicago-based studio secured exclusive rights to the annual World Series "highlights" films.