Ring around the bases

by Ring Lardner

More than any other writer in this century, Ring Lardner (1885-1933) was identified with baseball. He was the first writer to match the American language with the great American pastime. His years covering the Chicago White Sox and Cubs gave him the inside knowledge of the sport and how it reflected the American experience; starting in 1906 as a reporter, Lardner responded to baseball as a social phenomenon. His short stories remain the core of his career, and the basis. Of his enduring reputation. Here are Ring Lardner's complete baseball stories, twelve of them collected in print for the first time. With his unerring eye for detail and his sense of the absurd, Lardner ranges over the entire game. His first published magazine series, "You know Me Al," recounts the travails of Jack Keefe, a minor-league player who remains a Busher even after he reaches the big leagues. Although he eventually wanted to "bench" the character, Lardner. Continued to write Keefe stories to satisfy the publi