Books and articles about Ring Lardner

Ring Lardner was regarded as unusual when he made the switch from writing baseball humor to being the prolific author of witty essays and short stories. No writer had ever examined baseball as a source for serious literary material until Lardner did it with his stories about Jack Keefe, the prototype of all eccentric rookies, in You Know Me, Al. Lardner based his fictional character and the events of his baseball stories on his experiences covering the Chicago teams for the Tribune, and his series "Pullman Tales" delighted readers of The Sporting News. He eventually gave up beat coverage, confining his reporting to the coverage of annual events such as the World Series. His sardonic outlook is best exemplified by a comment directed at overly inquisitive children. "Shut up, I explained," he wrote.

Lardner suspected the White Sox of throwing the 1919 World Series from the start and walked through the team's train car during the Series singing a self-penned ditty, "I'm Forever Blowing Ballgames," to the tune of "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," a popular song of the day. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » May 15, 1911: Ring Lardner writes, "They are using a new ball this year. It's livelier and that means more hitting, and more hitting means longer games, and that's the devil. It appears to be impossible to finish a game in less than two hours." » July 30, 1916: The New York Times Book Review pans Ring Lardner's baseball novel You Know Me, Al, recently published by George H. Doran Company at $1.25. The reviewer says "the author was for some time sporting writer on a Chicago newspaper, and so may be supposed to know his subject thoroughly, but for the honor of the 'national game' we trust that his "busher" is not typical of the majority of its players. . . . As it contains many accounts of baseball games strung together on the thinnest possible thread of plot, it may please the 'fans.'" » October 2, 1919: Charles Comiskey tells NL president Heydler that Sox manager Kid Gleason is suspicious of his players. Heydler confers with Ban Johnson, who takes no action, fearing it will look like revenge against Comiskey, with whom he has been feuding. As the games unfold, reporters Ring Lardner and Christy Mathewson do not like what they see. Chicago reporter Hugh Fullerton will raise questions during the winter. Comiskey will offer a reward for information, but the 1920 season will open with the same lineup for Chicago, minus Chick Gandil, who will be in the PCL.