[7/31/2011] Ring Lardner Tonight: "You Know Me Al" II, Part 7 -- Bedford, IN, meets NY, NY (continued)

"I give my check for my hat to a boy and he brought my hat and I started going and he says Haven't you forgot something? I guess he must of thought I was wearing a overcoat."

-- Jack hasn't yet tumbled to the concept of "tipping"

CHAPTER II:

THE BUSHER COMES BACK

Part 7 of 12

New York, New York, September 16.

FRIEND AL: I opened the serious here and beat them easy but I know you must of saw about it in the Chi papers. At that they don't give me no fair show in the Chi papers. One of the boys bought one here and I seen in it where I was lucky to win that game in Cleveland. If I knowed which one of them reporters wrote that I would punch his jaw.

Al I told you Boston was some town but this is the real one. I never seen nothing like it and I been going some since we got here. I walked down Broadway the Main Street last night and I run into a couple of the ball players and they took me to what they call the Garden but it ain't like the gardens at home because this one is indoors. We sat down to a table and had several drinks. Pretty soon one of the boys asked me if I was broke and I says No, why? He says You better get some lubricating oil and loosen up. I don't know what he meant but pretty soon when we had had a lot of drinks the waiter brings a check and hands it to me. It was for one dollar. I says Oh I ain't paying for all of them. The waiter says This is just for that last drink.

I thought the other boys would make a holler but they didn't say nothing. So I give him a dollar bill and even then he didn't act satisfied so I asked him what he was waiting for and he said Oh nothing, kind of sassy. I was going to bust him but the boys give me the sign to shut up and not to say nothing. I excused myself pretty soon because I wanted to get some air. I give my check for my hat to a boy and he brought my hat and I started going and he says Haven't you forgot something? I guess he must of thought I was wearing a overcoat.

Then I went down the Main Street again and some man stopped me and asked me did I want to go to the show. He said he had a ticket. I asked him what show and he said the Follies. I never heard of it but I told him I would go if he had a ticket to spare. He says I will spare you this one for three dollars. I says You must take me for some boob. He says No I wouldn't insult no boob. So I walks on but if he had of insulted me I would of busted him.

I went back to the hotel then and run into Kid Gleason. He asked me to take a walk with him so out I go again. We went to the corner and be bought me a beer. He don't drink nothing but pop himself. The two drinks was only ten cents so I says This is the place for me. He says Where have you been? and I told him about paying one dollar for three drinks. He says I see I will have to take charge of you. Don't go round with them ball players no more. When you want to go out and see the sights come to me and I will stear you. So to-night he is going to stear me. I will write to you from Philadelphia.

Your pal, JACK.

* * *

TOMORROW NIGHT IN PART 8: Rain day in Philly


RETURN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE POST

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[7/31/2011] Sunday Classics: The seething revolutionary rage of "Andrea Chénier" certainly strikes a chord at our present moment (continued)

Mario del Monaco sings the Improvviso in a 1961 Japanese video performance of Chénier.


ABOUT THE PERFORMANCES

When we put this scene back together, in addition to the 1938 San Francisco performance with Beniamino Gigli and Elisabeth Rethberg, we're going to hear two perfectly okay-sounding studio recordings. In our "breakdown" sequence, though, the way it worked out the recordings we're going to hear don't sound all that nice. I think they're all listenable, though, and especially since the excerpts are brief or briefish, I hope you can bear with them. You can always jump ahead to the stereo recordings of the full scene.

One oddity in the choice of recordings is that the two I chose for the excerpts in which the novelist Fléville is featured prominently (Nos. 1 and 3) I gravitated to performances that boast about-to-be front-line baritones: Kostas Paskalis (who went on to quite a distinguished career) in the 1960 Vienna performance and Enzo Sordello in the 1955 La Scala performance.

Speaking of which, I wound up using it for all seven of our scenelets, for two reasons. In increasing importance:

(1) It really is a good performance, with some good singers in crucial roles, like Sordello as Fléville and comprimario tenor Mario Carlin as the Abbé. I've had an old Cetra LP edition of it sitting on my shelves for decades, rarely listened to -- partly because of the mediocre sound and partly because its one major cast letdown is in a role that, as you may have gathered, matters a lot to me: Carlo Gérard. Since it's his great monologue that starts the opera off, the combination of the mediocre sound and the sound of one of my least favorite baritones, Aldo Protti, pretty well put me off.

(2) In order to see what kind of sound I could coax out of the LPs in MP3 form, I went ahead and did all the work to make all of the audio files, which created a strong disposition to use them. I hope I'm not kidding myself about the sound, which I realize is limited, and distorts considerably at even moderate signal levels, is surprisingly listenable.

Okay, here we go. I've included timings for our performances in brackets just to give you a sense of the size of each scenelet.

GIORDANO, Andrea Chénier, from Act I --

1. The first important guest arrives (with entourage),
soon eclipsed by the really important guest [1:24, 1:13]

Fléville, "Commosso, lusingato"

Among the guests (the COUNTESS has told MADDALENA) are two notables: a distinguished writer coming from Italy and an Abbé coming from Paris. The writer, FLÉVILLE, arrives first, with two fellow artists in tow, a composer and a young poet, and is touched by the effusiveness of his reception -- only to be better-dealed as soon as the really important guest, the Abbé coming from Paris, arrives.

Kostas Paskalis (b), Fléville; Elisabeth Höngen (ms), Contessa di Coigny; Renata Tebaldi (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Fritz Sperlbauer (t), the Abbé; Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Lovro von Matačić, cond. Live performance, June 26, 1960
Enzo Sordello (b), Fléville; Maria Amadini (ms), Contessa di Coigny; Maria Callas (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Mario Carlin (t), the Abbé; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Antonino Votto, cond. Live performance, Jan. 8, 1955

2. The Abbé brings alarming news from Paris [1:13, 1:08]

Abbé, "Devole è il rè"

I adore this little scene, which it seems to me we've somehow touched on. (I really should try to dig up the link if there is one.) The lines I love in particular are the Countess's in response to the Abbé's news of the (unspecified) abuse of the statue of Henri IV, first asking where it will all end, then wailing: "They no longer fear God."

ABBÉ [graciously flattered by this demonstration, kisses numerous hands and makes bows that resemble genuflections; meanwhile the COUNTESS personally serves him some jam]: The king is debilitated.
FLÉVILLE: Has he given in?
ABBÉ: He was badly advised.
COUNTESS: Necker?*
[*Jacques Necker was Louis VXI's finance minister, who was pressing serious reforms on the king, including the formation of the Third Estate in the 1789 Estates General, representing the populace other than the clergy ( the First Estate) and the nobility (the Second Estate). Later that year the Third Estate would be reconstituted as the National Assembly.]
ABBÉ: Let's not speak of him! [Tastes the jam, sighing in a gesture of supreme affliction.]
THE OTHERS: That Necker!
We're dying of curiosity!
ABBÉ [this time resolutely attacks the jam, digging into it with the whole spoon]: We have the Third Estate!
THE OTHERS: Ah! Ah!
ABBÉ: And I've seen abused . . .
THE OTHERS: Who?
ABBÉ: The statue of Henri IV.
THE OTHERS: Horror!
COUNTESS: Where will it all end?
ABBÉ: I was wondering that too.
COUNTESS: They no longer fear God!
ABBÉ [handing his cup to a young man]: Indeed, fair ladies, I'm desolate to bring you such news.

Gabor Carelli (t), the Abbe; George Cehanovsky (b), Fléville; Martha Lipton (ms), Contessa di Coigny; Zinka Milanov (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Fausto Cleva, cond. Live performance, Dec. 28, 1957
Mario Carlin (t), the Abbé; Enzo Sordello (b), Fléville; Maria Amadini (ms), Contessa di Coigny; Maria Callas (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Antonino Votto, cond. Live performance, Jan. 8, 1955

3. Fléville successfully changes the subject [4:34, 4:01]

Fléville, "Passiamo la sera allegramente"

"Let's spend the evening merrily," says the novelist, and he introduces a pastoral entertainment based on his new novel, in which regretful bands of shepherds and shepherdesses bid each other farewell.

Kostas Paskalis (b), Fléville; Fritz Sperlbauer (t), the Abbé; Vienna State Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Lovro von Matačić, cond. Live performance, Jun 26, 1960
Enzo Sordello (b), Fléville; Mario Carlin (t), the Abbé; Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Antonino Votto, cond. Live performance, Jan. 8, 1955

4. Attention turns to the junior member of
Fléville's party, the young poet Andrea Chénier [0:33]

I want to do some pretty fine subdividing of the lead-up to the Improvviso, so we're going to break down just the 1955 La Scala recording into these mini-component parts, and then hear Nos. 4-7 from a 1957 Met performance in one fell swoop (allowing for a CD track switch at the start of the Improvviso).

Contessa, "Signor Chénier?"; Chénier, "Madama la Contessa?"

"Your muse is silent?" the Countess says to the young poet, who tells her his muse as "retiring" and wishes to be silent. Other guests poke fun at him, and Maddalena bets her friends that she can get the poet to poeticize.

Maria Amadini (ms), Contessa di Coigny; Mario del Monaco (t), Andrea Chénier; Enzo Sordello (b), Fléville; Mario Carlin (t), the Abbé; Maria Callas (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Antonino Votto, cond. Live performance, Jan. 8, 1955

5. Maddalena proceeds to set the young poet up [1:12]

Maddalena, "Al mio dire perdono" . . . Chénier, "Il vostro desio è commando gentil"

FIORINELLI, the musician brought by FLÉVILLE, sits at the harpsichord and begins to play. MADDALENA goes up to CHÉNIER.

MADDALENA: Pardon my words and my boldness!
I'm a woman, and I'm curious.
I long to hear
an eclogue of yours, a poem
for a nun or for a wife.
HER FRIENDS: For a nun or for a wife.
CHÉNIER: Your wish is a kind command.
But, alas, the imagination
is not amenable to command or to humble prayer.
Poetry is indeed capricious,
in the manner of love.
[MADDALENA and her friends burst out laughing.]

Maria Callas (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Mario del Monaco (t), Andrea Chénier; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Antonino Votto, cond. Live performance, Jan. 8, 1955

6. Maddalena explains the joke [0:54]

Contessa, "Perchè ridete voi?"

The Countess wants to know why the girls are laughing. Maddalena explains that she bet her friends she could get the poet to use the word "love," which she herself had had thrust at her in the course of the evening by assorted leches among her mother's guests, singling out (according to the stage directions) "a ridiculous old man," an abbé, "a fat old marquis," and "a young man remarkable for his ugliness."

Maria Amadini (ms), Contessa di Coigny; Maria Callas (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Mario del Monaco (t), Andrea Chénier; Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Antonino Votto, cond. Live performance, Jan. 8, 1955

7. And Chénier defends his use of the word "love" [4:36, including applause]

Chénier, "Colpito qui m'avete" . . . "Un dì all'azzurro spazio" (Improvviso)

Which brings us to the exact point where our second group of recordings of Chénier's Improvviso, the ones that included the lead-in "Colpito qui m'avete," picked up last night. Buried in the applause afterward

CHÉNIER: You've wounded me here where I jealously
conceal the purest beating of my soul.
Now see, dear girl, what poetry
there is in the word "Love," which rouses such ridicule.

One day into the blue sky
I gazed deeply,
and on the meadows heaped with violets
the sun rained down gold,
and with gold
the world shone;
the earth appeared an immense treasure,
and serving as its coffer was the firmament.
From the earth to my brow
came a living caress, a kiss.
I cried out, conquered by love: I love y ou,
you who kiss me, divinely
beautiful, o my fatherland!
And I wanted, full of love,
to pray!
I crossed the threshold of a church;
there a priest, in the niches
of the saints and the Virgin
accumulated gifts . . . and to his deaf ear
a trembling old man vainly
pleaded for bread and in vain reached out his hand!
I crossed the entrance of a humble abode;
a man there was cursing, slandering
the soil that barely covered his taxes,
and against God
and against men
hurled the tears of his children.
[With the exception of GÉRARD, who stands listening entranced, everyone is completely scandalized.]
In the face of such misery
what do the ranks of the nobility do?
[To MADDALENA] Only your eyes express humanly
here a look of pity,
and so I looked at you as if at an angel.
And I said: "Here is the beauty of life."
But then, at your words,
a new sorrow wounded me full in the breast.
O beautiful maiden,
do not disparage the words of a poet.
Love, divine gift -- do not scorn it.
The world's soul and life -- that's love.

Mario del Monaco (t), Andrea Chénier; Maria Callas (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Orchestra of the Teatro alla Scala, Antonino Votto, cond. Live performance, Jan. 8, 1955

4, 5, 6, and 7 (from the Countess's "Signor Chénier? through the Improvviso [8:38, including applause]

Martha Lipton (ms), Contessa di Coigny; Richard Tucker (t), Andrea Chénier; George Cehanovsky (b), Fléville; Gabor Carelli (t), the Abbé; Zinka Milanov (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Metropolitan Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Fausto Cleva, cond. Live performance, Dec. 28, 1957


AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO HEAR
THE WHOLE OF OUR SCENE

GIORDANO: Andrea Chénier: Act I, Fléville, "Commosso, lusingato" . . . "Passiamo la sera allegramente" . . . Maddalena, "Al mio dire perdono" . . . Chénier, "Colpite qui m'avete" . . . "Un dì all'azzurro spazio" (Improvviso)

John Howell (b), Fléville; Doris Doe (ms), Contessa di Coigny; Elisabeth Rethberg (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Lodovico Oliviero (t), the Abbé; Beniamino Gigli (t), Andrea Chénier; San Francisco Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Gaetano Merola, cond. Live performance, Oct. 7, 1938
Hugues Cuénod (t), Fléville; Astrid Varnay (s), Contessa di Coigny; Montserrat Caballé; (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Florindo Andreolli (t), the Abbé; Luciano Pavarotti (t), Andrea Chénier; Welsh National Opera Chorus, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Riccardo Chailly, cond. Decca, recorded 1982-84
Dino Mantovani (bs), Fléville; Luciana Moneta (ms), Contessa di Coigny; Antonietta Stella (s), Maddalena di Coigny; Piero de Palma (t), the Abbé; Franco Corelli (t), Andrea Chénier; Rome Opera Chorus and Orchestra, Gabriele Santini, cond. EMI, recorded June-July 1963


RETURN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE POST

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[7/30/2011] Sunday Classics preview: Is the moral of "Andrea Chénier" that poets make lousy party guests? (continued)

The start of the Improvviso. (If you're
of a mind, you can click to enlarge.)

GIORDANO: Andrea Chénier: Act I, Chénier, "Colpito qui m'avete" . . . "Un dì all'azzurro spazio" (Improvviso)

At the party of the Countess of Coigny which we saw being prepared for by CARLO GÉRARD and the other servants in our last Chénier post (Saturday preview and Sunday main post), one of the "culture"-toting guests, the poet Andrea Chénier, has fallen afoul of the youthfully contrarian spirits of the young lady of the house, MADDALENA, who has bet her friends that she could get the poet to say the word "love," which she points out has been flung at her in the course of the evening by many of her mother's lecherous male guests.

CHÉNIER: You've wounded me here where I jealously
conceal the purest beating of my soul.
Now see, dear girl, what poetry
there is in the word "Love," which rouses such ridicule.

One day at the blue sky
I gazed deeply,
and on the meadows heaped with violets
the sun rained down gold,
and with gold
the world shone;
the earth appeared an immense treasure,
and serving as its coffer was the firmament.
From the earth to my brow
came a living caress, a kiss.
I cried out, conquered by love: I love y ou,
you who kiss me, divinely
beautiful, o my fatherland!
And I wanted, full of love,
to pray!
I crossed the threshold of a church;
there a priest, in the niches
of the saints and the Virgin
accumulated gifts . . . and to his deaf ear
a trembling old man vainly
pleaded for bread and in vain reached out his hand!
I crossed the entrance of a humble abode;
a man there was cursing, slandering
the soil that barely covered his taxes,
and against God
and against men
hurled the tears of his children.
[With the exception of GÉRARD, who stands listening entranced, everyone is completely scandalized.]
In the ranks of such misery
what do the scions of the nobility do?
[To MADDALENA] Only your eyes express humanly
here a look of pity,
and so I looked at you as if at an angel.
And I said: "Here is the beauty of life."
But then, at your words,
a new sorrow wounded me full in the breast.
O beautiful maiden,
do not disparage the words of a poet.
Love, divine gift -- do not scorn it.
The world's soul and life -- that's love.

"Un dì all'azzurro spazio" only

Enrico Caruso, tenor. Victor, recorded in New York, March 17, 1907

Jon Vickers, tenor; Rome Opera Orchestra, Tullio Serafin, cond. RCA, recorded July 1961


Including the "Colpito qui m'avete" lead-in

Giuseppe di Stefano, tenor; Tonhalle Orchestra (Zurich), Franco Patané, cond. Decca, recorded 1958

Ben Heppner, tenor; Munich Radio Orchestra, Roberto Abbado, cond. BMG, recorded 1993-94

José Cura, tenor; Philharmonia Orchestra, José Cura, cond. Erato, recorded July 5-9, 1999


UPDATE: HEY, IT OCCURRED TO ME THAT WE'VE GOT
RECORDINGS MADE IN FIVE DIFFERENT COUNTRIES!

(The U.S., Italy, Switzerland, Germany, and the U.K.)

I'm just saying.


IN TOMORROW'S SUNDAY CLASSICS POST

We back up and listen to the Improvviso in the context of the scene we've ripped it out of here, with Chéniers including Beniamino Gigli (not the 1941 commercial recording but a 1938 live performance from San Francisco), Mario del Monaco, Richard Tucker, Franco Corelli, and Luciano Pavarotti.


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[7/29/2011] Ring Lardner Tonight: "You Know Me Al" II, Part 6 -- "Boston is some town, Al" (continued)

Boston's venerable Fenway Park, which opened April 20, 1912 (talk about a big anniversary coming up!), would have been just two or three years old when Jack pitched his first game there.

"I worked the second game here and give them three hits two of which was bunts that Lord ought to of eat up. I got better support in Frisco than I been getting here Al."

-- Jack, writing about the game he pitched in Boston

CHAPTER II:

THE BUSHER COMES BACK

Part 6 of 12

Boston, Massachusetts, September 12.

OLD PAL: Well Al I got a letter from Hazel in Cleveland and she is comeing to Chi in October for the city serious. She asked me to send her a hundred dollars for her fare and to buy some cloths with. I sent her thirty dollars for the fare and told her she could wait till she got to Chi to buy her cloths. She said she would give me the money back as soon as she seen me but she is a little short now because one of her girl friends borrowed fifty off of her. I guess she must be pretty soft-hearted Al. I hope you and Bertha can come up for the wedding because I would like to have you stand up with me.

I all so got a letter from Violet and they was blots all over it like she had been crying. She swore she did not write that postcard and said she would die if I didn't believe her. She wants to know who the lucky girl is who I am engaged to be married to. I believe her Al when she says she did not write that postcard but it is too late now. I will let you know the date of my wedding as soon as I find out.

I guess you seen what I done in Cleveland and here. Allen was going awful bad in Cleveland and I relieved him in the eighth when we had a lead of two runs. I put them out in one-two-three order in the eighth but had hard work in the ninth due to rotten support. I walked Johnston and Chapman and Turner sacrificed them ahead. Jackson come up then and I had two strikes on him. I could of whiffed him but Schalk makes me give him a fast one when I wanted to give him a slow one. He hit it to Berger and Johnston ought to of been threw out at the plate but Berger fumbles and then has to make the play at first base. He got Jackson all O.K. but they was only one run behind then and Chapman was on third base. Lajoie was up next and Callahan sends out word for me to walk him. I thought that was rotten manageing because Lajoie or no one else can hit me when I want to cut loose. So after I give him two bad balls I tried to slip over a strike on him but the lucky stiff hit it on a line to Weaver. Anyway the game was over and I felt pretty good. But Callahan don't appresiate good work Al. He give me a call in the clubhouse and said if I ever disobeyed his orders again he would suspend me without no pay and lick me too. Honest Al it was all I could do to keep from wrapping his jaw but Gleason winks at me not to do nothing.

I worked the second game here and give them three hits two of which was bunts that Lord ought to of eat up. I got better support in Frisco than I been getting here Al. But I don't care. The Boston bunch couldn't of hit me with a shovel and we beat them two to nothing. I worked against Wood at that. They call him Smoky Joe and they say he has got a lot of speed.

Boston is some town, Al, and I wish you and Bertha could come here sometime. I went down to the wharf this morning and seen them unload the fish. They must of been a million of them but I didn't have time to count them. Every one of them was five or six times as big as a blue gill.

Violet asked me what would be my address in New York City so I am dropping her a postcard to let her know all though I don't know what good it will do her. I certainly won't start no correspondents with her now that I am engaged to be married.

Yours truly, JACK.

* * *

SUNDAY NIGHT IN PART 7: Bedford, IN, meets New York, NY


TOMORROW NIGHT: A SUNDAY CLASSICS PREVIEW --
Chénier's Improvviso from Giordano's Andrea Chénier


RETURN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE POST

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[7/28/2011] Ring Lardner Tonight: "You Know Me Al" II, Part 5 -- Big doings in Detroit (continued)

"When I was warming up before the game Callahan was standing beside me and pretty soon Jennings come over. Jennings says You ain't going to pitch that bird are you? And Callahan said Yes he was. Then Jennings says I wish you wouldn't because my boys is all tired out and can't run the bases. Callahan says They won't get no chance today. No, says Jennings I suppose not. I suppose he will walk them all and they won't have to run."

-- from Jack's letter of September 6, writing about
the game he pitched against the Detroit Tigers

Hall of Fame shortstop Hughie Jennings, who managed the Detroit Tigers from 1907 to 1920, was known for colorful on-field antics.

CHAPTER II:

THE BUSHER COMES BACK

Part 5 of 12

Detroit, Mich., September 6.

FRIEND AL: I got a hole lot to write but I ain't got much time because we are going over to Cleveland on the boat at ten p.m. I made them Tigers like it Al just like I said I would. And what do you think, Al, Violet called me up after the game and wanted to see me but I will tell you about the game first.

They got one hit off me and Cobb made it a scratch single that he beat out. If he hadn't of been so dam fast I would of had a no hit game. At that Weaver could of threw him out if he had of started after the ball in time. Crawford didn't get nothing like a hit and I whiffed him once. I give two walks both of them to Bush but he is such a little guy that you cant pitch to him.

When I was warming up before the game Callahan was standing beside me and pretty soon Jennings come over. Jennings says You ain't going to pitch that bird are you? And Callahan said Yes he was. Then Jennings says I wish you wouldn't because my boys is all tired out and can't run the bases. Callahan says They won't get no chance today. No, says Jennings I suppose not. I suppose he will walk them all and they won't have to run. Callahan says He won't give no bases on balls, he says. But you better tell your gang that he is liable to bean them and they better stay away from the plate. Jennings says He wont never hurt my boys by beaning them. Then I cut in. Nor you neither, I says. Callahan laughs at that so I guess I must of pulled a pretty good one. Jennings didn't have no comeback so he walks away.

Then Cobb come over and asked if I was going to work. Callahan told him Yes. Cobb says How many innings? Callahan says All the way. Then Cobb says Be a good fellow Cal and take him out early. I am lame and can t run. I butts in then and said Don't worry, Cobb. You wont have to run because we have got a catcher who can hold them third strikes. Callahan laughed again and says to me You sure did learn something out on that Coast.

Well I walked Bush right off the real and they all begun to holler on the Detroit bench There he goes again. Vitt come up and Jennings yells Leave your bat in the bag Osker. He cant get them over. But I got them over for that bird all O.K. and he pops out trying to bunt. And then I whiffed Crawford. He starts off with a foul that had me scared for a minute because it was pretty close to the foul line and it went clear out of the park. But he missed a spitter a foot and then I supprised them Al. I give him a slow ball and I honestly had to laugh to see him lunge for it. I bet he must of strained himself. He throwed his bat way like he was mad and I guess he was. Cobb came pranceing up like he always does and yells Give me that slow one Boy. So I says All right. But I fooled him. Instead of giveing him a slow one like I said I was going I handed him a spitter. He hit it all right but it was a line drive right in Chase's hands. He says Pretty lucky Boy but I will get you next time. I come right back at him. I says Yes you will.

Well Al I had them going like that all through. About the sixth inning Callahan yells from the bench to Jennings What do you think of him now? And Jennings didn't say nothing. What could he of said?

Cobb makes their one hit in the eighth. He never would of made it if Schalk had of let me throw him spitters instead of fast ones. At that Weaver ought to of threw him out. Anyway they didn't score and we made a monkey out of Dubuque, or whatever his name is.

Well Al I got back to the hotel and snuck down the street a ways and had a couple of beers before supper. So I come to the supper table late and Walsh tells me they had been several phone calls for me. I go down to the desk and they tell me to call up a certain number. So I called up and they charged me a nickel for it. A girl's voice answers the phone and I says Was they some one there that wanted to talk to Jack Keefe? She says You bet they is. She says Don't you know me, Jack? This is Violet. Well, you could of knocked me down with a peace of bread. I says What do you want? She says Why I want to see you. I says Well you can't see me. She says Why what's the matter, Jack? What have I did that you should be sore at me? I says I guess you know all right. You called me a busher. She says Why I didn't do nothing of the kind. I says Yes you did on that postcard. She says I didn't write you no postcard.

Then we argued along for a while and she swore up and down that she didn't write me no postcard or call me no busher. I says Well then why didn't you write me a letter when I was in Frisco? She says she had lost my address. Well Al I don't know if she was telling me the truth or not but may be she didn't write that postcard after all. She was crying over the telephone so I says Well it is too late for I and you to get together because I am engaged to be married. Then she screamed and I hang up the receiver. She must of called back two or three times because they was calling my name round the hotel but I wouldn't go near the phone. You know me Al.

Well when I hang up and went back to finish my supper the dining room was locked. So I had to go out and buy myself a sandwich. They soaked me fifteen cents for a sandwich and a cup of coffee so with the nickel for the phone I am out twenty cents altogether for nothing. But then I would of had to tip the waiter in the hotel a dime.

Well Al I must close and catch the boat. I expect a letter from Hazel in Cleveland and maybe Violet will write to me too. She is stuck on me all right Al. I can see that. And I don't believe she could of wrote that postcard after all.

Yours truly, JACK.

* * *

TOMORROW NIGHT IN PART 6: "Boston is some town, Al"


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[7/27/2011] Ring Lardner Tonight: "You Know Me Al" II, Part 4 -- Back in the bigs (continued)

"[Manager Callahan] says I am saving you to work against a good club, the Athaletics. Well the Athaletics come and I guess you know by this time what I done to them. . . . [Assistant manager] Gleason slapped me on the back after the game and says Well you learned something after all."

-- from Jack's letter of August 27, after pitching
his first game back with the White Sox

This Philadelphia Athletics cloth patch is available free (while supplies last) with a $50 purchase from the Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society's shop. The "Athaletics," one of the eight original American League franchises, owned and managed for 50 years by the legendary Connie Mack, played in Philadelphia until they decamped to Kansas City for the 1955 season. The almost-as-legendary Charlie Finley, who bought control of the team in 1960, moved the A's to Oakland for the 1968 season.

CHAPTER II:

THE BUSHER COMES BACK

Part 4 of 12

Chicago Illinois, August 27.

AL: Well old pal I guess I busted in right. Did you notice what I done to them Athaletics, the best ball club in the country? I bet Violet wishes she hadn't called me no busher.

I got here last Tuesday and set up in the stand and watched the game that afternoon. Washington was playing here and Johnson pitched. I was anxious to watch him because I had heard so much about him. Honest Al he ain't as fast as me. He shut them out, but they never was much of a hitting club. I went to the clubhouse after the game and shook hands with the bunch. Kid Gleason the assistant manager seemed pretty glad to see me and he says Well have you learned something? I says Yes I guess I have. He says Did you see the game this afternoon? I says I had and he asked me what I thought of Johnson. I says I don't think so much of him. He says Well I guess you ain't learned nothing then. He says What was the matter with Johnson's work? I says He ain't got nothing but a fast ball. Then he says Yes and Rockefeller ain't got nothing but a hundred million bucks.

Well I asked Callahan if he was going to give me a chance to work and he says he was. But I sat on the bench a couple of days and he didn't ask me to do nothing. Finally I asked him why not and he says I am saving you to work against a good club, the Athaletics. Well the Athaletics come and I guess you know by this time what I done to them. And I had to work against Bender at that but I ain't afraid of none of them now Al.

Baker didn't hit one hard all afternoon and I didn't have no trouble with Collins neither. I let them down with five blows all though the papers give them seven. Them reporters here don't no more about scoring than some old woman. They give Barry a hit on a fly ball that Bodie ought to of eat up, only he stumbled or something and they handed Oldring a two base hit on a ball that Weaver had to duck to get out of the way from. But I don't care nothing about reporters. I beat them Athaletics and beat them good, five to one. Gleason slapped me on the back after the game and says Well you learned something after all. Rub some arnicky on your head to keep the swelling down and you may be a real pitcher yet. I says I ain't got no swell head. He says No. If I hated myself like you do I would be a moveing picture actor.

Well I asked Callahan would he let me pitch up to Detroit and he says Sure. He says Do you want to get revenge on them? I says, Yes I did. He says Well you have certainly got some comeing. He says I never seen no man get worse treatment than them Tigers give you last spring. I says Well they won't do it this time because I will know how to pitch to them. He says How are you going to pitch to Cobb? I says I am going to feed him on my slow one. He says Well Cobb had ought to make a good meal off of that. Then we quit jokeing and he says You have improved a hole lot and I am going to work you right along regular and if you can stand the gaff I may be able to use you in the city serious. You know Al the White Sox plays a city serious every fall with the Cubs and the players makes quite a lot of money. The winners gets about eight hundred dollars a peace and the losers about five hundred. We will be the winners if I have anything to say about it.

I am tickled to death at the chance of working in Detroit and I can't hardly wait till we get there. Watch my smoke Al.

Your pal, JACK.

P.S. I am going over to Allen's flat to play cards a while to-night. Allen is the left-hander that was on the training trip with us. He ain't got a thing, Al, and I don't see how he gets by. He is married and his wife's sister is visiting them. She wants to meet me but it won't do her much good. I seen her out to the game today and she ain't much for looks.

* * *

TOMORROW NIGHT IN PART 5: Big doings in Detroit


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[7/26/2011] Ring Lardner Tonight: "You Know Me Al" II, Part 3 -- A surprise for Jack (continued)

Plus the real Charles Comiskey

Charles Comiskey c1910: Since tonight's You Know Me Al installment is relatively brief (the next letter is longish, so I'm reserving it for Part 4), I thought this would be a good time to take a brief look at one of the crucial supporting characters of our story, Jack's boss, Charles Comiskey, the owner of the Chicago White Sox. You did realize (didn't you?) that the "notoriously stingy" Charles Comiskey, as Wikipedia describes him (see below), really was the owner of the White Sox?

From Wikipedia (lots o' links onsite):

Charles Albert "The Old Roman" Comiskey (August 15, 1859 – October 26, 1931) was a Major League Baseball player, manager and team owner. He was a key person in the formation of the American League and later owned the Chicago White Sox. . . .

As owner of the White Sox from 1900 until his death in 1931, Comiskey oversaw building Comiskey Park in 1910 and winning five American League championships. He lost popularity with his players, whose views of him became hateful, and that is seen as a factor in the Black Sox scandal, when eight players on the AL champions conspired to "throw" the 1919 World Series to the NL champion Cincinnati Reds. Comiskey was notoriously stingy (his defenders called him "frugal"), even forcing his players to pay to launder their own uniforms. . . .

Despite popular allegations that his poor treatment of White Sox players fueled the conspiracy, Comiskey was inducted as an executive into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939. . . .

You might wonder how Ring dared to incorporate the real Comiskey, in hardly flattering form, into his busher fictions. You've got me. You can be sure that today the publisher's lawyers would throw a fit the second they heard about it. And if they fell down on the job, the modern-day Comskey's lawyers would have Ring's sons, born and unborn. (In 1914 John and James Lardner were born, Ring Jr. and David yet to be born.)


"[The kid] asked me how much I was going to get in the big league and I told her I would get a lot more money than out here because I wouldn't play if I didn't. You know me Al."

-- Jack sure seems adamant about that pay hike he
won't play if he doesn't get, doesn't he? (Stay tuned)

CHAPTER II:

THE BUSHER COMES BACK

Part 3 of 12

Sacramento, California, August 16.

FRIEND AL: Well Al I got the supprise of my life last night. Howard called me up after I got to my room and tells me I am going back to the White Sox. Come to find out, when they sold me out here they kept a option on me and yesterday they exercised it. He told me I would have to report at once. So I packed up as quick as I could and then went down to say good-by to the kid. She was all broke up and wanted to go along with me but I told her I didn't have enough dough to get married. She said she would come anyway and we could get married in Chi but I told her she better wait. She cried all over my sleeve. She sure is gone on me Al and I couldn't help feeling sorry for her but I promised to send for her in October and then everything will be all O.K. She asked me how much I was going to get in the big league and I told her I would get a lot more money than out here because I wouldn't play if I didn't. You know me Al.

I come over here to Sacramento with the club this morning and I am leaving to-night for Chi. I will get there next Tuesday and I guess Callahan will work me right away because he must of seen his mistake in letting me go by now. I will show them Al.

I looked up the skedule and I seen where we play in Detroit the fifth and sixth of September. I hope they will let me pitch there Al. Violet goes to the games and I will make her sorry she give me that kind of treatment. And I will make them Tigers sorry they kidded me last spring. I ain't afraid of Cobb or none of them now, Al.

Your pal, JACK.

* * *

TOMORROW NIGHT IN PART 4: Back in the bigs


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[7/25/2011] Ring Lardner Tonight: "You Know Me Al" II, Part 2 -- Big news for Al (continued)

"She asked me what I was getting and I told her two hundred dollars a month. She says she didn't think I was getting enough and I don't neither but I will get the money when I get up in the big show again."

-- Jack's brief stint in the big leagues was long enough
to introduce him to the wonder of "baseball Annies"

CHAPTER II:

THE BUSHER COMES BACK

Part 2 of 12

San Francisco, California, July 20.

FRIEND AL: You will forgive me for not writeing to you oftener when you hear the news I got for you. Old pal I am engaged to be married. Her name is Hazel Carney and she is some queen, Al -- a great big stropping girl that must weigh one hundred and sixty lbs. She is out to every game and she got stuck on me from watching me work.

Then she writes a note to me and makes a date and I meet her down on Market Street one night. We go to a nickel show together and have some time. Since then we been together pretty near every evening except when I was away on the road.

Night before last she asked me if I was married and I tells her No and she says a big handsome man like I ought not to have no trouble finding a wife. I tells her I ain't never looked for one and she says Well you wouldn't have to look very far. I asked her if she was married and she said No but she wouldn't mind it. She likes her beer pretty well and her and I had several and I guess I was feeling pretty good. Anyway I guess I asked her if she wouldn't marry me and she says it was O.K. I ain't a bit sorry Al because she is some doll and will make them all sit up back home. She wanted to get married right away but I said No wait till the season is over and maybe I will have more dough. She asked me what I was getting and I told her two hundred dollars a month. She says she didn't think I was getting enough and I don't neither but I will get the money when I get up in the big show again.

Anyway we are going to get married this fall and then I will bring her home and show her to you. She wants to live in Chi or New York but I guess she will like Bedford O.K. when she gets acquainted.

I have made good here all right Al. Up to a week ago Sunday I had won eleven straight. I have lost a couple since then, but one day I wasn't feeling good and the other time they kicked it away behind me.

I had a run in with Howard after Portland had beat me. He says Keep on running round with that skirt and you won't never win another game.

He says Go to bed nights and keep in shape or I will take your money. I told him to mind his own business and then he walked away from me. I guess he was scared I was going to smash him. No manager ain't going to bluff me Al.

So I went to bed early last night and didn't keep my date with the kid. She was pretty sore about it but business before plesure Al. Don't tell the boys nothing about me being engaged. I want to surprise them.

Your pal, JACK.

* * *

TOMORROW NIGHT IN PART 3: A surprise for Jack
(plus "The real Charles Comiskey")


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[7/24/2011] Ring Lardner Tonight: Chapter II of "You Know Me Al" -- The Busher Comes Back! (continued)

"Good riddance is rubbish as they say."

-- from Jack's May 20 letter

Chapter II:

THE BUSHER COMES BACK

Part 1 of 12

San Francisco, California, May 13.

FRIEND AL: I suppose you and the rest of the boys in Bedford will be surprised to learn that I am out here, because I remember telling you when I was sold to San Francisco by the White Sox that not under no circumstances would I report here. I was pretty mad when Comiskey give me my release, because I didn't think I had been given a fair show by Callahan. I don't think so yet Al and I never will but Bill Sullivan the old White Sox catcher talked to me and told me not to pull no boner by refuseing to go where they sent me. He says You're only hurting yourself. He says You must remember that this was your first time up in the big show and very few men no matter how much stuff they got can expect to make good right off the reel. He says All you need is experience and pitching out in the Coast League will be just the thing for you.

So I went in and asked Comiskey for my transportation and he says That's right Boy go out there and work hard and maybe I will want you back. I told him I hoped so but I don't hope nothing of the kind Al. I am going to see if I can't get Detroit to buy me, because I would rather live in Detroit than anywheres else. The little girl who got stuck on me this spring lives there. I guess I told you about her Al. Her name is Violet and she is some queen. And then if I got with the Tigers I wouldn't never have to pitch against Cobb and Crawford, though I believe I could show both of them up if I was right. They ain't got much of a ball club here and hardly any good pitchers outside of me. But I don't care.

I will win some games if they give me any support and I will get back in the big league and show them birds something. You know me, Al.

Your pal, JACK.

* * *

Los Angeles, California, May 20.

FRIEND AL: Well old pal I don't suppose you can find much news of this league in the papers at home so you may not know that I have been standing this league on their heads. I pitched against Oakland up home and shut them out with two hits. I made them look like suckers Al. They hadn't never saw no speed like mine and they was scared to death the minute I cut loose. I could of pitched the last six innings with my foot and trimmed them they was so scared.

Well we come down here for a serious and I worked the second game. They got four hits and one run, and I just give them the one run. Their shortstop Johnson was on the training trip with the White Sox and of course I knowed him pretty well. So I eased up in the last inning and let him hit one. If I had of wanted to let myself out he couldn't of hit me with a board. So I am going along good and Howard our manager says he is going to use me regular. He's a pretty nice manager and not a bit sarkastic like some of them big leaguers. I am fielding my position good and watching the baserunners to. Thank goodness Al they ain't no Cobbs in this league and a man ain't scared of haveing his uniform stole off his back.

But listen Al I don't want to be bought by Detroit no more. It is all off between Violet and I. She wasn't the sort of girl I suspected. She is just like them all Al. No heart. I wrote her a letter from Chicago telling her I was sold to San Francisco and she wrote back a postcard saying something about not haveing no time to waste on bushers. What do you know about that Al? Calling me a busher. I will show them. She wasn't no good Al and I figure I am well rid of her. Good riddance is rubbish as they say.

I will let you know how I get along and if I hear anything about being sold or drafted.

Yours truly, JACK.

* * *

TOMORROW NIGHT IN PART 2: After a two-month silence, Jack has big news for Al.

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