Ring Lardner Tonight: A big development for Jack in Part 5 of "You Know Me Al"

"The score was sixteen to two when Callahan finally took me out in the eighth and I don't know how many more they got. I kept telling him to take me out when I seen how bad I was but he wouldn't do it."

-- from Jack's letter of April 19

by Ken

You may recall that at the start of You Know Me Al, Jack Keefe reported for his first stint in the big leagues in California, training in Paso Robles, then heading up to Oakland and back down to Los Angeles. I trust that readers recalled that in 1914, when our story begins, the West Coast is still 45 years away from having Major League baseball. St. Louis was still as far "west" as the big leagues went.

However, while everything west of St. Louis may have been a wasteland as long as the majors were concerned, that doesn't mean there was no baseball. Minor-league ball flourished. The Pacific Coast League was up and running in 1903.


FOR PART 5 OF YOU KNOW ME AL, CLICK HERE

RING LARDNER'S YOU KNOW ME AL

John Lardner's Introduction (1958), Part 1 and Part 2

Chapter I: A Busher's Letters Home
Part 1: Ring's Preface, and Jack's letters of September 6 and December 14 and 16
Part 2: The busher reaches the bigs -- March 2, 7, 9, and 16
Part 3: Countdown to Opening Day -- March 26 and April 1, 4, 7, and 10
Part 4: Jack makes his big-league debut -- April 11 and 15
Part 5: A major development for Jack -- April 19, 25, and 29

TOMORROW in RING LARDNER TONIGHT: I'm looking at "Alibi Ike" and "Champion," or -- to get away from the sporting world -- perhaps "The Golden Honeymoon" or "Haircut" or "The Love Nest."


THURBER TONIGHT (including BENCHLEY, WILL CUPPY, WOLCOTT GIBBS, RING LARDNER, BOB AND RAY, E. B. WHITE, and JEAN SHEPHERD TONIGHT): Check out the series to date

#