From his humble beginnings as a journeyman reporter for the South Bend Times in Indiana, to the height of his popularity when his work was syndicated in more than 115 newspapers with a readership of more than eight million, Ring Lardner was the undisputed master of sports journalism and fiction. In his stories, readers found the authentic lives of their heroes and idols, their hopes and fears, and the vernacular of the diamond in all its bawdy and athletic glory. Here then for the baseball fan, in one comprehensive volume, are Lardner's finest writings about baseball during its golden age. Out of a column written for The Saturday Evening Post evolved his most famous work, You Know Me, Al, which introduced the world to the bush-league pitcher Jack Keefe. Lardner's skills as the finest American humorist since Mark Twain are on full display in the stories "My Roomy," "Horseshoes," "Alibi Ike," and "The Yellow Kid." Also included are his outstanding journalistic pieces about the Chicago Black Sox World Series scandal of 1919 that chronicle his struggle to come to grips with a national betrayal, the memory of which still scars the sport to this day. LARDNER ON BASEBALL is a full, diverse, and exciting collection of works from a legendary writer who transformed a simple game into the stuff of great literature.