We was playin\' rummy over to Hatch\'s, and Hatch must of fell in a bed of four-leaf clovers on his way home the night before, because he plays rummy like he does everything else; but this night I refer to you couldn\'t beat him, and besides him havin\' all the luck my Missus played like she\'d been bought off, so when we come to settle up we was plain seven and a half out. You know who paid it. So Hatch says: "They must be some game you can play." "No," I says, "not and beat you. I can run two blocks w\'ile you\'re stoopin\' over to start, but if we was runnin\' a foot race between each other, and suppose I was leadin\' by eighty yards, a flivver\'d prob\'ly come up and hit you in the back and bump you over the finishin\' line ahead o\' me." So Mrs. Hatch thinks I\'m sore on account o\' the seven-fifty, so she says: "It don\'t seem fair for us to have all the luck."

One of the classic baseball stories, You Know Me Al, first published in 1914, tells the story of the fictional Jack Keefe, a bush league baseball player who earns a trip to the majors to pitch for the Chicago White Sox. Set in pre–World War I, the book is comprised of letters that Keefe sends to his “old pal” Al. Through the letters, the self-centered Keefe reveals his regular struggles to maintain his position in the big leagues as well as his personal life and juggle his financial difficulties. Nevertheless, the tales from on and off the field as he travels with the team are full of wit, insight, and entertainment. They include Keefe’s encounters with baseball legends such as Ty Cobb, Charles Comiskey, Walter Johnson, and Eddie Cicotte. In this edition of the book, which includes a foreword by acclaimed writer John Thorn, readers can relive all of the glory of this historic era of baseball through the eyes of one of Ring Lardner’s most comical characters, a century after his creation! Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

In the early years of the 20th century a young bush-league baseball player writes home about his adventures to his friend, Al.