'Who asked YOU?'

"You know me, Al..." was the catchphrase for Ring Lardner, one of the most gifted sportswriters of all time. His fictional character, Alibi Ike, was a likeable, talented pitching rube who played in the first quarter of the 20th century. Although he had star quality, "The Busher," as he was also called, could never hear a compliment or complaint without some sort of explanation, often embellishing his role.

Lardner was an amazing talent, writing not just about sports, but composing music and plays as well. His premature death, at the age of 48, robbed American of many more years of entertaining prose and poetry.