EUGENE . . . I'm going to be a writer like Ring Lardner or somebody -- that's if things don't work out first with the Yankees, or the Cubs, or the Red Sox, or maybe possibly the Tigers . . . If I get down to the St. Louis Browns, then I'll definitely be a writer.

—Brighton Beach Memoirs,
Neil Simon

Which historical fact helps you understand the humor in this passage?

Ring Lardner was a famous sportswriter.
The St. Louis Browns were a bad baseball team in the 1930s.
The Yankees won the World Series in 1937.
The character of Eugene is based on the playwright, Neil Simon.