Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The Japanese import known — perhaps politically incorrectly — as “Godzilla,” announced his retirement at the age 38. Matsui spent most of his career with the New York Yankees. I’m guessing he’s had at least one book written about him based on his career in Japan. At least two titles were released in the U.S., [...]
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♦ The Washington Post published this piece on Tony La Russa’s memoir, One Last Strike: Fifty Years in Baseball, Ten and a Half Games Back, and One Final Championship Season. ♦ Better late than never: It seems the Seattle Post-Intelligencer finally got around to posting a review of Zack Hample’s 2007 publication, Watching Baseball Smarter: [...]
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Enjoyed reading a few … well, what to call them? They’re not exactly graphic novels since they deal with real-life figures.. Anyway… The first was 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente, which is described as a graphic novel on the dust cover. Written/drawn by Wilfred Santiago and published by Fantographic Books last year, this is [...]
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by Clay Snellgrove. Loaded Press, 2007. Those familiar with this blog know I’m not big on reviewing fiction. Most of the new stuff I’ve found disappointing but that’s just one man’s opinion. So it’s nice to come across a thoughtful and realistic story such as the one Clay Snellgrove tells in his simply-titled novel, The [...]
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I had mentioned Tom Hoffarth’s annual “30-books-in-30-days” project for the LA Daily News in an earlier entry today, not knowing that he posted this preview column (in which he was kind enough to give the Bookshelf a nod). Asa bonus, his entry has links to all the books he’s covered in the past, from 2008-2011, [...]
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About six months ago I pulled a lower abdominal muscle. It’s in a spot where there’s no way to rest it; just about every move engages that region. A couple of trips to the doctor ruled out anything more nefarious, but I was told “it just takes time,” not the words an impatient person like [...]
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Songs and Images from the Early Years of America’s Favorite Pastime, by Jerry Silverman. Alfred Publishing Company, 2007. Fans of both old-tyme baseball and music will enjoy this one. Part-music book, part-collectible (for the reproduction of the sheet music covers), part-historical analysis, The Baseball Songbook is a collection of more than 40 tunes (mostly heretofore [...]
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A bit late, but O’Neil would have celebrated his 100th birthday last Sunday. In his honor,
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Seems every Edward/Ed gets that nickname. Lopat, born in 1918, pitched 12 seasons, mostly for the juggernaut Yankees of the late 1940s-mid 1950s. He won 21 games in 1951 and led the American League in winning percentage and ERA in 1953. He was one of the subjects of Sol Gittleman’s 2007 book, Reynolds, Raschi and [...]
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Carlos Zambrano turns 30 today. In addition to being one of the best pitchers of the past decade (121-76), he is, as the old announcer used to say, a pretty fair country hitter. He leads all active pitchers-as-batters with 22 home runs and is a three-time Silver Slugger winner. Pedro Miranda wrote The Big Z: [...]
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The longtime baseball executive died yesterday at the age of 82. Gorman was the general manager of the Boston Red Sox from 1984-93. Here’s Bruce Weber’s obit in today’s New York Times. He published High and Inside: My Life in the Front Offices of Baseball in 2007.
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Intro: As previously stated, the recent election of Robert Alomar and Bert Blyleven got me to thinking: how many Hall of Famers have had books written about them or penned their own stories. Here are the results. Again, this is not an all-inclusive list; almost all juvenile titles have been omitted. * * * Ben [...]
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to Ozzie Guillen, who turns 47 today. I know. I found it surprising that there are two books by/about him: The Wit And Wisdom of Ozzie Guillen and A Passion for the Game: Ozzie Guillen’s Insights, Outbursts, Kudos, and Comebacks.
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The birthday boys include 10-time All-Star Steve Garvey, Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton, and long (long) time manager Connie Mack. Garvey has a number of books by and about him, including My Bat Boy Days: Lessons I Learned from the Boys of Summer (Scribner, 2008); Garvey (Crown, 1986); and The Secret Life of Cyndy [...]
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Branch Rickey was born this Dec. 20, 1881. When asked why he fought to make Jackie Robinson accepted in the Major Leagues, Rickey often told the story of a black teammate from his college days who was shunned by opponents. There are numerous books about Rickey, but perhaps none more detailed and insightful than Lee [...]
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by Peter Golenbock. The Lyons Press, 2007. When 7 came out a few years ago, many sportswriters — especially in the New York area — considered it a shande (shame). How could Golenbock — who had heretofore published only non-fiction — have besmirched the character of the late lamented Mickey Mantle with this trashy, borderline [...]
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Marty Appel was kind enough to send me a copy of the Official 2007 Yearbook of the Israel Baseball League. Appel, who used to handle PR for the Yankees back in the 1970s, has his finger in just about every Jewish/sports pie, including the IBL, the Jewish Major Leaguer Card set, and the Maccabi Haifa [...]
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This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, October 2. Title Rank General The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, by Joe Posnanski 1 Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of [...]
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is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com.
In my "day job," I'm the features and sports editor for a weekly New Jersey newspaper. I'm also the editor of the Bibliography Committee Newsletter for the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR).
I did a piece on the award-winning cartoonist Arnold Roth and he was nice enough to "immortalize" me.
Congratulations to Charles P. of Long Island City, NY, winner of the most recent Facebook Fan drawing, The Might Have Been: A Novel
Next up: Long Shot
Tell your friends!
My article on the later biographies of Babe Ruth appears in
My article on the Mets' 1969 post-season appears in
What I just read:
Southern League: A True Story of Baseball, Civil Rights, and the Deep South's Most Compelling Pennant Race
Well-intentioned, but somewhat disappointing in delivery of the intended message. B-.
What I'm reading now
Mickey and Willie: Mantle and Mays, the Parallel Lives of Baseball's Golden Age
First Impressions: Too soon to tell.
What I'm RE-reading now
Play for a Kingdom
What's next:
Gil Hodges: The Brooklyn Bums, the Miracle Mets, and the Extraordinary Life of a Baseball Legend
Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game
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