Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here
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The old joke goes, “You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?” That’s kind of the way I’ve come to think about my library. Obviously there’s no way I can acquire every book I’d like, plus the ones I do have, gathered over 30 years, are starting to make a dent in the floor. [...]
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My semi-annual baseball roundup is up on Bookreporter.com. This one has a “New York vs. Boston” theme. Titles include: Fenway Park: The Centennial: 100 Years of Red Sox Baseball, by Saul Wisnia Fenway 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, a Championship Season, and Fenway’s Remarkable First Year by Glenn Stout The Mets: A 50th Anniversary [...]
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Greg Spira passed along this link to an NJ.com review of five New York-centric books, including (with a “symbolic” thumbs up-thumbs down): 1961: The Inside Story of the Maris-Mantle Home Run Chase, by Phil Pepe (-) Donnie Baseball: The Definitive Biography of Don Mattingly, by Mike Shalin (-) Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The [...]
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As I continue to do research for my own project, I get a kick when I find some old material that confirms I’m on the right track with some of my selections. Hey, it’s nice to find validation rom time to time, right? So today’s blast from the past is this brief appearance by the [...]
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The Yankees free agent bust who caused no end of delight as the print media tried to figure out to relate an annoyed George Steinbrenner’s description of his overpriced pitcher as “a fat pussy toad,” was found dead in his suburban Los Angeles home yesterday. He was 42. In the New York Times obituary, the [...]
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As of this writing, Derek Jeter stands just four hits away from the magical 3,000. ESPN is working on Derek Jeter 3K, a “documentary” “Set to Air Just Weeks After 3,000th Hit,” according to a press release. Can the souvenir t-shirts, caps, etc. be far behind? The name seems like a natural for a video [...]
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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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Billy Martin, the feisty ballplayer and feistier manager, was born this date in 1928. Martin was hired and fired so often by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, it became something of a pop culture phenomenon. I’m pretty sure the original of this Miller Lite commercial has Steinbrenner saying, “You’re fired.” Sounds (and looks) like a dub [...]
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And speaking of Jeter… From the Montreal Gazette of April 27: Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez are teammates, but that’s not to assume they’re friends. The Captain, an unauthorized biography by sportswriter Ian O’Connor, chronicles the soap operatype relationship between the two New York Yankees superstars. In the new book, which is supposed to hit [...]
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Unfortunately, one incident can define your life. Just ask Bill Buckner. Gil McDougald, who died Nov. 28 at the age of 82, was a solid player for the juggernaut Yankees teams of the 1950s, averaging 14 home runs, 76 RBIs, and .276/.356/.410 for 10 seasons. He was Rookie of the Year in 1951, a five-time [...]
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The former Dodger and Reds pitcher and Giants, Braves, and Yankees manager (62 games in 1982), died today at the age of 86. He published his memoirs — A King’s Legacy: The Clyde King Story — in 1999. This, strangely, is one of my favorite cards of King, taken back in the day when Topps [...]
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Find any link you can, because goodness knows, if it’s not “about them,” they ain’t interested. Fox TV Blackout Tests Old Giants Fans’ Ingenuity Anything Can Happen in a San Francisco Series A First in Either San Francisco or Texas On the other hand, there’s a neat feature on World Series gloves through the years. [...]
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The other “Chairman of the Board” turns 82 today, a day after the birthday of his Yankee friend and teammate, Mickey Mantle. In his last two seasons with the Yankees, Ford — inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974 — had a record of 4-9. Subtract that from his career totals and he would [...]
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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 Bonnie Bernstein, winner of the October book, Fenway Park:The Centennial: 100 Years of Red Sox Baseball
The November book will be Fenway 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, a Championship Season, and Fenway's Remarkable First Year
Tell your friends!
My article on Yankees Fantasy Camp appears in the current issue of Broadside Bombers.
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:
The Last Icon: Tom Seaver and His Times
Grade: C-. Too many errors and too much overwrought writing.
Fear Strikes Out: The Jim Piersall Story
Grade: A. Still a bit "innocent," but amazingly ahead of its time in deal with its subject matter of mental illness.
What's next:
With a lull in the release of new baseball titles, a re-read of Brittle Innings
Recently acquired:
Nothing lately
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