Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Can you believe it: The Baseball Bookshelf turns 20 this year! That’s not totally accurate because there were a couple of iterations of this blog before it took its current name and form so I’m guessing the age is closer to 25. In any case, I’ve decided it might be fun to look back at […]
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Four new inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame come next summer. Some have already been the subject of books, including The Closer, by Mariano Rivera and Wayne Coffey, published when the Yankees superstar — and the only man to be unanimously voted in by the BBWAA — retired in 2013. Edgar Martinez — designated […]
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It almost seemed like David Ortiz had to retire this year, regardless of the impressive numbers — 38 home runs, a .315 batting average, and leading the league in five categories, including RBIs (127), doubles (48), slugging (.620), OPS (1.021), and intentional walks (15) — at the age of 40 in his 20th and final […]
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A while back I wrote about The Quitter (twice, in fact) which, IMHO, is one of the worst “baseball movies” ever made. I put that in quotes because, of course, it’s not really about baseball. They could have just have easily made the lead character the proprietor of a laundromat. But researching one baseball movie […]
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Even if they might not have a logo on them. In cases where new inductees have played for multiple teams, it’s become something of an issue as to which cap they want on their plaque. There have been rumors that some teams will pay for the privilege of having their logo on display in Cooperstown […]
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Weatherpeople and sports pundits. Those seem to be the only professions where you can be so wrong so often and not only still keep your job, but have people rely on your expertise. Just a quick look at the USA Today‘s Baseball 2013 magazine: five out of eight writers picked the Tampa Bay Rays to […]
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Ironically, I did forgot to post news about the passing of longtime sportswriter Isaacs when he passed away on April 2. According to the obituary in The New York Times, Isaacs was one of the Chipmunks, a group of young reporters, mainly in New York, who brought irreverence and daring to sports coverage beginning in […]
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I wanted to bring your attention to two authors who have pledged portions of their book sales towards helping worthy causes. * James Bailey, author of the baseball novel, The Greatest Show on Dirt, is teaming up with Books For Troops, Inc., a volunteer group that sends care packages of books to soldiers stationed in […]
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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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NPR’s The Leonard Lopate Show replayed a 2008 interview with the late Hall of Famer, following the release of his book, Still a Kid at Heart: My Life in Baseball and Beyond. Jonah Keri, author of The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First and currently […]
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Reportedly, the four-time All-Star and MVP fell off the wagon earlier this week, hoisting a drink (or more?) at a pub in Dallas. Fellow Texas Ranger Ian Kinsler supposedly came to the establishment to convince his teammate to leave. Of course, I feel sorry for Hamilton, if all this is true; I’m a benefit-of-the-doubt kind […]
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Two perennial all-stars achieved major milestones on this date in2007. Frank Thomas became the 21st member of the 500 home run club when he hit a three-run shot against the Blue Jays’ Carlos Silva on the way to a 5 – 4 White Sox win. Meanwhile Craig Biggio became the 27th member of the 3,000 […]
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Yonamine, the first Asian-American to play baseball in Japan, was born this date in 1925 in Honolulu. He passed away earlier this year at the age of 86. Robert Fitts published his biography — Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball — in 2008.
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Hall of Famer Wade Boggs turns 53 today. Books on Boggs includes: Boggs!, by Boggs The Techniques of Modern Hitting, by Boggs Wade Boggs: Baseball’s Star Hitter (Taking Part) What, no chicken cookbook? Also celebrating today, Brett Butler, who turns 54. He published Field of Hope: An Inspiring Autobiography of a Lifetime of Overcoming Odds, […]
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The Yankee legend turns 86 today. You can’t have a baseball book about the Yankees post-war dynasty without Berra, who happens to be a nominal neighbor of mine in that we live in the same New Jersey town. One of his books is titled The Yogi Book: “I Really Didn’t Say Everything I Said. “ […]
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The Hall of the Very Good blog posted this article about little known facts regarding the men who occupied the highest office in the land and the national pastime. Paul Dickson, baseball referencarian par excellence, published Baseball: The Presidents’ Game in 1993, with an update four years later. Dan Cohen published Play Ball, Mr. President: […]
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is available on Amazon.com,
In a former life, I was the sports and features editor for a weekly New Jersey newspaper, where I hosted an award-winning bog about Jews and Sports.
I did a profile piece on the legendary cartoonist Arnold Roth and he was very generous in immortalizing me in this caricature.
My article on Sandy Koufax in the 1965 World Series appears in
My article on the later biographies of Babe Ruth appears in
My article on the Mets’ 1969 postseason appears in
Profiles of several Jewish baseball figures appear in
Rob Neyer: My idol and my curse
February 2, 2011
After 15 years at ESPN, Rob Neyer is moving on to SB Nation. Neyer and I have exchanged occasional emails over the last few years, but I do not know him personally, so I can;t say if he’s being self-effacing when he makes note of his career change in a “oh, by the way” manner […]
Tagged as: Rob Neyer
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