Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
From The Arizona Republic, this piece on the author of Our Team – Our Dream: A Cubs Fan’s Journey Into Baseball’s Greatest Romance. Upshot: ” Look up ‘patience’ in the dictionary and you’ll find a picture of a Chicago Cubs fan. “
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Wilfred Santiago pays homage to his countryman Roberto Clemente in graphic novela form, due out later this year. According to the publication’s Web site, 21 is “a human drama of courage and dignity….Facing prejudice during times of change, his talent went unrecognized for most of his eighteen seasons. Clemente, however, never lost of sight of […]
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From FragileFreddy’s Red Sox blog, this review on Johnny Peksy’s Diary of a Red Sox Season. Upshot: Overall the book is a brief but fun read and one I definitely recommend. You won’t learn a lot that is new to you about the Red Sox but you will learn about Johnny Pesky and you will […]
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The 2008 seasons marks the beginning of the end for Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers have always been fodder for baseball lit, but this watershed event opens a new sub-genre. A quick search on Amazon.com shows several titles devoted specifically to such nostalgic content, including Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective, by Al Santasiere and Mark […]
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A feature piece on Kadir Nelson’s new children’s book on the Negro Leagues, as well as a slide-show of the author’s paintings of some of the legends of the era.
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The Art of the Trade in Major League Baseball by Fran Zimniuch. Taylor Trade Publishing, 2008. Strictly speaking, Zimniuch’s new book should be “The Art of the Deal” since he considers not just the actual swapping of players, but other manners of transition as well, including, for the most part, free agency. The book starts […]
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From Faithandfear, “the blog for Mets fans who like to read.” Upshot: “Mets By The Numbers … is perhaps the most incredible repository of Mets data, Mets trivia and Mets Zeitgeist you will ever find between two covers.”
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With the weeks winding down until Opening Day, look for a flurry of activity for baseball book reviews. I have two feature pieces forthcoming in the next few months: ForeWord Magazine, which concentrates on the output of small and university presses, and Bookreporter.com. In the meantime, here are a few recent reviews: The Rise and […]
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A review of Andrew Schiff’s new book on Henry Chadwick from Bleacherreport.com. Upshot: Even though I consider myself a devoted student of baseball history and lore, I didn’t know very much about Harry Chadwick and everything he meant to the game I love. But thanks to Andrew Schiff and his wonderful biography, I do now. […]
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Hitters on Confronting Baseball’s Most Intimidating Pitcher By Jonathan Mayo. The Lyons press, 2008. Mayo, a senior writer for MLB.com, had his book ready to go before the Mitchell Report was released last month. One can only imagine what he thought about the trickle-down effect caused by the revelation that Clemens was about to replace […]
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From the Chicago Sun Times, this report of a local TV documentary on the WGN-Cubs 60-year relationship. An accompanying book, Cubs Forever, is due out from Triumph Books this spring. This leads to an observation on the recent trend towards “copy-cat” books that use the same format tailored to each team. For example, in addition […]
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by David Green. 2008, Stewart, Tabori & Chang. ST&C have published a series of these books for several teams already, including the Yankees and Red Sox. The binding/dust jacket is reminiscent of an old photo album and that’s exactly the feeling the reader will get. In fact, like that old keepsake, these little books are […]
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Your Brain on Cubs: Inside the Heads of Players and Fans Edited by Dan Gordon. Dana Press, 2008 You have to feel for Cubs fans. More so than Red Sox fans, who even before two championships in three years seemed to have a sense of entitlement, despite the team’s misfortunes and poor performances. Cubs rooters, […]
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As an unabashed Mets fan I’ll read anything about the team. Of course, this non-discriminatory policy can lead to some time-wasting clunkers. On the other hand, there are some time-wasters that can be lots of fun (you’re reading this, after all). Mets by the Numbers: A Complete Team History of the Amazin’ Mets by Uniform […]
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From Sportscollectorsdaily.com, a brief but fervent recommendation of photographer Terry Heffernan’s new project featuring items from the Baseball Hall of Fame.
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From BaseballCrank.com, this brief but fervent recommendation for John Sickels’ annual book.
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Mark Feinsand’s “Blogging the Bombers” column notes two books with ties to the Yankees. As the team heads into its final year at Yankee Stadium, look for more books like Yankee Stadium: The Official Retrospective, which capture the rich history of the ballpark. The other book is noteworthy for a more ironic reason. Jonathan Mayo […]
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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
