Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Actually it’s the Fall 2010 issue of SABR’s Baseball Research Journal, in which I have a review-essay on four Yankee titles including The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood; Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball: Roger Maris: Baseball’s Reluctant Hero; and The Yankee Years. It’s so new, it isn’t even up […]
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Actually, with the way it works, the Dec. 20 issue was last week (Tim Linceum graces the Dec. 27 year-end issue)), but there’s a goodly amount of baseball items in “The Year in Sports Media” issue that I didn’t want it to go by unremarked upon. The robots are taking over! Steve Rushin writes about […]
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Trying to catch up here: December 20 noted the birthdates of Fred Merkle (1888), Gabby Hartnett (1900; Gabby Hartnett: The Life and Times of the Cubs’ Greatest Catcher) and David Wright (1982; Mets Pride: For the Love of Mookie, Mike, and David Wright). Andy Van Slyke turns the big 5-oh today. Odd that his name […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com, as of Friday, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 2 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh […]
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and put it on your bookshelf. Owen Wilson plays Matty, a pitcher on the Washington Nationals, and Reese Witherspoon a former Olympic softball player in How Do You Know?, which opens in theaters today. I have no intention of seeing this one, but the trailer does include a scene (about the 1:24 mark) with Wilson […]
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Kirkus Reviews just posted several “tops” lists, including two baseball titles. Jane Leavy’s The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood is among the top biographies of 2010. Dan Epstein’s Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging ’70s has been deemed as one of […]
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Congrats to Howard Cole, winner of the November Bookshelf giveaway of Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend by James S. Hirsch. Mays was recently named one of the years notable non-fiction titles by The New York Times. You can listen to my interview with Hirch here. December’s book is Fifth-Nine in ’84, by Edward Achron. […]
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TIME magazine published its top 10 list of everything this year, including sports. Baseball is at the top of the top: Baseball’s Imperfect Game (no further explanation needed) LeBron’s Bad Decision (no further explanation needed) A College Basketball Cinderella Comes Oh So Close (Butler vs. Duke) Football Uses Its Head (concussions) Ghana’s World Cup Giveaway […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Dec. 10, at 11 a.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 2 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh […]
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Three baseball entries are among the non-fiction titles on The New York Times as “100 Notable Books of 2010.” THE LAST BOY: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood. By Jane Leavy. (Harper/HarperCollins, $27.99.) Many biographies of Mantle have been written, but Leavy connects the dots in new and disturbing ways. THE LAST HERO: […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Dec. 3 at Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton with Tim Keown 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by […]
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Speaking of USA Today and disregarding what I just said about lessening the load… This is a nice little recap of the 2010 season. I especially enjoyed Nicole Auerbach’s month-by-month review, featuring dates to remember, special events, and sundry topics. Of major note are the team pages which analyze 2011 and beyond. However, I question […]
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No, it’s not a noirish thriller, but rather a way of letting authors and publishers (and you) know what goodies I’ve just received.This is in addition to the widgets you see under the “what I’m reading now” heading. Truth is, I’m not always reading everything as soon as they come in, although I do peruse […]
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The holidays start early this year — Hanukka begins Dec. 1 — so the folks over at StrikeThree have compiled this handy list of baseball titles. No reviews, just links to Amazon, but it’s nice to have them all in one place for the sake of convenience. Speaking of gifts, a few months ago, I […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton and Tim Keown 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, […]
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As in extra-terrestrials. In his new book, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race, Jon Stewart hopes to explain/justify to anyone (thing?) out there in the vast universe what life was (!) like on our little blue planet. Earth considers science, religion, politics, and pop […]
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Also known by Mets fans as The Franchise, Tom Seaver turns 66 today. This is one of the “heroes” of my youth and an education that regardless of your perceived value, an athlete is basically a commodity, to be bought, sold, traded, discarded (although that term seems a bit harsh). After expressing dissatisfaction with the […]
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Congrats to Tim Sackett, winner of the October Bookshelf Give-Away: Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, by Larry Tye. The book was named winner of the two top baseball literary awards: The Seymour Medal from the Society for American baseball Research, and Spitball Magazine‘s Casey Award. The November book will be another […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Nov. 12 at 2 p.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton and Tim Keown 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, […]
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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
“Quickie” publications
December 10, 2010
Not sure how I feel about these things. On the one hand, the technology is available so that it’s easy to turn books like these over quickly. On the other hand, is it an homage, or just a money grab? Newspapers (such as the San Francisco Chronicle, left) have managed fast turnarounds when their local […]
Tagged as: Ron Santo
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