Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Kostya Kennedy, author of 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports, has been selected as winner of the are pleased to announce that the winner of the 2012 CASEY Award, the annual prize of Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine. According to a press release issued by Spitball editor Mike Shannon, 56 received two […]
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Now that Moneyball is out on DVD/Blue-Ray/etc., look for a new round of reviews on the film. Here are two to get you started. The first comes from Over The Monster, a Red Sox-centric blog. The second is a “live-blog” post by Rob Neyer at Baseball Nation. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I’ve never […]
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The winner of the 2011 CASEY Award will be announced Monday, January 23. Finalists for the coveted literary prize include: The Art of Fielding: A Novel, by Chad Harbach Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game, by John Thorn The Big Show: Charles M. Conlon’s Golden Age Baseball Photographs, […]
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Just a thought. I’m listening to the audio version of George Vecsey’s Stan Musial: An American Life, narrated by Scott Brick. It brought something to mind. As every American — baseball fan or not — may know, Jackie Robinson was the first African American to play in the major Leagues (at least in the […]
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Fifty may not be as impressive as 100 when it comes to celebrating an anniversary, but it’s still a notable achievement. They NY Mets hit the big 5-oh this year and, like the titles about Fenway Park, the hoopla began early. Matthew Silverman, who carries on in the proud tradition of authors like Glenn Stout, […]
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The new year marks the commemoration a few prominent events which serve as the topic for several recently-released and forthcoming books. As the oldest Major League ballpark still in use, Fenway Park is the subject of a great deal of nostalgia and mystique (and no, Curt Shilling, these are not dancers in a New York […]
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Another quick attempt to catch up on past stories: This blogger appreciates Dave Jamieson’s Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, but has a question. C. Trent Rosencrans at CBS’ Eye on Baseball created this lineup of fictional baseball all-stars from the movies, which is similar to the NY Times‘ Neil Genzlinger’s list […]
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Right Off the Bat: Baseball, Cricket, Literature, and Life, by Evander Lomke and Martin Rowe. Paul Dry Books, 2011. As mentioned in a previous post, I’ve been fascinated by cricket longer than I can remember. During a visit to Montreal when I was 10, I recall buying a small British import at a WH Smith […]
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Back in the 1960s, it was the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Herman’s Hermits, et al, crashing on the rock scene. Now they’re trying to take over the National Pastime. How else to explain the influx of British authors writing about America’s game? And it would be so bad if they weren’t doing it so well. I’m […]
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Based on The Art of Fielding‘s faux book-with-the-book conceit, Derrick Goold, who hosts the Bird Land blog on Stltoday.com, held a contest to see if his readers could add to the bits of philosophy included in TAOF, which was written by the protagonist’s hero, “a former Cardinals shortstop who reigned as the greatest glove in […]
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James Baily published his list of top ten baseball books on Baseball America. His choices include, in order: The Art of Fielding: A Novel, by Chad Harbach (currently ranked #18 on Amazon) Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball’s Longest Game, by Dan Barry Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of […]
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W. P. Kinsella was awarded the 2011 Jack Graney Award, presented by the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame for a “significant contribution to the game of baseball in Canada through a life’s work or for a singular outstanding achievement.” The award is named for one of the first Canadian baseball players to enjoy success in the […]
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The author of everyone’s darling The Art of Fielding was interviewed on a recent segment on Talk of the Nation. You here it here:
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As many of you know, I serve as editor of the SABR Bibliography Committee quarterly newsletter. The most recent issues (Nov. 2011), features reviews on Under Pallor, Under Shadow: The 1920 American League Pennant Race That Rattled and Rebuilt Baseball, by Bill Felber; 1921: The Yankees, the Giants, and the Battle for Baseball Supremacy in […]
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Congratulations to Bill Grimes of Oak Park, IL, the latest randomly-selected winner of the Bookshelf Facebook Friend giveaway. This month’s book is Fenway 1912, by Glenn Stout. Come back soon to see the January title. And tell your friends.
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This is the year-end issue, so it’s not that strange to find a baseball item. In this case, it’s Lee Jenkins’ excellent recap of “Best. Night. Ever.” which tells the stories of those amazing games on Sept. 28 that saw the Rays win in their last at-bat to win a playoff spot, the Red Sox […]
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I feel it incumbent upon myself to tell you that VH1 is airing another season of the reality show Baseball Wives. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go wash.
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Found of a couple of interesting items at the local B&N. The first was USA Today‘s annual sports yearbook (sorry, couldn’t find a picture of the cover on-line). It has all the usual info: lots of stats and standings, capsule news roundups, photos, etc. It carries a cover price of $7.99. My main bugaboo was […]
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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
Pass the popcorn: Moneyball picks up four Oscar noms (Update)
January 24, 2012
The nominations for the Academy Awards were announced this morning and Moneyball came away with a “cycle” of sorts. The unlikely cinematic version of Michael Lewis’ best-seller is up for Best Picture, Best Actor (Brad Pitt), Best Supporting Actor (Jonah Hill), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, and Stan Chervin). UPDATE: Moneyball also […]
Tagged as: Aaron Sorkin, Academy Award, Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Moneyball
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