Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Cautiously optimistic about the release of 42 this week. As reported in the Arts & Leisure section of last Sunday’s Times, it’s difficult to boil down the meaning of such an iconic figure in a 128-minute film. As such films are wont, it is “based on a true story.” The list of ballplayers and other […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Michigan Live posted this review on John Rosengren’s new biography, Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes. Upshot: “Rosengren…lovingly describes the devotion of American Jews to a man who overcame harassment and flat feet to become not just a baseball star, but an inspiration to his people.” Here’s something you don’t see everyday: a British book […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The New York Times runs this review of Mike Piazza’s Long Shot. Given that the book was released almost two months ago and they’re just reviewing it now, I won’t give up the hopes that the Times will do something with 501. The review is more of a “what the book’s about” piece than whether […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
One of my favorite baseball preseason pastimes is reading all the predictions from the “experts.” I would pore over the annual publications, the newspapers (when they used to publish a special section right before Opening Day, and the various websites and create elaborate spreadsheets. That way, I could test the accuracy of their prognostications at […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Time to play catch-up. This is the period when many newspapers run their reviews of baseball titles to coincide with the beginning of the season. A few books are getting a sizable proportion of attention. And if I understand the concept of zero-sum games, that means others which might be just as good but lack […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Congratulations to the Houston Astros, now proudly atop the AL West. Shows what all the baseball pundits know. That’s what the preview issues are all about: picking who will finish where, which team will win it all, who will be the big award winners come the end of the season. The two primary publications, to […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Billy Sample, who enjoyed a nine-year career, primarily with the Texas Rangers, has turned to “act two” of his life, literally. Sample served as executive producer, co-director, and writer of Reunion 108, a feature film about to make its official release. From the IMDB plot summary: Two generations of professional baseball players return for a […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
At least among the researchers and library set. According to Amazon.com, 501 Baseball Books is: #1 in Books > Education & Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Publishing & Books > Bibliographies & Indexes > Literature
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
I went to the bookstore and what did I see? 501 Baseball Books, looking back at me… Made my semi-regular trip to the Barnes and Noble near my office. Now, the book doesn’t officially come out until April 1 (no fooling, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk), but since I know some readers — to whom I am […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Baseball Nation’s Hot Corner Book Club’s latest consideration is Bob Vanderberg’s new biography of Baseball’s Ultimate Wheeler Dealer (according to the subtitle. While blogger Rob Neyer starts out hopefully — “it’s real good so far.” — he concludes his entry on a quizzical note when he writes “It doesn’t look like the whole book’s going […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
An unexpected, but most welcome, surprise: Thrilled that (as of this moment) 501 is in the top 100 baseball titles, but it’s also the #3 title in the category of “Literary Bibliographies & Indexes,” as well as #47 in “General Books & Reading.”
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The AZ Snakepit, a Diamondbacks’-centric blog, posted this about John Sexton’s Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game. Upshot: “Overall it’s a fine baseball book that is interesting most because it examines baseball in a manner more critical than most. The average baseball book is no better than a collection of trivia, […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Got a nice writeup for 501 from Benjamin Hill at MiLB.com yesterday, which you can read here. Perhaps just as important, he sent this link to videos of several more teams doing the Harlem Shake, Gangham Minor League style. Enjoy.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Jury those interminable breaks while I was on jury duty, I committed to memory the projected start nines and pitching staffs of all the Major League teams as per Sporting News Baseball. Of course, they have Stephen Strasburg as the Washington Nationals’ starting left fielder, but leave us not quibble. I have come to accept […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Hit the mother lode on Kirkus today in a good-news/bad-news scenario. On the plus side, I found several reviews of forthcoming topics for your interest and information. On the down side, 501 isn’t among them. 🙠Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes, by John Rosengrean (buy it here). Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The president of NYU, where my daughter is a student, took a turn on The Colbert Report to discuss his new book, Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game. To be honest, I’m more of a Daily Show kind of guy. If given a choice at a guest shot, I’d prefer that […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
By Mike Piazza with Lonnie Wheeler, Simon and Schuster, 2013. The review appears on Bookreporter.com this week. Here it is for your convenience: If not for a favor to Los Angeles Dodger manager (and family friend) Tommy Lasorda, Mike Piazza would never have been selected in the 1988 baseball draft. As it was, Piazza was […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
I was watching Saturday Night Live last weekend and the musical guest was Macklemore whose hot song is “Thrift Shop.” Warning: Naughty words render this video NSFW. There are some “clean” versions to be found, but they don’t convey the story without the action, which is why I’m posting the original. I’m not familiar with […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
James Bailey posted this one about Mike Piazza’s Long Shot. Upshot: “I was neutral on him when I began and emerged with a somewhat negative impression. That’s probably not what he was looking for. Your mileage will likely vary depending on how closely you followed his career.” Bill Jordan over at Baseball Reflections did this […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
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
