Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Herschel Cobb (right) accepts the Casey Award, presented annually by Spitball magazine for the best baseball book of the year. Cobb is the author of Heart of a Tiger: Growing Up With My Grandfather, Ty Cobb. Presenting the award at the March 9 banquet in Cincinnati is Mike Shannon, editor of Spitball. Also in attendance […]
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I used to do this awhile ago: Every Friday (or as every Friday as I can), I’ll post the top-ten baseball books as per Amazon.com. The only caveat: print editions only (at least for now). Actually, another caveat: as the rankings are updated every hour, these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by […]
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It’s a win-win situation: I get to de-clutter the house and please the missus and some luck follower of RKBB gets a free book. Here are the rules: The fifth person to post a comment on the site (not Facebook) wins. Only related to the overall scope of the blog, please; no “My team’s great, […]
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It took me a long time to get through Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game. Not because it was boring, heaven forbid, but because it made me stop and think so much. Some might think too much time and emotion are spent dissecting sports — to much romanticism, too much philosophy, […]
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It may seem unfair, but I do tend to judge e-books by their cover, especially when they are offered only in that format. It’s an indication of the time and effort the author/publisher puts into the project. Similarly, I’m basing my opinions strictly on the quality of the sample offered. Some are longer (and better) […]
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This is the time of year when you start hearing about all the exciting new baseball titles you can look forward to. And don’t worry, I’ll get to those soon. But I can’t help feeling a bit sad about the short “buzz-span” of a book. Heck, even that perennial best-seller Moneyball isn’t talked or written […]
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Awhile back I notched my 100,000th visitor. To celebrate the occasion, I put up copies to The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, by Bill Bradlee Jr., and The 34-Ton Bat: The Story of Baseball as Told Through Bobbleheads, Cracker Jacks, Jockstraps, Eye Black, and 375 Other Strange and Unforgettable Objects, by Steve Rushin, […]
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I picked up second “annual” of the year. Gotta say, how about a little imagination, guys? It’s pretty lazy (and artistically lame), to fall back on featuring Derek Jeter and David Wright on the New York regional edition, especially in consecutive years. Just sayin’.
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Andy Wolfenson over at the “Bloggin’ Baseball (from the bench)” blog (say that five times fast) posted this review of 501 recently. Grateful that it’s still in the air, so to speak.
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Heart of a Tiger: Growing Up with My Grandfather, Ty Cobb by Herschel Cobb, has been chosen as winner of the 2013 CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year by Spitball Magazine. From the Spitball post: The searing, sometimes horrifying, story about how Ty Cobb rescued his grandson from Herschel’s abusive father becomes in […]
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Although that’s not quite accurate for what I’m trying to relate here. I do not take joy in others’ misfortunes. They’re not even misfortunes and I’m sure the Germans have a better word for what I’m trying to say. I just take a small degree of satisfaction in knowing that, as of this writing, 501 […]
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Trying to clear out my mailbox o’ links by the end of the year. USA Today had high praise for The Kid, allowing that “chances are, no “Teddy Ballgame” biography will ever match up with Ben Bradlee Jr.’s new and exhaustive book about baseball’s greatest hitter.” (Here’s a 10-year-old’s take on the book. He must […]
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Saw this on Facebook from Jon Leonoudakis, producer/director of Not Exactly Cooperstown and 5:04 p.m.: A First Person Account of the 1989 World Series Earthquake Game: “Christmas gift reading haul–I have read the first two profiles on “Glory” and am floored. Dipped into some of Ron Kaplan’s gem, which is to be my book guide […]
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Well hello there My, it’s been a long long time How am I doin’ Oh well, I guess I’m doin’ fine It’s been so long now and it seems that It was only yesterday Ain’t it funny how time slips away From “Ain’t it Funny How Time Slips Away,” by Willie Nelson One of the […]
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A collection of items about Ben Bradlee Jr.’s new bio of Ted Williams. With all due modesty, kicking this off with my own review of the book, which appears on Bookreporter.com. Here’s another one from USA Today. Slate’s review, by David Bry And while I’m at it, no harm in reposting the two NY Times […]
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Sometimes I wish publishers would be a little more detail-oriented when sending review copies. Most recently I have received three copies of Ben Bradlee Jr.’s The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, and two of Steve Rushin’s The 34-Ton Bat. So in an effort to share the wealth (and not clutter up the house […]
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Steve Rushin was a guest on Milwaukee’s WUWM to discuss his new book, The 34-Ton Bat: The Story of Baseball as Told Through Bobble Heads, Cracker Jacks, Jock Straps, Eye Black, and 375 Other Strange and Unforgettable Objects. You can read about and listen to his appearance here. Missed this one from Nov. 29: On […]
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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
Bits and pieces, Jan. 15
January 15, 2014
Hey, if A-Rod can do it, why not Bud? Commissioner Selig has said he wants to write a book when he retires. For you Yankee and home run fans, this looks interesting: New York Yankees Home Runs: A Comprehensive Factbook, 1903-2012, by Mitchell S. Soivenski. It should not be surprising that this is a McFarland […]
Tagged as: Baseball Hall of Fame, Bud Selig, C. Trent Rosencrans, Christina Karhl, Ed Sharman, Joe Posnanski, New York Yankees, Rob Neyer
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