Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
As work on the new book about the Maccabiah Games becomes more urgent, I find I have less time to keep up with the latest baseball books news. Apologies. I guess the good part about the project is that it will be done before the time spring training — and the release of of new […]
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Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. On with the show… Here are the top ten baseball books as […]
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With eight days to go, Heather Quinlan’s Kickstarter project is less than $10,000 short of the $50K goal. Make it happen, people!
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Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. On with the show… Here are the top ten baseball books as […]
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Truth be told, as I get older (and poorer), I find I no longer crave every baseball item that comes out, so I’ll probably tale a pass here. Nevertheless, this two-foot by three-foot poster from Pop Chart Lab featuring 121 hand-drawn uniforms, ranging from 1869 to the current season, looks spiffy. You can see a […]
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Congratulations to Tim. N. of Fair Oaks,Calif., winner of the tenth anniversary edition of The Last Best League, by Jim Collins. Next up: Joe and Marilyn: Legends in Love by C. David Heymann. Here’s my review from Bookreporter.com. A couple of things I neglected to mention in the piece: Notice the cover. The photo conveys […]
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My take on the recent “biography” by the late C. David Heymann, via Bookreporter.com.
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Any serious scholar of the game knows the work McFarland does in bringing eclectic material to the bookshelf. This fall’s line-up includes: A Calculus of Color: The Integration of Baseball’s American League, by Robert Kuhn McGregor Understanding Baseball: A Textbook, edited by Trey Strecker, et al The Negro Southern League: A Baseball History, 1920-1951, by […]
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Publishers Weekly came out with their fall preview issue. Not exactly sure how this works, but there are two lists, One is included in this overview by Jonathan Segura. The other makes note of 18 purported baseball titles. I say “purported” because the uncredited piece includes 50 Greatest Players in New York Giants Football History. […]
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The author of this Huffington Post piece makes a compelling argument. Most latter-day fans of Kahn know him from his nostalgic look at The Boys of Summer, which — hard to believe — was published more than 40 years ago. But he was also a beat writer for those Brooklyn Dodgers, as well as a […]
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It must be a bittersweet time for Derek Jeter. On the one hand, he knows his “expiration date.” On the other hand, he knows his expiration date. How many fictional scenarios contain the premise of knowing when one will draw his last breath? Of course, retiring as an athlete isn’t the same as retiring permanently […]
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Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. On with the show… Here are the top ten baseball books as […]
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Congratulations to Gregg K. of Shohola, PA, winner of Philadelphia’s Top 50 Baseball Players, by Rich Westcott. Next up for grabs: the tenth anniversary edition of The Last Best League, by Jim Collins. The updated version contains a “where are they now” epilogue. Here’s a “re-review” I posted earlier this month. A reminder of the […]
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Even if they might not have a logo on them. In cases where new inductees have played for multiple teams, it’s become something of an issue as to which cap they want on their plaque. There have been rumors that some teams will pay for the privilege of having their logo on display in Cooperstown […]
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A Fan’s Notes from Left Field, by Josh Ostergaard. Coffee House Press, 2014. (Not to be confused with Confessions from Left Field: A Baseball Pilgrimage, published by Raymond Mungo in 1983.) To be honest, I did not have high expectations for this one after reading the review in the NY Times‘ Sunday book supplement a […]
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Although technically these were written for Bookreporter.com before I went on vacation. The books in this “all-Star” feature include: I Don’t Care if We Never Get Back: 30 Games in 30 Days on the Best Worst Baseball Road Trip Ever, by Ben Blatt and Eric Brewster Throwback: A Big-League Catcher Tells How the Game Is […]
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Sorry, but there’s really no way to do this respectfully. Every time I try to come up with something, it just leads to puns, innuendo, and euphemism, so I’ll just go with it. In her recent memoir, Ted Williams, My Father, Claudia Williams has nothing good to say about Alcor Life Extension, while saying almost […]
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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
Baseball best-sellers, Aug. 1
August 1, 2014
Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. On with the show… Here are the top ten baseball books as […]
Tagged as: Baseball instruction, Bernard Malamud, Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, Doris Kearns Goodwin, George F. Will, Jason Kendall, Lee Judge, Mariano Rivera, Michael Feinstein, minor leagues, Moneyball, New York Yankees, Oakland As, Ted Williams, The Natural, Wrigley Field
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