Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
On the June 21 edition of Only a Game, Bill Littlefield offered this interview with John Feinstein, author of Living on the Black. (Sorry, but you have to listen to the preceding stories before you get to the Feinstein segment.) Read an excerpt from Living on the Black. The Leonard Lopate Show of June 24 […]
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In the movie Field of Dreams, the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson appears on a Midwest baseball field constructed specifically for him by farmer Ray Kinsella. “Is this heaven,” asks the bemused ballplayer, who had been banned from the game for his role in the 1919 Black Sox scandal? “No,” replies his host, “It’s Iowa.” […]
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Today’s NY Times‘ science section features an interview with Dr. Steve C. Wang, a mathematician at Swartmore College who has developed a “statistical Mr. Potato Head to portray the spectrum of managerial characteristics…” His chart mirrors his findings that “facial characteristics can communicate distinctions with striking clarity. By turning rates of bunting, stealing and pinch-hitting […]
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From a New York Times profile on Mad magazine cartoonist Al Jaffee, still going strong at 87. For decades, Jaffee has drawn the inside back cover “fold-ins” (surely you remember these). The fold-ins these days are as full of youth culture as ever. (March 2008: “What major star has recently admitted receiving illegal career-damaging human […]
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Baseball’s real anthem celebrates its centennial this year, a fact marked by the new book, Baseball’s Greatest Hit: The Story of Take Me Out to the Ball Game, by Tim Wiles, Andy Strasberg and Bob Thomson as well as Allen Barra’s March 22 story in The Wall Street Journal.
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In the days before pre-programmed music blasting from the rafters, major league ballparks employed people to play the organ to entertain the fans. Jane Jarvis played the Thomas organ for the Milwaukee Braves and the New York Mets. To be honest, I thought she had passed on years ago. But she’s very much alive and […]
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From The Arizona Republic, this piece on the author of Our Team – Our Dream: A Cubs Fan’s Journey Into Baseball’s Greatest Romance. Upshot: ” Look up ‘patience’ in the dictionary and you’ll find a picture of a Chicago Cubs fan. “
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Execrpted from an entry on darkmattermag.com: “When I was young, I collected autographs of active and retired baseball players using a book that actually listed their home addresses. This book even had addresses for old umpires, including the umpire depicted in the center of Rockwell’s painting, “Beans” Reardon. So, I have a small reproduction of […]
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From the brush of L.A. artists Robbie Conal and the narrative The Hundreds, a blog about Los Angeles culture and lifestyle: He’s really gotten into baseball art lately. What’s the political statement with baseball? “Nothing,” he replies matter-of-factly, “I just like baseball.” (He actually played, himself, in the Canadian leagues. Oh, and he was a […]
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Fortunately for Graig Kreindler, his grandmother did not follow the cliche of tossing out his dad’s baseball card collection. If she had, he might never have developed a love for the game that turned into a career as a highly sought-after sports artist. While other kids were mad over Mantle or cooing over Koufax , […]
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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
