Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
November 9, 2010
Authors Dan Fost and Steve Steinberg will be appearing in NYC to celebrate the recent World Championship of the San Francisco Giants through their own published works. Fost and Steinberg will discuss their respective books — Giants Past & Present and 1921: The Yankees, the Giants, and the Battle for Baseball Supremacy in New York, […]
Tagged as: Dan Fost, New York Giants, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants, Steve Steinberg
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October 25, 2010
An occasional wrap-up of things that have fallen through the cracks. A review of Baseball Is America: Origins and History: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Victor Alexander Baltov, Jr. A review of Fifty-Nine in ’84, Edward Achorn’s biography of Hoss Radbourn. Len Berman, author of a new kid’s book on the greats […]
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October 15, 2010
Roy Halladay’s no-hitter in the NLDS naturally brought back memories of Don Larsen perfect game in the 1956 World Series (and forgive a soapbox moment, but I wish they would stop lumping all post-season records together; Halladay’s marvelous game does not make him and Larsen the only pitchers to throw no-hitters in the playoffs, as […]
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October 7, 2010 · 2 comments
Baseball gets the cover treatment as it heads into the post-season. Tom Verducci does a profile on Rays’ ace David Price Joe Sheehan on the Phillies and Giants pitching, and Twins and Rangers Bruce Chen on the Reds But of more interest to the Bookshelf is this excerpt from Jane Leavy‘s new bio, The Last […]
Tagged as: Jane Leavy, Mickey Mantle, Sports Illustrated
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October 1, 2010
This press release comes courtesy of Dan Fost, author of Giants Past & Present: One of the highlights of one of the country’s great literary festivals, San Francisco’s Litquake, will feature “It’s All Over But the Crying: A Night of Authors on Sports,” at 7 p.m. Friday Oct. 8, at Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk Street, […]
Tagged as: baseball author event
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September 20, 2010
From Terry Cannon, executive director of the Baseball Reliquary, which hosted the Sept. 18 event honoring the 40thn anniversary of the literary classic: Yesterday’s “Ball Four Turns Forty” program…was a marvelous and magical day. An SRO crowd (approximately 175 attendees) witnessed two wonderful panel discussions and the world premiere screening of “The Seattle Pilots: Short […]
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August 10, 2010
I had been looking forward to visiting Austin’s Antiquarian Books, a small store about a mile away from where we’re staying in Wilmington. I had gone online to see the type of material they offered and had visions of some old treasure. Sadly, when I arrived there a little while ago, I was met with […]
Tagged as: Boston Red Sox, Ira Berkow, Jews and baseball
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August 4, 2010
Joseph E. Wallace is probably better known for his well-produced coffee table books — World Series: An Opinionated Chronicle, The Autobiography of Baseball: The Inside Story from the Stars Who Played the Game, and Baseball: 100 Classic Moments in the History of the Game, among others. But he recently published Diamond Ruby, a novel (very) […]
Tagged as: baseball fiction, Joseph Wallace
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July 31, 2010
Have We Seen the Last of Baseball’s 300-Game Winners? by Dan Schlossberg. Ascend Books, 2010. Pitcher Jamie Moyer, at age 47, is the active leader in wins with 267. Next on the list is 38-year-old Andy Pettitte with 240. After that…well, no one can even claim 200 victories; knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (43) is next in […]
Tagged as: Dan Schlossberg, Pitching
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July 31, 2010
Haven’t done one of these in a long time, but a glance at my Google alerts shows more than 500 notices, so here goes. Bruce Markusen at Hardball Times, conducted this interview with Dan Epstein, author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass. HT also ran this review of The Eastern Stars (upshot: “The Eastern Stars […]
Tagged as: baseball books
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July 29, 2010
From the Baseball Hall of Fame: The story of one of baseball’s greatest heroes has come to print, and the author is coming to Cooperstown. New York Times best-selling author James S. Hirsch will discuss his new book Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend on Friday, July 30, at the National Baseball Hall of Fame […]
Tagged as: Baseball Hall of Fame, James Hirsch, Willie Mays
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June 22, 2010
Since Glanville posted this on Facebook, so I don’t think he’d mind the re-post: Anyone going to be at tonight’s Phillies game? I know I’m going to be there and I will be signing copies of my book The Game From Where I Stand and chatting it up with fans all night long. Let me […]
Tagged as: Doug Glanville
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June 17, 2010
Should have posted this earlier, but if you’re in Ridgewood, NJ today at 4:30, stop by the Bookends Bookstore, 232 East Ridgewood Avenue for a “Father’s Day” special. Bill Madden (Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball) and Doug Glanville (The Game From Where I Stand) will both be on hand to sign their books. Both […]
Tagged as: Bill Madden, Doug Glanville, George Steinbrenner
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Jason Turbow (The Baseball Code) and Dan Fost (Giants Past & Present) will appear at an authors’ talk on Wednesday, May 19 at 7 p.m. at Books Inc., 855 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. This could be interesting: They could chat about the Marichal-Roseboro incident. For more information, call650-321-0600 or visit booksinc.net.
Tagged as: baseball code, Dan Fost, Jason Turbow, San Francisco Giants
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April 15, 2010
The author of two new titles — 90% of the Game is Half Mental And Other Tales from the Edge of Fandom and New York, New York: A Season with the Mets and Yankees — will be at the Watching Booksellers, 54 Fairfield Street, Montclair tonight at 7 p.m. (sorry for the late notice). I’ll […]
Tagged as: Emma Span
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April 11, 2010
Who says you can’t go home again? Bloomfield-born journalist Dan Fost returned to his old stomping grounds to give a talk and book-signing for his Giants Past & Present at the Yogi Berra Museum this afternoon. Fost, who grew up and still is a Yankees fan, became enamored with the team shortly after moving to […]
Tagged as: Dan Fost, New York Giants, San Francisco Giants
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April 9, 2010
The coauthors of Roger Maris: Baseball’s Reluctant Hero will be appearing at — appropriately enough — Mickey Mantle’s Restaurant, 42 Central Park South in Manhattan, on Tuesday, April 13, from 4 to 7 p.m. From Peary: Book signings can be lonely events for authors, especially in nontraditional venues, so we’re inviting you to stop by to buy […]
Tagged as: Danny Peary, Roger Maris, Tom Clavin
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April 5, 2010
Dan Fost, author of Giants Past & Present, posted this preseason video on his favorite team. A reminder, Fost will be at the Yogi Berra Museum on April 11 at 4 p.m. See here for further info. And thanks to all of you out there who became fans of The Bookshelf — the roll has […]
Tagged as: Dan Fost, New York Giants, San Francisco Giants
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March 24, 2010
Former Yankee Ron Blomberg will be the featured speaker at Congregation Or Shalom in Orange, NY on Sunday, March 28 at 10 a.m. The event is open to the public, which is $5 in advance or $8 at the door. For more information, call 203-799-2341. I spoke with the Majors’ first designated yesterday to find […]
Tagged as: Ron Blomberg
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March 23, 2010
(And I don’t mean is in The Sopranos.) Three sports writers are in the news: Long-time Star-Ledger columnist Jerry Izenberg will be honored by The American Conference on Diversity for his humanitarian accomplishments at a dinner tomorrow evening in West Orange, NJ. Izenberg, the recipient of the Associated Press Red Smith Award for Lifetime Achievement […]
Tagged as: Dan Fost, Jerry Izenberg, Maury Allen, Yogi Berra Museum
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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.
In Forbes Magazine re: Baseball Business Books
On Will Carroll’s “Under the Knife” substack
Most recent books read updated 12/21/24:
Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien
Grade: A. The most in-depth bio to date, focusing on Rose's gambling addiction.
Sometimes You See It Coming, by Kevin Baker
Grade: B. I first read this one when it originally came out some 30 years ago. I must say I don't remember it being so raunchy in spots. Draws on lots of real-life events and characters that real fans will recognize.
The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness, by Andy McCullough
Grade: A. I usually don't like titles with superlatives, but in this case the author might be right, although there are probably a couple of Kershaw's contemporaries (Verlander and Scherzer) who fit that description.
The Yankee Way: The Untold Inside Story of the Brian Cashman Era, by Andy Martino
Grade: B+. Even this non-Yankee fan found the deep background with its Moneyball-like machinations interesting
The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City, by Kevin Baker
Grade: A. Well-researched, well-written. What else could you ask for? Baker has a lot of street cred writing about New York as well, both in fiction and non-fiction.
The Body Scout, by Lincoln Michel
Grade: C. Perhaps the ultimate performance enhancers -- interchangeable body parts -- help major leaguers of the future. But, as with all of these things, there's a price to pay.
Cardboard Gods: An All-American Tale Told Through Baseball Cards, by Josh Wilker
Grade: A. Re-read in preparation for a Bookshelf Conversation with the author. Had a deeper meaning than when I first read it more than a decade ago.
The Bookshelf Conversation
Discussions about all things baseball with authors, journalists, filmmakers, musicians, artists, et al
Subscribe to the "Bookshelf Conversations" podcast on iTunes and please leave a rating and/or review. Gracias!
Mike Shannon on "Diamond Classics II" ( video)
Todd Radom, Ellen Linder, and Brian Kong ( video)
Rick Cerrone (Baseball Digest, video)
Kevin Baker (Sometimes You See It Coming, video)
Curtis Pride and Doug Ward (video)
Dan Epstein on James Earl Jones (video)
Jim Gilmore and Tracy Holcomb (video)
"The Lost Tapes": Conversations prior to 2011 (audio)
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
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