Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
May 1, 2014
The Yogi Berra Museum will be hosting three book events in the coming weeks including: May 5 Mookie Wilson Booksigning Former Mets star Mookie Wilson, one of the most electrifying and popular players in team history, will sign copies of his new book: “Mookie: Life, Baseball and the ’86 Mets” from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Mr. Wilson […]
Tagged as: Al Clark, Dan Schlossberg, Mookie Wilson, Willie Randolph
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April 11, 2014
A chance to look over the overlooked. * Not exactly “Throwback Thursday,” but this piece on the Peoria Journal Star website is an appreciation for The Bronx Zoo, published by relief pitcher Sparky Lyle (then with the NY Yankees) and Peter Golenbock. * And another one from PJS about Double Play, a memoir written by […]
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Thursday, April 10 is baseball night at Varsity Letters at The Gallery at LPR. Grantland’s Jonah Keri, will read from his new book Up, Up, and Away: The Kid, the Hawk, Rock, Vladi, Pedro, le Grand Orange, Youppi!, the Crazy Business of Baseball, and the Ill-fated but Unforgettable Montreal Expos. He’ll be joined by Kostya […]
Tagged as: AJ Mass, Gelf, Jonah Keri, Kostya Kennedy
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April 2, 2014
Save the date for this event with Jeff Polman and Dan Epstein.
Tagged as: Dan Epstein, Jeff Polman
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Brought to you as a public service announcement on Behalf of the Baseball Reliquery: In conjunction with its current exhibition at the Arcadia Public Library, “Purpose Pitch: Ben Sakoguchi and the Baseball Reliquary,” the Baseball Reliquary will host a panel discussion on Los Angeles baseball history on Saturday, March 29, 2014, at 2:00 p.m., at […]
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March 18, 2014
I’m going to be writing a lot in the days and weeks to come about the fun new “Chasing Dreams: Baseball & Becoming American” exhibit at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia and its companion book, a lovely anthology. To kick things off, and in recognition of the NCAA basketball tournament, here’s […]
Tagged as: "Chasing Dreams: Baseball & Becoming American", Daniel Okrent, Fantasy baseball, John Thorn, National Museum of American Jewish History
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March 17, 2014
So do any of today’s games feature green uniforms/hats? Ugh. Anyway, Andy Wolfenson, author of Deadly Fantasy (which, full disclosure, I blurbed), will be at Here’s the Story, 1043 Stuyvesant Ave., Union, for a book signing on Friday, April 4 at 6:30 p.m. The Trumbull (CT) Library announced recently that this year’s One Book One […]
Tagged as: Chad Harbach, Deadly Fantasy, Fantasy baseball, Kostya Kennedy, Pete Rose, Sports Illustrated, The Art of Fielding
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March 3, 2014
John Feinstein, author of Where Nobody Knows Your Name: Life In the Minor Leagues of Baseball will be making the rounds on the various sports-talk radio and other shows. Here he is on Only a Game and on CBS’ Dallas-Ft. Worth affiliate. I know this will sound like sour grapes, but prolific guys like Feinstein (and […]
Tagged as: Brooks Robinson, Fantasy baseball, Jeff Loria, John Feinstein, Jonah Keri, Miami Marlins, minor leagues, Montreal Expose, Survivor
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February 21, 2014
The author of Jewish Major Leaguers in Their Own Words: Oral Histories of 23 Players, will be the featured speaker for a program on “Jews in Baseball” at The Brotherhood Synagogue, 28 Gramercy Park South, Manhattan, on Sunday, March 2 at 4 p.m. For information, call 212-674-5750.
Tagged as: Jewish Major Leaguers in Their Own Words, Peter Ephross
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February 14, 2014 · 1 comment
One of these days I have to get out to the San Diego Public Library. They frequently have good baseball-themed programs, including this one, which starts tomorrow. Tom Clavin, author of The DiMaggios: Three Brothers, Their Passion for Baseball, Their Pursuit of the American Dream will be a keynote speaker on March 8 at 1 […]
Tagged as: Casey Award, Dirk Hayhurst, Spitball Magazine, Tom Clavin Joe DiMaggio, Ty Cobb
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February 13, 2014
I don’t usually do this, but since Peter Schwartz, co-author with John Sexton and Thomas Oliphant of Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game was nice enough to tweet about it, I figure, why not. Schwartz will be a guest speaker at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse on March 6 (weather permitting; that’s […]
Tagged as: Baseball as a Road to God, Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, Peter Schwartz
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February 7, 2014
“Roy Berger, a baseball aficionado since his childhood days growing up in New York, has written a humorous and popular first person look at the world of fantasy baseball camps, The Most Wonderful Week of the Year.” Now I realize this piece comes from a marketing company, but I’m still looking forward to reading it […]
Tagged as: fantasy camp, Hank Greenberg, John Rosengren, New York Yankees
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January 24, 2014
There was a self-help book that came out awhile back called Eat the Frog. Don’t know where it came from since I never read this type of literature (not that there’s anything wrong with it). The premise is, you get the tough stuff out of the way first and the rest is easy-peasy. I guess […]
Tagged as: Andrew Zimbalist, baseball business, baseball economics, baseball strategy, Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, Moneyball
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January 15, 2014
The baseball economist will discuss his new book, The Sabermetric Revolution: Assessing the Growth of Analytics in Baseball, co-authored with Benjamin Baumer, at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, 67 East 11th Street in Manhattan, on Tuesday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. For more information about the clubhouse, see here. You can read more about the book […]
Tagged as: Andrew Zimbalist, baseball business, sabermetrics
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November 22, 2013
Overdue in posting about my wonderful experience at the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival earlier this month. I was part of the Sports Night panel with Oliver Horovitz, author of An American Caddie in St. Andrews: Growing Up, Girls, and Looping on the Old Course. I will admit to a bit of jealousy as Horovitz […]
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November 5, 2013
A reminder, I’ll be gone for awhile. Leaving for St. Louis tomorrow for the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival where I’ll be appearing in … SPORTS NIGHT Moderator: Tom Ackerman, Sports Director KMOX RADIO Oliver Horovitz AN AMERICAN CADDIE IN ST. ANDREWS: Growing Up, Girls, and Looping on the Old Course Wait-listed at Harvard, Horovitz […]
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October 18, 2013
Jerome M. Mileur will sign copies of his new book, The Stars Are Back: The St. Louis Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox, and Player Unrest in 1946, on Saturday, Oct 26, at 1 p.m. in the Bookworm bookstore, 618 E. Walnut St., Carbondale, IL. SIU Press published the book about the 1946 World Champion St. […]
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October 3, 2013
From Wendel’s Facebook post: For those in the D.C. area, I’ll be appearing with Tom Dunkel, author of Color Blind, tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 4, at One More Page Books in Arlington, Va. Yep, that’s the place the president did his Christmas shopping. Fun starts at 7 p.m.
Tagged as: Tim Wendel, Tom Dunkel
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September 30, 2013
Peter Ephross discusses his book Jewish Major Leaguers in Their Own Words: Oral Histories of 23 Players at a bagel brunch on Sunday, Oct. 6, at Congregation B’nai Jeshurun, Short Hills, NJ, at 9:45 a.m. Call 973-379-1555.
Tagged as: Peter Ephross
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September 17, 2013
How different would the literary world be if Tom Wolfe had grown up to be a baseball player? So where’s his baseball novel? John Rosengren, author of Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes, will put in an appearance at his alma mater — Saint John’s University — on Wednesday, Oct. 2 at 7:30 p.m. to […]
Tagged as: Donald Honig, Hank Greenberg, John Rosengren, Kadir Nelson, Negro Leagues, Pete Peterson, Tom Wolfe, Willie Stargell
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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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