Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
November 12, 2012
Franklin Foer and Marc Tracy, co-editors of Jewish Jocks: An Unorthodox Hall of Fame will discuss their project on Thursday, Nov. 15, at the Sixth and I Synagogue in Washington, DC at 7 p.m. In addition, Jane Leavy, author of Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy and The Last Boy, will be on hand, as will […]
Tagged as: Franklin Foer, Jewish Jock, Marc Tracy, Sandy Koufax, Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy, Unorthodox Hall of Fame
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October 25, 2012
The author of the recent Yankees history, Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankees from Before the Babe to After the Boss, was a guest on a recent installment of WNET’s MetroFocus.
Tagged as: Marty Appel, New York Yankees
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October 22, 2012
Saturday was a busy day for baseball news. One of the questions on Wait Wait Don’t Tell me involved a certain high-priced player on a certain recently-vanquished playoff team: PETER SAGAL: Right now, panel, time for you to answer some questions about this week’s news. Luke, Alex Rodriquez, the most highly paid player in baseball […]
Tagged as: Alex Rodriguez, Tony La Russa
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October 19, 2012
The Bergino Baseball Clubhouse (67 East 11 Street, NYC, 212-226-7150 keeps the hot stove going with another series of authors discussions. All programs begin at 7 p.m. Where applicable, I’ve included links to my reviews of the books or other pertinent information. Guests include: Jim (“No Realtion”) Kaplan, author of The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: […]
Tagged as: cricket, Evander Lomke, Jim Kaplan, Juan Marichal, Lefty Gomez, Martin Rowe, New York Yankees, Ray Negron, Vernona Gomez, Warren Spahn
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October 18, 2012
Katya Cengel will be sharing stories from her new book, Bluegrass Baseball: A Year in the Minor League Life, at the Players Sports Bar, 7061 Clairemont Mesa Blvd. in San Diego, Calif., on Friday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. She will be joined by John Billheimer, who will read from his mystery Field of Schemes, […]
Tagged as: John Billheimer, Katya Cengel
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October 10, 2012
CBS’ Face the Nation took a break in its last episode to discuss some really important issues. Jane Leavy (formerly of the Washington Post and author of The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood and Sandy Koufax : A Lefty’s Legacy); Hall of Fame manager Tommy Lasorda (I Live for This: […]
Tagged as: Face the Nation, Jane Leavy, Peter Gammons, Tommy Lasorda, Tony La Russa, Washington Nationals
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October 2, 2012
♦ The Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel published this piece by Mark Souder, a former congressional representative, about his favorite White Sox books, including this year’s Paul Dickson contribution, Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick. ♦ Tony La Russa is making the rounds on his book tour. He was a recent guest on NPR’s The Leonard Lopate Show (which […]
Tagged as: Bill Veeck, Chicago White Sox, Leonard Lopate, National Public Radio, Paul Dickson, Robert Siegel, Tony LaRussa
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September 25, 2012
They’re pulling out all the stops for Tony La Russa as his new book — One Last Strike: Fifty Years in Baseball, Ten and a Half Games Back, and One Final Championship Season — hits the stores. Yesterday was Tony La Russa day, as proclaimed by the mayor of St. Louis. Here’s a list of […]
Tagged as: Tony LaRussa
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September 19, 2012
* Sorry for the last-minute notice, but Bobby Richardson will be at the Yogi Berra Museum at TODAY at 3 p.m. to for a book-signing of Impact Player: Leaving a Lasting Legacy On and Off the Field. * Former Cardinals manager Tony La Russa will be at the St. Louis County Library on Friday, Sept. […]
Tagged as: Bobby Richardson, Tony La Russa
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September 12, 2012
The author of Yankee Greats: 100 Classic Baseball Cards will be the featured guest at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse in Manhattan on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. Woods was a guest on a Bookshelf podcast back in June. From the press release: Yankee Greats features 100 baseball cards of the greatest and most popular […]
Tagged as: baseball art, Baseball Cards, Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, Bob Woods, New York Yankees, Topps
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August 14, 2012
The co-author (with Tom Clavin) of the new biography Gil Hodges: The Brooklyn Bums, the Miracle Mets, and the Extraordinary Life of a Baseball Legend will be at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse on Thursday, Aug. 16 at 7 p.m. No doubt I will be doing a review (and perhaps another interview) in the weeks to […]
Tagged as: Danny Peary, Gil Hodges
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July 23, 2012
* From the Atlanta Journal Constitution, a piece on John Klima, author of a new book on the 1957 World Champion Milwaukee Braves. * Speaking of the Braves, former Atlanta catcher Javy Lopez will be signing his book, Behind the Plate: A Catcher’s View of the Braves Dynasty, at Barnes and Noble,1217 Caroline St. NE, in […]
Tagged as: John Klima
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July 20, 2012 · 1 comment
The Whittemore Library of Naugatuck, CT, will host a book talk and signing by former Red Sox pitcher Dennis “Oil Can” Boyd and co-author Mike Shalin (They Call Me Oil Can: Baseball, Drugs, and Life on the Edge) at 1 p.m. Saturday, July 28, at the Naugatuck Congregational Church Hall.
Tagged as: Mike Shalin, Oil Can Boyd
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July 7, 2012
A while back I bought a Flip camera. Figured it would come in handy at some point. I took it to the Hofstra University Mets 50th Anniversary conference where I taped MLB historian John Thorn delivering the keynote address. Unfortunately that was all I was able to record because of battery issues. Have to figure […]
Tagged as: Hofstra University, John Thorn, New York Mets
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July 6, 2012
Drawings from Kadir Nelson’s fascinating and beautifully done 2008 children’s book about the Negro Leagues will be on display at the Western Pennsylvania Sports Museum through Aug. 26. Here’s the link to an interview I did with Nelson in 2009.
Tagged as: Kadir Nelson
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Surely you remember these. But for me, going to “Judaism and Baseball” at the Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Falls Village, CT, next weekend will be even more fun. The program, which runs from Friday, June 29, to Sunday, July 1, features a number of speakers with whom I have become well familiar since […]
Tagged as: Aviva Kempner, Hank Greenberg, Howard Megdal, Ira Berkow, Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center, Israel Baseball League, Peter Levine
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June 19, 2012
The story of baseball is told every day at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. But this summer, some of the latest unique and inspirational stories of the National Pastime will be celebrated through the Museum’s Authors Series program. The Hall of Fame will host seven Authors Series events throughout the summer, bringing […]
Tagged as: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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June 13, 2012
With Fathers Day upon us, and a few prominent author appearances on the horizon, I’ve been scrambling to put up some relevant podcasts. So rather than putting up one this week, there will be a few including: Wayne Coffey, co-author of R.A. Dickey’s notable memoir, Wherever I Wind Up Marty Appel, Pinstripe Empire, which is […]
Tagged as: Dave Anderson, Marty Appel, New York Times, Pinstripe Empire, Topps, Wayne Coffey, Yogi Berra Museum
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June 12, 2012
♦ Bruce Spitzer, author of the sci-fi-ish novel about Ted Williams rising from the dead, was on Beyond the Game, a White Plains community access cable channel. ♦ ♦ Received a copy of Ronnie Joyner‘s new Hardball Legends and Journeymen and Short-Timers: 333 Illustrated Baseball Biographies yesterday. It’s a throwback to the days when newspapers […]
Tagged as: Allen Barra, Bruce Spitzer, Cal Ripken, Doug Glanville, Ted Williams
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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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Bits and pieces
August 30, 2012
Time for the occasional declutter of the accumulated links and stories, so here goes. “Dan Barry’s Bottom of the 33rd has won the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing, which honors a nonfiction book on the subject of sports.” More here. From the Yogi Berra Museum: Former Yankee star second baseman Bobby Richardson, a cornerstone […]
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