Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
May 24, 2012
Well, to be accurate, editor appearance. Anderson helmed the fascinating and entertaining The New York Times Story of the Yankees: 382 Articles, Profiles and Essays from 1903 to Present, a real time-capsule about the Bronx Bombers. Just as interesting as reading about Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, Mantle, Maris, Mattingly, Jeter, et al, is — from a […]
Tagged as: Dave Anderson, New York Times, New York Yankees
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May 16, 2012
John Smoltz discusses his new book, Starting and Closing: Perseverance, Faith, and One More Year. It’s kind of funny: Smoltz spent 20 out of his 21- years in the Majors with the Atlanta Braves, yet the headline for the St. Louis TV station refers to him as an ex-Cardinal. Sure, he was with the Cards […]
Tagged as: Art of Fielding, Dan Ewald, John Smoltz, RA Dickey, Sparky Anderson
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May 1, 2012
♦ The Oklahoman reviewed R.A. Dickey’s memoir. Upshot: “This isn’t just a book about baseball. It’s a book, as Dickey often said, about hope. Hope of attaining his dream. Hope of being happy. Hope of proving people wrong about being a knuckleball pitcher. How he reaches each point of hope is an incredible journey, and […]
Tagged as: Calico Joe, Jim Abbott, John Grisham, R.A. Dickey, Steve Blass
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April 30, 2012
Spent a pleasant three days at Hofstra University’s conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the New York Mets, much on on which later. Suffice it so say here that I met or re-meta lot of nice folks, many of whom are authors and/or bloggers, including my roomie, Matthew Silverman (several titles about the Mets), Stanley […]
Tagged as: John Thorn, Matthew Silverman, New York Mets
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April 17, 2012 · 2 comments
The airwaves sure have been busy over the past few days. ♦ Jim Abbott (Imperfect: An Improbable Life) was a guest on yesterday’s Leonard Lopate Show. I find it interesting that the subtitle does not include “Baseball,” as in “An Improbable Baseball Life.” ♦ John Grisham, author of Calico Joe was a guest on Only […]
Tagged as: Ball Four, Bill Littlefield, Jim Abbott, Jim Bouton, John Grisham, National Public Radio, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
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The Mets are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year. One of the key events marking the occasion is a three-day conference at Hofstra University and it will be my pleasure to moderate a panel of three landsmen at an authors roundtable. The gentlemen include: ♦ John Thorn, the official historian of Major League Baseball and […]
Tagged as: Hofstra University, New York Mets
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April 13, 2012
History is not supposed to be something I’ve lived through. History is supposed to be something that happened well before I was born. It was therefore with a mix of nostalgia and dread that I read Tim Wendell‘s Summer of ’68: The Season That Changed Baseball–and America–Forever. 1968 was the first year I really started […]
Tagged as: 1968, David Halberstam, Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Tim Wendel, World Series
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April 11, 2012
The Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center in Connecticut is holding this three-day event from June 29-July 1. Among the authors and media personalities scheduled to appear: Martin Abramowitz—President of Jewish Major Leaguers, Inc, the producers of Jewish baseball cards Rabbi Rebecca Alpert—Associate Professor, Temple University; author of Out of Left Field: Jews and Black Baseball […]
Tagged as: Howard Megdal, Ira Berkow, Peter Levine, Rebecca Alpert, Stan Hochman
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April 11, 2012
Dickey, the Mets knuckleballer, has been the guest on two NPR programs this week, Fresh Air (yesterday) and The Leonard Lopate Show (on Monday). And I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up on Only a Game at some point. I always find it interesting to hear the same author on multiple outlets: How do […]
Tagged as: Dave Davies, National Public Radio, RA Dickey
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April 10, 2012
John Grisham appeared on Weekend Edition Saturday to discuss his new baseball novel, Calico Joe. Mets Pitcher R.A. Dickey is also making the rounds. He was on Fresh Air to talk about his memoir, Wherever I Wind Up. The program also re-ran an interview from last August with Brad Aumus, now in the San Diego […]
Tagged as: Calico Joe, John Grisham, RA Dickey, Weekend Edition
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April 9, 2012
The Baseball Reliquary program on Bill Veeck and his contributions to the game opens today in Arcadia, Calif. Paul Dickson, whose new biography, Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick, will be at the event. His essay on Veeck has appeared in several publications over the past few days.
Tagged as: Baseball Reliquary, Bill Veeck, Paul Dickson
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April 6, 2012
Some of the contributions for the new collaboration Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World’s Most Loved (and Hated) Team are dewy-eyed tributes, either about the team in general, or a player in particular, or a personal moment with a family member, bonding over a shared love. On the other end of the […]
Tagged as: Charlie Pierce, Damn Yankees, Daniel Okrent, Jane Leavy, Rob Fleder, Roy Blount Jr., Sports Illustrated
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April 3, 2012
Gelf magazine begins the season with a “Varsity Letters Baseball Night” on Thursday, April 5, at 7:30 p.m., at The Gallery at LPR, 158 Bleecker St. (between Sullivan St. and Thompson St.), NYC. Four writers of recent baseball books will read from and talk about their work, including New York Times columnist Dan Barry (interview […]
Tagged as: Dan Barry, Glenn Stout, Jay Jaffe, Steven Goldman
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April 2, 2012
The author of Imperfect: An Improbable Life, written with Tim Brown, will appear Tuesday, April 3, 7 p.m., at Barnes & Noble, 2289 Broadway, New York, NY (212-362-8835) Saturday, April 14, 3 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 7881 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach, CA (714-897-8781) Monday, April 16, 7 p.m. at Book Revue, 313 New York […]
Tagged as: Jim Abbott
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Be sure to check in to the Bookshelf this weekend. I’ll be posting my interview with Harvey Araton, author of Driving Mr. Yogi: Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, and Baseball’s Greatest Gift. Araton will join Berra and Guidry in an appearance at the Yogi Berra Museum next Wednesday, April 4, at 6 p.m. Admission is $50, […]
Tagged as: Harvey Araton, Ron Guidry, Yogi Berra, Yogi Berra Museum
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March 21, 2012
The Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, located at 67 East 11th Street in Manhattan, has just announced their spring lineup of author discussions and as usual it’s packed with all-stars. Wednesday, April 18: Tim Wendel, author of Summer of ’68: The Season That Changed Baseball–and America–Forever Thursday, April 26: Harvey Araton, Driving Mr. Yogi: Yogi Berra, Ron […]
Tagged as: Harvey Araton, Jim Gullo, Marty Appel, Ted Reed, Tim Wendel
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March 19, 2012
The author of Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, & Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan will discuss his latest book at Oblong Books & Music, 6422 Montgomery St., Rhinebeck, NY on Saturday, March 24 at 7:30 p.m. For more information, call 845-876-0500.
Tagged as: Babe Ruth, Robert Fitts
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March 17, 2012
Thanks to Dan Barry, one of the contributors to this collection of essays, for alerting to this excellent book trailer: Barry will join fellow contributors Will Leitch, Jane Leavy, and Rob Fleder, editor of Damn Yankees at a discussion and booksigning on April 18 at the Yogi Berra Museum in Little Falls, NJ. For more […]
Tagged as: Damn Yankees, Dan Barry, Dave Kaplan, Jane Leavy, Rob Fleder, Will Leitch
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March 15, 2012
The author of the new Summer of ’68: The Season That Changed Baseball–and America–Forever will be at the famous Politics & Prose Bookstore, 5015 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington D.C. (202-364-1919), on Saturday, April 14, at 1 p.m. Wendel, a former baseball writer for USA Today, also wrote High Heat: The Secret History of the Fastball and […]
Tagged as: Tim Wendel
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March 11, 2012
With St. Patrick’s Day just ahead, what better time to discuss Charlie Rosen’s new book,The Emerald Diamond: How the Irish Transformed America’s Greatest Pastime? Rosen previous sports work — over a dozen titles, both fiction and non-fiction — have been almost exclusively about basketball. The lone exception: his Bullpen Diaries: Mariano Rivera, Bronx Dreams, Pinstripe […]
Tagged as: Charley Rosen, Emerald Diamond, New York Yankees, Saint Patrick's Day
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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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