Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
June 2, 2008
Gelf magazine occasionally features well-written pieces on baseball, primarily with players and others associated with the game. Here are four such articles, examing the craft of some baseball authors: Ira Berkow on his mentor and friend, Red Smith Spike Vrusho on his book, Benchclearing: Baseball’s Greatest Fights and Riots Cait Murphy, author of Crazy ’08 […]
Tagged as: author profiles, baseball books, Gelf magazine
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June 2, 2008
Pat Jordan seems to be making a comeback. First his non-interview with Jose Canseco, then his non-interview with Josh Beckett. Now we have this Jordan profile, courtesy of Cardboardgods.com.
Tagged as: Pat Jordan
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June 1, 2008
One of the first baseball cards I can remember is Don Gutterridge as manager of the Chicago White Sox. He seemed so old then (from the perspective of a ten-year-old), I was amazed to see his still around. His is profiled in the Pittsburgh Morning Sun’s on-line presence as coauthor of Getting Started In Baseball, […]
Tagged as: Don Gutteridge, Manager, Pittsburgh, White Sox
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May 21, 2008
from the Detroit Tigers podcast. http://media.libsyn.com/media/detroittigerspodcast/DTP-49.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Tagged as: Rob Neyer
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May 19, 2008
From the Washington Post, this transcript from an on-line forum with the author of Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember, about Tim Glavine and Mike Mussina.
Tagged as: author interview, John Feinstein, Mike Mussina, Tom Glavine
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May 12, 2008
From Seamheads.com, this extensive Q&A with the author of The Code: Baseball’s Unwritten Rules and It’s Ignore-at-Your-Own-Risk Code of Conduct
Tagged as: baseball brawls
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May 12, 2008
The former Boston Globe columnist was the subject of this nepotistic interview in his former employer’s Sunday Magazine for his new book, Red Sox Rule: Terry Francona and Boston’s Rise to Dominance.
Tagged as: Boston Red Sox, Terry Francona
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May 6, 2008
Eric Seidman takes a break from his statistical analysis to interview Bill Werber, the 99-year-old former New York Yankee and author Reading the piece, I couldn’t help but wonder as to the accuracy of the tales told by the ex-ballplayer. Thanks a lot, Rob Neyer. Nevertheless, Seidman does a sensitive job. The Amazon Report on […]
Tagged as: Bill Werber, Eric Seidman
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May 5, 2008
After a lull, Jose Canseco is back in the news after he defaulted on his mortgage and his home was foreclosed. Poor Jose, but look on the bright side. This can be fodder for his next book. a paranoic, conspiracy theory about how the baseball establishment ruined him for daring to speak “the truth.” Anyway, […]
Tagged as: Jose Canseco, Twilight Zone, vindicated
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May 5, 2008
A few more links to interviews with/features on Rob Neyer, author of the eponymous Big Book of Baseball Legends. From Viva ElBirdos, a Q&A And another from one of my favorites, The Baseball Analysts
Tagged as: Rob Neyer
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May 2, 2008
The editor of Baseball Between the Numbers interviewed by Authors@Google last July. [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.527325&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]
Tagged as: Jonah Keri
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Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter on making the talk-show circuit, chatting up his new book, Still a Kid at Heart: My Life in Baseball and Beyond (Triumph). Yesterday, it was WNYC’s Leonard Lopate Show. A few observations: Not to be cynical or curmudgeonly — Carter strikes me as genuinely nice — but listen to […]
Tagged as: Gary Carter
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April 30, 2008
As appears on the Cardboard Gods column of The Baseball Toaster.
Tagged as: Baseball author interview
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April 21, 2008
The Cleveland Plain Dealer‘s review, which calls the children’s book “A big hit for baseball fans of all ages.” And the BBC, of all outlets, aired this lovely segment on the author, Kadir Nelson, in which the author/artist discusses his project and demonstrates his techniques.
Tagged as: Kadir Nelson, Negro Leagues
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April 7, 2008
This article from the Brockton, MA Enterprise, features It Takes More Than Balls — The Savvy Girls Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Baseball. It might not have been so if one of the authors wasn’t a local product.
Tagged as: women and baseball
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April 7, 2008
The Memphis Commercial Appeal offers this “capsule” review of Fay Vincent’s second volume of oral history on the players of the the 1950s and 1960s. Not quite The Glory of Their Times, but as baby boomers get older, these are the heroes of their youth. As can be expected of a book of this kind, […]
Tagged as: 1950s, 1960s, Fay Vincent, oral history
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April 2, 2008
A review of the new Michael Holley book Red Sox Rule: Terry Francona and Boston’s Rise to Dominance from the Providence Journal. Another (!) new book regarding the Sox — albeit turning back the clock 30 years — is Richard Bradley’s The Greatest Game: The Yankees, the Red Sox, and the Playoff of ’78 as […]
Tagged as: baseball book reviews, Red Sox, Terry Francona, Yankees
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April 2, 2008
I’ve never been one for the science of economics. Markets, demand, supply, agriculture…all beyond my limited mental capacity. However, I did love Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner. It opens a lot or doors for thinking about things that one would not associate with economics (Which is more dangerous: a gun or […]
Tagged as: Bill James, Freakonomics
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April 1, 2008
From Bless You Boys, a Detroit Tigers Web site, this Q&A with the author of The Soul of Baseball.
Tagged as: Buck O'Neil, Joe Posnanski, The Soul of the Game
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March 28, 2008
When did this once-estimable program turned into a supermarket tabloid? In the words of several sports pundits, this whole thing makes me want to take a shower.
Tagged as: Jose Canseco, Nightline, vindicated
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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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