Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
January 18, 2008
Tommy Lasorda discusses his new book, I Live for This, on Barnes and Noble’s “Meet the author” series. Gotham Baseball, a New York-centric radio show/pod recently had Dana Brand, author of Mets Fans (McFarland). Political pundit James Carville and Luke Russert, so on TV newsman Tim Russert, cohost 60/20. a sports program on XM radio […]
Tagged as: Audio, interviews, podcasts
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January 12, 2008
“Stray questions for: Buzz Bissnger,” Jan. 11, 2008. Bissinger, of course, is the author of 3 Nights in August, an in-depth look at the managerial style of St. Louis Cardinals skipper Tony LaRussa.
Tagged as: Buzz Bissinger
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January 8, 2008
…in an in-depth interview on Brink.com. His exhaustive biography, subtitled The Ferocious Gentleman, was published earlier this year by the University of Nebraska Press and has been critically acclaimed by several sources.
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December 24, 2007
Normally, I don’t consider kids’ books for the Bookshelf, but once in awhile one comes along that is so well done, in theme and execution, that it deserves kudos. Kadir Nelson’s We are the Ship, about the Negro Leagues, falls into this category. Nelson was recently interviewed by Publisher’s Weekly. Although he has produced a […]
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December 14, 2007
This discussion, held at the Commonwealth Club of California in Oakland on May 30, features Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, discussing, what else? Marty Lurie moderates. Program description: “With the weight of a prison sentence off their shoulders, Fainaru-Wada and Williams open up about their role in the BALCO steroid case that rocked pro sports. […]
Tagged as: BALCO, Bonda, Fainaru-Wada, steroids, Williams
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December 4, 2007
Co-editor of Baseball Between the Numbers, from a July 2007 interview on GoogleAuthors:
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November 12, 2007
Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak, and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager, by Buzz Bissinger, narrated by Jeffrey Nordling (Unabridged) Bissinger’s wonderful examination of the St. Louis Cardinals. Hear it here: Bissinger discusses Three Nights in August on BN.com. http://boss.streamos.com/download/audible/content/rt/mark/010517/RT_MARK_010517_sample.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Tagged as: audiobooks, August, Baseball News, Bissinger
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November 7, 2007
One of my favorite writers is Studs Terkel. He reminds me of a reverse Johnny Appleseed: instead of going around spreading, he collected stories from people from all walks of life about all sorts of subjects. A lifelong Cubs fan, Terkel, who turned 95 in May, appeared as the sportswriter Hugh Fullerton in the movie […]
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October 1, 2007
From Publishers Weekly, Oct. 1, 2007: Halberstam Remembered At an event honoring David Halberstam at Warwick’s in La Jolla, Calif., the author’s cousin, Michael Halberstam, started the evening off with a tribute to the late reporter. The evening was capped off with a reading from Halberstam’s recent book, The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean […]
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September 10, 2007
Richard Carter, an award-winning newspaper writer for the New York Compass, and co-author of Curt Flood’s 1971 memoir, The Way It Is, died on Sept. 8 at the age of 89. Flood wrote his book after his decision to quit baseball rather than acquiesce to a trade from the St. Louis Cardinals, where he had […]
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September 7, 2007
From Powells.com, the online book store, three “exclusive” author interviews: “Roger Angell, Still Throwing Strikes“ “Frank Deford Recalls When the Radio Guys Came in with Packs on Their Backs, Looking like Astronauts (and More)“ “David Halberstam’s Hit Streak Continues“
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August 20, 2007
From the Masslive.com blog, a conversation with Seth Mnookin, author of Feeding the Monster. Like many authors these days, Mnookin has taken to blogging as another way to reach his readers. But as if often the case with new toys, the user soon tires and loses interest. Blogging, says Mnookin, is “like stepping off a […]
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August 3, 2007
It might be a bit of an unfair advantage since he already has a regular gig on Morning Edition, but Frank Deford, is getting a fair bit of mileage out of his association with NPR. In addtion discussing his latest novel, The Entitled (Sourcebooks), on the July 11 Morning Edition program, he appeared as a […]
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From The Leonard Lopate Show, August 1, 2007: After spending a few years trying to write a baseball book, sports columnist for the Kansas City Star, Joe Posnanski lucked into a story that had to be told. Buck O’Neil is the iconic Negro Leagues player and manager. During the last year of his life, O’Neil […]
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August 1, 2007
I recently re-discovered Gelf, a San Francisco based webzine, which is a great source for baseball author interviews. Of all the topics I read, I am most fascinated by stories that involve the creative process, whether it’s the thoughts of a movie director or an author. For non-fiction writers, there’s a double responsibility. The first […]
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April 26, 2007
> The Project for Excellence in Journalism (Journalism.org) offers a collection of tributes from numerous sources. Terry Gross, host of NPR’s Fresh Air, replayed a few interviews she did with Halbertsam over the years. Topics include his award-winning work covering Viet Nam for The New York Times, writing about the 1950s, and Michael Jordan’s place […]
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March 21, 2007
<p>I’ve always admired the work of Roger Angell. Baseball fans look forward to his semi-annual contributions to the <em>New Yorker. <a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=184,height=235,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0’); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/angell.jpg”><img title=”Angell” height=”191″ alt=”Angell” src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/angell.jpg” width=”150″ border=”0″ style=”FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 5px 5px” /></a></em></p> <p>I came across these two interesting videos featuring legendary baseball writer Roger Angell’s appearance […]
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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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Bill James' reach extends beyond baseball
November 12, 2007
Paul Campos, a law professor at the University of Colorado and writer for Scripps Howard News Service, wrote this piece about the living legacy of Bill James. Not only did his books change the way fans and executives think about baseball, but his greater themes can apply to other issues. Some of the central themes […]
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