Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
August 20, 2012
♦ The Louisville Courier-Journal posted this Q&A with Katya Cengel, author of Bluegrass Baseball: A Year in the Minor League Life. ♦ Tom Hoffarth of the Los Angeles Daily News, blogged about Not Exactly Cooperstown, a documentary about The Baseball Reliquary by Jon Leonoudakis (look for a review of the film as well as a […]
Tagged as: Baseball Reliquary, Jon Leonoudakis, Rob Neyer, Tim Wendell
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July 8, 2012
As mentioned in a previous post, Arnold Hano wrote one of the must-read books for any serious student of the national pastime. A Day in the Bleachers was the first, and in many ways the best, of the single-game analyses genre. His deconstruction of the first game of the 1954 World Series between the New […]
Tagged as: Arion Press, Arnold Hano, Baseball Reliquary, Fans, Mark Ulriksen, New York Giants, Willie Mays, World Series
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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 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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June 7, 2012
Rob Neyer at SB Nation posted this item about Gary Bedingfield, host of Baseball in Wartime and author of Baseball’s Dead of World War II: A Roster of Professional Players Who Died in Service. Awhile back I had a chance to e-chat with Bedingfield, a native of Great Britain, about his interest in paying tribute […]
Tagged as: Gary Bedingfield, Rob Neyer, SB Nation, World War II
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May 30, 2012
Naugatuck Patch posted this story about Jack Cavanaugh, author of Season of ’42: Joe D, Teddy Ballgame, and Baseball’s Fight to Survive a Turbulent First Year of War. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran this feature on R.A. Dickey. When you think about it, every town the Mets play should carry a story about him. And how […]
Tagged as: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, RA Dickey
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May 29, 2012
I get a kick out of how foreign media handle the occasional baseball-themed story. They almost seem apologetic that they have to explain what baseball is, as in the introduction to this audio interview with the author of The Art of Fielding from the Australian Broadcasting Company: American Author Chad Harbach is hot stuff in […]
Tagged as: Art of Fielding, Australian Broadcasting Company, Chad Harbach
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May 29, 2012 · 1 comment
The Bleeding Pinstripe Blue blog published this Q&A with Appel, author of Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankees from Before the Babe to After the Boss, the new “definitive” history of the Bronx Bombers. Wouldn’t it be cool if Mantle was saying, “Psst, hey, Appel. Pull my finger?”
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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 11, 2012
“Kid” in this case being authors who have been the subject of recent profiles and Q&A pieces, including: ♦ A Daily Beast piece with Chad Harbach (The Art of Fielding) ♦ A Q&A with Hart Seely, author of The Juju Rules: Or, How to Win Ballgames from Your Couch: A Memoir of a Fan Obsessed […]
Tagged as: Aaron Pribble, Bill Veeck, Chard Harbach, Edward Rielly, Hart Seely, Josh Lewin, Paul Dickson, The Art of Fielding
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May 4, 2012
And the hits just keep coming. Recent author interviews on NPR programs include: This Q&A with Jim Bouton, was the guest for a segment on “‘Ball Four’: The Book That Changed Baseball,” from Northwest Public Radio (an NPR “double threat”). Hart Seely, author of The Juju Rules: Or, How to Win Ballgames from Your Couch: A […]
Tagged as: Ball Four, Bill Veeck, Hart Seely, Jim Bouton, National Public Radio, Paul Dickson
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April 12, 2012
The author of Calico Joe is making the rounds (I hope to get him to slum a bit and grant an interview to the Bookshelf). Here he is on CBS News, opining how half his future sales will come from e-books, a signal of the decline and fall of the physical book, and, consequently, bookstores. […]
Tagged as: Don Kessinger, John Grisham
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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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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 19, 2012
Alex Belth, author of Stepping Up: The Story of All-Star Curt Flood and His Fight for Baseball Players’ Rights and Lasting Yankee Stadium Memories: Unforgettable Tales from the House That Ruth Built, conducted this in-depth interview with Rob Fleder, editor of the new collection of essays, Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World’s […]
Tagged as: Alex Belth, Curt Flood, Damn Yankees, Dirk Hayhurst, Rob Fleder, Ron Guidry, Yogi Berra
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March 14, 2012
The co-author (with Jown Dewan) of The Fielding Bible–Volume III was a guest on the March 13 podcast of ESPN’s Baseball Today program. Defense has become an increasingly studied field (no pun intended), with metrics well beyond the PO-A-PCT. variety. Several years ago I did some game reporting to STATS and it was a very […]
Tagged as: ESPN
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February 16, 2012
If you happen to be at the University of North Carolina tomorrow afternoon, the author of The Art of Fielding will be on hand to discuss “collegial life, baseball and literature.” The free program takes place at 3 p.m. on the second floor of the Morehead-Cain offices in the east wing of the Morehead Building.
Tagged as: Art of Fielding, baseball fiction, Chad Harbach, University of North Carolina
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December 16, 2011
George Vecsey has announced his non-retirement (since he refuses to use the “R” word) in his last “official” NY Times column today. Vecsey, most recently the author of Stan Musial: An American Life, has also written Joy In Mudville: Being a Complete Account of the Unparalleled History of the New York Mets From Their Most […]
Tagged as: George Vecsey, NY Times, Stan Musial
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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
July 10, 2012
* John Rocker‘s memoir is not exactly new but it’s still getting some buzz. Whether or not it’s good is besides the point. I think a lot of people want to know if he’s as big a train wreck as he came off in that Sports Illustrated piece in 1999. * Dennis Anderson sent me […]
Tagged as: John Rocker, Sports Illustrated
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