Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
July 21, 2011
Because, why not? Baseball Reflections posted this review of David Halberstam‘s October 1964, one of several baseball books from the author of “more important” works. Upshot:”This work is one of the most in depth looks at the behind the scenes make-up of a World Series match-up that has ever been written. While certainly not a […]
Tagged as: Al Stump, Bernie Williams, David Halberstam, Fred Lieb, Israel Baseball League, Ty Cobb, Ty Cobb Museum
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July 19, 2011
Kelly D. Cleaver Sr. recently published Sorry Kid, I Don’t Much Feel Like Playing Today which, according to the blurb on the iUniverse publishing site, “settles the debates once and for all by breaking down each player’s contributions on a play-by-play basis. Section one addresses Chicago’s pitching and fielding, while section two is all about […]
Tagged as: Black Sox scandal, Chicago White Sox, World Series
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July 7, 2011
In this video, courtesy Simon and Schuster, Green talks about his new book, The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 MPH. You can read an excerpt of the book here.
Tagged as: Shawn Green
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May 24, 2011
As I try to play some catch-up: From the Atlantic: “Why the Royals are a Better Baseball Team Than the Yankees.” Sports Illustrated‘s Tom Verducci gives us more Wilpon analysis. Marc Tracey published this review of Bottom of the 33rd: Hope, Redemption, and Baseball’s Longest Game by Dan Barry. Upshot: “More than an Easter play, […]
Tagged as: Dan Barry
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March 20, 2011
Only a Game recently featured two author reviews for books on minorities in baseball. Neil Lanctot, author of Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella, was featured on the March 12 episode (listen here). Rob Ruck, author of Raceball: How the Major Leagues Colonized the Black and Latin Game was on the March 5 program […]
Tagged as: John Thorn, Neil Lanctot, Rob Ruck, Roy Campanella
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March 17, 2011
Frommer adds to his already-impressive oeuvre of baseball books with Remembering Fenway Park: An Oral and Narrative History of the Home of the Boston Red Sox. This colorful coffee-table edition bookends nicely with his 2008 release, Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of “The House That Ruth Built” from the same publisher, Stewart, […]
Tagged as: Boston Red Sox, Fenway Park, Harvey frommer
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March 12, 2011
Well, in this case, it’s The Extra 2%: How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First, by Jonah Keri. Keri, who published the excellent Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong in 2006, took a in-depth look at inner workings of the Tampa […]
Tagged as: Jonah Keri, Moneyball, Rob Neyer, Tampa Bay Rays
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March 6, 2011
Baseball Past and Present offers this list of 10 favorites baseball titles, only a couple of which might surprise. Fenway West, a Red Sox (duh)-centric blog, posted this review of Jonah Keri’s The Extra 2%. Upshot: “Move over Moneyball, there is a new addition to the business of baseball library.” There’s also a feature on […]
Tagged as: Bill James, Jonah Keri, Lip Pike, Moneyball, Tampa Bay Rays
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January 20, 2011
A few items of special interest to the Jewish fans out there. Mark Kurlansky, author of the upcoming book Hank Greenberg: The Hero Who Didn’t Want to Be One, was the subject of this profile in the New York Jewish Week. From the article, by Eric Herschthal: In March, Yale University Press will publish his […]
Tagged as: Hank Greenberg, Mark Kurlansky, Moe Berg
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October 25, 2010
An occasional wrap-up of things that have fallen through the cracks. A review of Baseball Is America: Origins and History: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Victor Alexander Baltov, Jr. A review of Fifty-Nine in ’84, Edward Achorn’s biography of Hoss Radbourn. Len Berman, author of a new kid’s book on the greats […]
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September 24, 2010
Apologies for being a bit tardy in putting up the latest podcasts. I recently switched to a knew computer and my audio technology is a bit different and I have to find a couple of work-arounds. I hope to have that rectified soon. In the meantime, here‘s a Doug Glanville, author of The Game from Where […]
Tagged as: Doug Glanville
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September 10, 2010
Randy Johnson turns 47 today. There have been several books about him, but mostly in the area of juvenile biography, plus a couple of instructions, including Randy Johnson’s Power Pitching: The Big Unit’s Secrets to Domination, Intimidation, and Winning. And, of course, he’s included in books that focus on the top hurlers in the game, […]
Tagged as: Danny Peary, Randy Johnson, Roger Maris
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August 10, 2010
The wife and daughter are making a college tour, so I’m taking the opportunity to visit an antiquarian bookstore down the street, make a few entries, and work on another project. So here’s a bit of what’s going on lately: Birthday greetings, Rocky Colavito, who turns 77 today. The slugger primarily played for the Tigers […]
Tagged as: baseball books
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August 4, 2010
I guess I’m one of the few that read this one. Dwight Garner wrote this profile of Tom Grimes — author of Season’s End: A Novel — in connection with his new book, Mentor. But now Mr. Grimes had finished his big new book, a Don DeLillo-ish novel about baseball that would eventually be titled […]
Tagged as: baseball author, Season's End, Tom Grimes
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July 31, 2010
Haven’t done one of these in a long time, but a glance at my Google alerts shows more than 500 notices, so here goes. Bruce Markusen at Hardball Times, conducted this interview with Dan Epstein, author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass. HT also ran this review of The Eastern Stars (upshot: “The Eastern Stars […]
Tagged as: baseball books
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July 8, 2010
Wilker was the subject of this interview on WGN-TV yesterday:
Tagged as: Baseball Cards, Josh Wilker
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July 4, 2010
Pinstripe Alley posted this interview with the author of Mickey Mantle Goes to Heaven.
Tagged as: Pritz Peterson
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July 4, 2010
A review of Lee Panas’ Beyond Batting Average by Neil Paine on Baseball-Reference.com. Upshot: “The point of a book like this is to simply & effectively explain what each metric does, why it’s important, and how it builds on the stats that came before. Panas does a very good job of this….” Joe Posnanski is […]
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July 3, 2010
Brad Balfour interviews the author of Roger Maris: Baseball’s Reluctant Hero, on the Film Festival Traveler website. Note to Danny: Next time, don’t cover the label!
Tagged as: Danny Peary, Roger Maris
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July 2, 2010
BaseballArt.com posted this in-depth profile of artist Kadir Nelson, author of the children’s book We Are The Ship, about the Negro Leagues. From the article: “We Are The Ship”, which contains 50 Nelson paintings, 41 done specifically for it, was an eight-year labor. With records sparse, he devoted much time to trying to get enough […]
Tagged as: Kadir Nelson
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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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