Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
May 23, 2014
The top ten baseball books as per Amazon.com. Caveat 1: Print editions only (at least for now); I’m old fashioned that way. Caveat 2: Since the rankings are updated every hour, these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by the time you read it. But it’ll be close enough for government work. Caveat […]
Tagged as: Chicago Cubs, George F. Will, Jason Kendall, Kostya Kennedy, Mariano Rivera, Michael Feinstein, minor leagues, Moneyball, New York Yankees, Oakland As, Pete Rose, Ted Williams, Willie Randolph, Wrigley Field
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
May 19, 2014
Veteran actor Dwier Brown appeared as John Kinsella, the father of Kevin Costner’s character, Ray, in the 1989 classic Field of Dreams. He was only on screen for about five minutes at the end, but for many, those are the most powerful moments, with the ability to turn otherwise composed men and women into misty-eyed […]
Tagged as: Dwier Brown, Field of Dreams
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
May 11, 2014
I first met Judy Lynn Johnson at Hoftsra University’s symposium marking the 50th anniversary of the NY Mets. Along with Jason Antos, we presented papers on literature about the team; hers was a lot more literary than either Jason’s or mine. So it was a pleasant surprise to learn that she was publishing a baseball […]
Tagged as: baseball memoir, Judy Lynn Johnson, women and baseball
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
May 9, 2014
The top ten baseball books as per Amazon.com. Caveat 1: Print editions only (at least for now); I’m old fashioned that way. Caveat 2: Since the rankings are updated every hour, these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by the time you read it. But it’ll be close enough for government work. Caveat […]
Tagged as: Chicago Cubs, Dan Epstein, George Will, John Feinstein, Kostya Kennedy, Mariano Rivera, minor leagues, Mookie Wilson, Pete Rose, Ted Williams, Wayne Coffey
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
May 8, 2014
Obsessive as I am, I like to check the stats to see how this blog is doing and, being as niche as it is and considering the work I put into it, I can’t say I’m too disappointed. This ain’t The New York Times or Google, so I know it won’t draw huge numbers. I […]
Tagged as: baseball movies, Dwier Brown, Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner, Shoeless Joe, W. P. Kinsella
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
April 7, 2014
As of the end of the 2013 season, Jewish athletes had accounted for about 170 of nearly 19,000 Major Leaguers. So you wouldn’t expect the new “Chasing Dreams: Baseball & Becoming American” exhibit at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia to have the breadth of material one would see in Cooperstown. Nevertheless, […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
March 31, 2014
John Feinstein is one of the more prolific sportswriters of this generation. He has published more than 25 books on college and pro basketball, college and pro football, tennis, golf, and, of course, baseball. His 2008 title, Living on the Black, a doubleheader of a biography on Mike Mussina and Tom Glavine, pitchers on the […]
Tagged as: John Feinstein, minor league baseball
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
March 10, 2014
It’s a hard-knock life for many of the young men in the Dominican Republic aspiring to become major leaguers. Baseball fans have long known about the economic and social discrepancies between American-born athletes and their Latin American counterparts, especially when it comes to signing bonuses. Sometimes it’s even more nefarious. Look it’s a business, we […]
Tagged as: baseball documentary, baseball movie, Baseball Pelotero, Dominican Republic, Jon Paley, Miguel Sano, Mother Jones
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
March 3, 2014
Forgive me if I can’t cite a specific source, but I ‘m guessing more books have been written about Babe Ruth than any other athlete. Stand to reason; Ruth made his major league debut 100 years ago as a phenom for the Boston Red Sox, so there’s been a lot of time to digest what […]
Tagged as: Babe Ruth, Babe Ruth Called Shot, Chicago Cubs, Ed Sherman, New York Yankees, World Series
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
February 13, 2014
I don’t usually do this, but since Peter Schwartz, co-author with John Sexton and Thomas Oliphant of Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing Beyond the Game was nice enough to tweet about it, I figure, why not. Schwartz will be a guest speaker at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse on March 6 (weather permitting; that’s […]
Tagged as: Baseball as a Road to God, Bergino Baseball Clubhouse, Peter Schwartz
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
January 21, 2014
As the saying goes, I don’t know art, but I know what I like, and I like Mark Ulriksen‘s work. The California-based artist has a unique style which has earned him a number of covers for publications like The New Yorker. His approach is entertaining and humorous while being reverential at the same time. Ulriksen’s […]
Tagged as: baseball art, Mark Ulriksen, The New Yorker
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
December 11, 2013
Did a writer of Kevin Baker‘s renown really need a gig like this? After all, he’s already has 10 novels under his belt, beginning with his Sometimes You See It Coming, a contemporary version of Ty Cobb’s tumultuous life, published 20 years ago. And just this past September, Baker released The Big Crowd. This doesn’t […]
Tagged as: Becoming Mr. October, Kevin Baker, Ladies and Gentlemen the Bronx is Burning, Reggie Jackson
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
September 15, 2013
If you’ve been following baseball for the past couple of decades, you probably have seen Brad Mangin‘s work. His shots have been a staple of Major League Baseball and Sports Illustrated, as well as other websites and publications. As such a veteran, I thought it somewhat counterintuitive for him to publish Instant Baseball: The Baseball […]
Tagged as: Brad Mangin, Photogtrapy
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
August 20, 2013
Working on podcasts of interviews with authors Eric R9lfe Greenberg (The Celebrant: A Novel); Brad Mangin (Instant Baseball: The Baseball Instagrams of Brad Mangin); and Thomas Djya (Play for a Kingdom), not necessarily in that order. I am also trying to wrap up editing on a mini-documentary I created on The Merchants of Cooperstown (coming […]
Tagged as: Baseball Hall of Fame, Brad Mangin, Cooperstown, Eric Rolfe Greenberg, Instant Baseball, Play for a Kingdom, The Celebrant, Thomas Dyja
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
August 7, 2013
Feast or famine. I can go for weeks without posting any new material but in the past week I’ve had the very good fortunate to speak with three extremely talented artists: Eric Rolfe Greenberg, author of The Celebrant, which is considered one of the best baseball novels by just about every outlet who decides these […]
Tagged as: Brad Mangin, Eric Rolfe Greenberg, Play for a Kingdom, Play for a Kingdon, Podcast, The Celebrant, Thomas Dyja
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
July 3, 2013 · 1 comment
I love new technology. There’s nothing like getting a brand new computer and I had the occasion to get two — one for home, and one for work — last month. The downside of that is that since the previous models were acquired about five years ago, I had to replace the audio software used […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
April 11, 2013
The Yogi Berra Museum, located on the campus of Montclair State University, will host a lunch program on Hank Greenberg on Friday, April 26, at noon. Guests include John Rosengren, author of the new biography Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes; Aviva Kempner, producer/director/writer of The award-winning documentary The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg, […]
Tagged as: Aviva Kempner, Hank Greenberg, John Rosengren
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
March 12, 2013
As part of the continuing process to make 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die a multimedia experience, I have resumed the author interviews that was put on hold while I was on jury duty. First up, Howard Megdal, author of The Baseball Talmud: The Definitive Position-by-Position Ranking of Baseball’s Chosen Players, which […]
Tagged as: Baseball Talmud, Howard Megdal
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
February 4, 2013
Busy with interviews for the 501 Baseball Book website. Recent discussions include Tim Wiles (Baseball’s Greatest Hit: The Story of ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’), Sean Manning (Top of the Order: 25 Writers Pick the Favorite Baseball Player of All Time), and Peter Schilling Jr (The End of Baseball: A Novel). This week […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
February 1, 2013
The latest “501” Q&A with Tim Wiles, co-author of “Baseball’s Greatest Hit: The Story of ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’,” is now available for your listening pleasure.
Tagged as: Take Me Out to the Ball Game, Tim Wiles
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
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
Get smart with the Thesis WordPress Theme from DIYthemes.
