Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
March 1, 2024
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
Tagged as: Boston Red Sox, Pete Rose
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February 16, 2024
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
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February 2, 2024
Happy Groundhog Day! I never understood it: if the groundhog sees its shadow, doesn’t that mean that the weather is nice and that there should not be six more weeks of winter? Meteorologists and sports pundits are the only professions where you can be wring half the time and still keep your job. Moving on… […]
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January 5, 2024
Welcome to the first BBS for the New Year! I hope 2024 brings lots of good reading your way. A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough […]
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December 15, 2023
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
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November 10, 2023
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
Tagged as: Texas Rangers
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November 3, 2023
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
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October 17, 2023
(Note: Links in the list below are mine.) The Editors of Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine are pleased to announce that the following books have been nominated as finalists for the 2023 CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year: Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole Baseball […]
Tagged as: Spitball Magazine
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October 16, 2023
It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since I last posted a Conversation with Joe Posnanski. Perhaps that’s because the book that was the impetus for that one — The Baseball 100 — has been a constant on the weekly Baseball-Best Sellers list. In addition, his new book — and the subject of this […]
Tagged as: Joe Posnanski
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October 6, 2023
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
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September 29, 2023
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
Tagged as: Brooks Robinson
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September 12, 2023
As I mention in the Conversation, there’s much more attention paid to the draft from a fan point of view in recent years. Go back a decade, and I can’t remember the whole proceedings being covered by the media from start to finish. Now, it’s almost “appointment television.” I must admit, I don’t follow the […]
Tagged as: Jonathan Mayo
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September 8, 2023
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
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August 16, 2023
For those who think they know baseball, consider this quote from Tommy Lee Jones’ character in the movie Men in Black: “A thousand years ago, everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, they knew the Earth was flat. Fifteen minutes ago, you knew we humans were alone on […]
Tagged as: Russell Carleton
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August 4, 2023
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes.az (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
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July 14, 2023
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
Tagged as: Aaron Judge
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July 7, 2023
A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
Tagged as: New York Mets
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May 25, 2023
We lost two major baseball writers with the passing of Rick Wolff, 71, on April 10 and St. Louis Post Dispatch veteran scribe Rick Hummel, 77, on May 20. Wolff published numerous books on coaching and sports psychology. He collaborated with his son on Harvard Boys: A Father and Son’s Adventures Playing Minor League Baseball […]
Tagged as: Rick Hummel, Rick Wolff
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May 2, 2023
This time, it’s personal. I am the poster boy for the “long suffering Mets fan.” I recall being on vacation with my wife, Faith, at the end of 1991 and hearing about the acquisitions they were pulling off, big stars like Eddie Murray, Bobby Bonilla, and Bret Saberhagen, among others, as well as a new […]
Tagged as: New York Mets, New York Yankees
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April 19, 2023
♦ Hope everyone is doing well out there can that they got their taxes done in time. Now for some pleasant diversion. ♦ I’m surprised something like this didn’t come from Triumph Publishers: The St. Louis Cardinals: Everything You Need to Know. It seems right up their alley and could be purposed for every team. […]
Tagged as: Jackie Robinson, Jackie Robinson Story
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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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