Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
August 11, 2021
Headnote: One of the thing I like about the Pandemic Baseball Book Club is that it’s a kind of “one stop shopping.” Instead of posting about various authors, projects, and events, all I’m doing here is cutting and pasting their weekly newsletter. Do take a moment to read the author Q&A. I find them particularly interesting as […]
Tagged as: Pandemic Baseball Book Club
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July 20, 2021
We last spoke with Dan Epstein for his second book, Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of ‘76 in 2016, which followed his 2014 release, Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging ’70s. As you can see from the picture, sandwiched between me and […]
Tagged as: Dan Epstein, New York Yankees, Ron Blomberg, Thurman Munson
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May 21, 2021
New: An asterisk serves to let you know that the author is a member of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club. I enthusiastically recommend you visit the site, sign up for their newsletter, and buy some merch. A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by […]
Tagged as: Ball Four, Moneyball, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Ted Williams, Willie Mays
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May 19, 2021
Headnote: In addition to the 12th being the day I water my mini-succulent plants, it’s also time for the latest update from the Pandemic Baseball Book Club. One of the thing I like about the Club is that it’s a kind of “one stop shopping.” Instead of posting about various authors, projects, and events, all […]
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May 14, 2021
New: An asterisk serves to let you know that the author is a member of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club. I enthusiastically recommend you visit the site, sign up for their newsletter, and buy some merch. A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by […]
Tagged as: Baseball Cards, Bill White. Ball Four, Brooklyn Dodgers, Cleveland Indians, Jim Bouton, Moneyball, New York Mets, Ron Blomberg, Ted Williams, Thurmon Munson
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April 30, 2021
New: An asterisk serves to let you know that the author is a member of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club. I enthusiastically recommend you visit the site, sign up for their newsletter, and buy some merch. A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by […]
Tagged as: baseball best-sellers
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April 21, 2021
Lately I’ve been noticing that baseball books are pretty much divided into a few categories. Many of the latest releases deal with the “new” game by which I mean using metrics such as launch angle or spin rates to determine who the best players are and how to assemble teams. Kind of like Moneyball rebooted. […]
Tagged as: Bookshelf Conversations, Cleveland Indians, Luke Epplin
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April 16, 2021
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. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]
Tagged as: Cleveland Indians, ew York Mets, Jackie Robinson, New York Yankees, Ted Williams
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April 13, 2021
I’ve taken a lot of grief over the years for the fact that I’m a lifelong Mets fan. My first game was back in (mumble mumble) when they were still pretty stinko. I still remember going to a game with my day camp and having the bus break down on the way back to Brooklyn. […]
Tagged as: Devin Gordon, New York Mets
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March 30, 2021
The final Conversation in a series featuring contributors to 42 Today: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy. George Vecsey, a former columnist for The New York Times, is one of the most venerated sportswriters of the last fifty years. His books include Baseball: A History of America’s Favorite Game, Stan Musial: An American Life, and The […]
Tagged as: George Vecsey, Jackie Robinson
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March 25, 2021
Part three of a series featuring contributors to 42 Today: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy. Baseball and media studies are two topics that have always captured my interest. So when they meet in a single volume, it’s a bonus. Chris Lamb, author of Conspiracy of Silence: Sportswriters and The Long Campaign to Desegregate Baseball, is […]
Tagged as: Jackie Robinson
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March 5, 2021
Just as Opening Day is just around the corner for players, so is it also for readers about the national pastime. The schedule might not be the same: there won’t be multiple releases every day, not even one a week, at least not on a regular basis. But the “rookies” will be hitting the shelves […]
Tagged as: Fantasy baseball, Glenn Burke, New York Mets, Ted Williams, Yogi Berra
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November 12, 2020
I don’t know when it happened. I used to be so good in math. I was even a tutor for a while. But somewhere along the way, I lost all my ability. I learned to type as a young boy, copy the backs of baseball cards onto scrap paper on a manual typewriter. Those statistics […]
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November 6, 2020
Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]
Tagged as: Baseball Cards, David Wright, Los Angeles Dodgers, Moneyball, New York Mets, Ted Williams
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October 28, 2020
As I say in the interview, Dan Schlossberg is a busy guy. He’s written or co-written 40 books, including two updates that were released this year, The New Baseball Bible: Notes, Nuggets, Lists, and Legends from Our National Pastime and Designated Hebrew: The Ron Blomberg Story. The former is one of those things that needs constant […]
Tagged as: Dan Schlossberg, Ron Blomberg
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October 22, 2020
Headnote: One of the thing I like about the Pandemic Baseball Book Club is that it’s a kind of “one stop shopping.” Instead of posting about various authors, projects, and events, all I’m doing here is cutting and pasting their newsletter. This one was received on September 16. Enjoy. I am posting this after one of their […]
Tagged as: Pandemic Baseball Book Club
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October 9, 2020
Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. aIn addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]
Tagged as: Bernard Malamud, David Wright, New York Mets, Ted Williams, Yogi Berra
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October 6, 2020
Jon Leonoudakis and I go way back, relatively speaking. I’ve been a fan of his entertaining and varied film projects, beginning with Not Exactly Cooperstown, about the Baseball Reliquary, described on its home page as “a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to fostering an appreciation of American art and culture through the context of baseball history […]
Tagged as: Jon Leonoudakis
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September 1, 2020
Another in a series of occasional postings. Regular visitors know that I usually put up a Baseball Best-Sellers list on Fridays. These feature the top 10 titles according to Amazon in print, e-books (Kindle), and audio formats. Amazon offers lists for paid and free books in the e-book category. (Here’s an explanation of why some […]
Tagged as: baseball uniforms, Todd Radom
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July 31, 2020
Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]
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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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