Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
October 1, 2019
When last we spoke with Paul Dickson, it was about his excellent biography, Leo Durocher: Baseball’s Prodigal Son. This time it’s not about a new book, per se, but an old one that got a second life. Dickson, who recently turned 80, has re-released The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign-Stealing Have Influenced […]
Tagged as: baseball reference, Paul Dickson, scorekeeping
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September 9, 2019
Welcome back to a new “season” of Bookshelf Conversations. Now that the summer is over, I hope to be doing these on a regular basis. Leading off, we begin with Seth Kramer, “hyphenate” for the documentary, Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel, about the almost-Cinderella story that was the Israeli National Team in the 2017 […]
Tagged as: Heading Home, Israel National Team, Seth Kramer, World Basbeall Classic
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July 30, 2019
As many of you know, I was on a little hiatus during which time Jim Bouton passed away. There have been dozens of obituaries and accolades and I will not refer to them, save the few below; they’re easy enough to Google. But here’s my two cents. It was almost ten years ago when Bouton […]
Tagged as: Ball Four, Jim Bouton
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May 21, 2019
In this digital age, deciding to bring forth an actual print publication takes some cajones. Baseball magazines have come and gone. Back when I was growing up, there were a slew of them. Gone are such classics as The Elysian Fields Quarterly: The Baseball Review. And does anyone out there remember Dugout: Baseball Beyond the Boxscore or […]
Tagged as: Austin Stahl, Baseball magazines, Bookshelf Conversation
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April 22, 2019
It’s becoming almost a bittersweet habit talking with Erik Sherman. On the one hand, it’s great reliving past glories of my favorite team. On the other, it’s sad to see the heroes of my youth aging and even dying. It reminds me of my own mortality and who the hell wants that? Last time it was Kings of Queens: […]
Tagged as: Art Shamsky, Erik Sherman, Maury Allen, New York Mets, Tom Seaver, World Series
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April 17, 2019
As I said in my recent roundup review of New York-centric baseball books: A lot of New Yorkers think the world revolves around their city. When it comes to baseball books, that’s probably true. More words have been written about their teams than all others combined, and fans can usually count on a number of […]
Tagged as: Chris Donnelly, New York Mets, New York Yankees
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February 11, 2019
At long last Leavy. First off, an apology. This was originally meant to be posted way back in December but something went kerfluie with the recording. You could hear my side of the conversation, along with the ticking of the clock on the wall and assorted noises from the various pets, but you couldn’t hear […]
Tagged as: Babe Ruth, Jane Leavy
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November 26, 2018
Let’s see if I remember how to do this… One of the joys I derive from this blog is the opportunity to speak to authors, artists, filmmakers, musicians, etc. about a common interest. When I was working at the paper, I had more time and resources to do these conversations. Now it’s more a catch-as-catch-can […]
Tagged as: baseball history, baseball photography, Kostya Kennedy, Nostalgia
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March 30, 2018
I’ve decided to bow to the times and include separate lists for e-books and audio books. Be aware that while many titles also appear in print versions, pretty much anyone can produce an e-book these days, so I’m not going to comment at all about the quality. As far as the audio goes, I’m a […]
Tagged as: Baseball America, baseball analysis, baseball prospects, baseball rookies, Chicago Cubs, college baseball, Joe Maddon, Little League, Lou Gehrig, Michael Lewis, minor leagues, New York Yankees, prospects, rookies
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March 26, 2018
Full disclosure: Bryan Hoch and I go back a long way, although it’s one of those internet relationships in which you rarely, if ever, get to meet the people you befriend online, regardless of how long you’e been in touch. One of the first freelance jobs (emphasis on the “free”) I had was providing book reviews for his […]
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March 19, 2018
They say the Golden Age of a thing — in this case a sports thing — is often what you remember from your childhood, a time when you had a love for the game that wasn’t affected by too much “grown up” knowledge of salary disputes, gossip, scandal, etc. Roger Kahn got the ball rolling with The Boys of Summer, […]
Tagged as: Bob Gibson, Denny McLain, Detroit Tigers, Sridhar Pappu, St. Louis Cardinals
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March 12, 2018
Remember these things? Been awhile since I had the pleasure of posting a Bookshelf Conversation. They get a bit tricky when you don’t do them regularly. I forget how to use GarageBand, how to export, how to convert and shrink down to a usable size. But it’s worth it, especially when I see I’m getting a […]
Tagged as: Chicago Cubs, Rich Cohen, World Series
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April 24, 2017
Dan Schlossberg has written thousands of articles and a number of books on the national pastime, including a couple of my personal favorites on which he collaborated as co-author, Al Clark‘s Called Out but Safe: A Baseball Umpire’s Journey and Designated Hebrew: The Ron Blomberg Story. Schlossberg’s latest is also one of his oldest. He […]
Tagged as: Al Clark, Dan Schlossberg, Ron Blomberg
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April 17, 2017
Don’t get me wrong. I love all my guests. But once in a while I get to chat with someone outside the usual baseball literary mainstream. That was the case with Scott Simon, host of NPR’s Weekend Edition. Yes, Simon, a lifetime Cubs fan, had previously published two books on baseball among his oeuvre: Home […]
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April 3, 2017
It seems only fitting that I should follow up last week’s chat with Paul Dickson, author of Leo Durocher: Baseball’s Prodigal Son, with Marty Appel, author of Casey Stengel: Baseball’s Greatest Character. Both books tell the stories of men who enjoyed a lifetime connection with the national pastime. Appel, a former PR director for the NY […]
Tagged as: Casey Stengel, Marty Appel
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March 27, 2017
In recent days, I’ve notice that a number of new baseball titles have “updated” nostalgia. By that I mean the subjects of these books are more recent than they used to be. Case in point, Scott Turbow’s Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic: Reggie, Rollie, Catfish, and Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s. When did the 1970s become the “new” […]
Tagged as: Leo Durocher, Paul Dickson
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March 24, 2017
We’re getting to the point where a bunch of new titles are hitting the bookstores. Herewith a brief roundup. New York Sports Day posted this one on Marty Appel’s engaging new project, Casey Stengel: Baseball’s Greatest Character. They also did this one on Shawn Krest’s Baseball Meat Market: The Stories Behind the Best and Worst […]
Tagged as: Aubrey Huff, baeball trades, ballparks, baseball movies, Casey Stengel, Chicago Cubs, David Ross, Leo Durocher, Marty Appel, Oakland As, Paul Dickson, Ransom Jackson
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December 22, 2016
If I had the wherewithal, I think I’d be doing something like Jon Leonouakis‘ streaming TV show, The Sweet Spot: A Treasury of Baseball Stories. I mean, he interviews people, I interview people. But as the saying goes, “Show me, don’t tell me,” and as a veteran filmmaker, he’s the man behind several well-crafted baseball […]
Tagged as: baseball documentary, Jon Leonoudakis
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December 5, 2016
What’s wrong with the national pastime? Seems like everyone has an opinion, but some strike me as more informed than others. That’s the feeling I came away with after reading Lincoln Mitchell‘s new book, Will Big League Baseball Survive?: Globalization, the End of Television, Youth Sports, and the Future of Major League Baseball. I can […]
Tagged as: baseball broadcasting, how to fix baseball, Lincoln Mitchell
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November 21, 2016
The warm feelings about the Chicago Cubs’ first world championship since 1908 has also had an impact on the world of baseball literature. To be fair, the Cubs have always been right up there when it comes to books about a team, comparable to the Yankees, Dodgers, and Red Sox, but almost for the opposite […]
Tagged as: Al Yellon, Chicago Cubs, World Series
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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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