Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
To Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who turns 65 today. Carew, by Carew with Ira Berkow Rod Carew’s Art and Science of Hitting Also marking the occasion, Mark McGwire, who perhaps could have been a Hall of Famer, turns 47. There were two “waves” of books about Big Mac. The first came in 1998 when […]
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To beloved Brooklyn Dodger Johnny Podres, born this date in 1932. Johnny Podres: Brooklyn’s Yankee Killer And to Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, born in 1926. Roberts, one of the last great complete game practitioners, died just this past May. He penned, My Life in Baseball,with the help of C. Paul Rogers III, in 2003.
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Noon on Friday, Sept. 27. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 Ball Four, by Jim Bouton 2 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime by Jason Turbow and Michael […]
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The author of Me & The Spitter The Candid Confessions of Baseball’s Greatest Spitball Artist (or How I Got Away With It) (with Bob Sudyk), turns 72 today. I was at the Hall of Fame once, attending the annual Cooperstown Symposium (which I highly recommend) and word came down that Perry was in the building. […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Sept. 10. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, by Bill Madden 2 The Game from Where I Stand: A Ballplayer’s Inside View, by Doug Glanville 3 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, […]
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Several “ballplayers with books” mark a birthday today including: Ron Guidry, 60. He published Guidry, his autobio with Peter Golenbock in 1985 and was the subject of Maury Allen’s kids book, Ron Guidry, Louisiana Lightning in 1979. And the recently-retired Lou Pinella, 67, Gudry’s Yankee teammate, has a couple of books himself, including Sweet Lou: Lou […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Aug. 27. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran, by Dirk Hayhurst 2 The Game from Where I Stand: A Ballplayer’s Inside View, by Doug Glanville […]
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The man who hit “the shot heard ’round the world” died yesterday at the age of 86. Here’s the Richard Goldstein obituary in The New York Times. There have been several books about Thomson’s heroics. His home run is a staple of baseball lore in both fact and fictional versions. The Giants Win the Pennant! […]
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The Bird would have turned 56 today. Taking advantage of his sudden popularity in 1976, when he was 19-9 and led the American League in ERA (2.34) and complete games (24), Fidrych published his autobio No Big Deal, co-written with Tom Clark, the following year. Fidrych died last year, the victim of a machine accident.
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Happy birthday to Shufflin’ Phil Douglas, born this date in 1890. Douglas, who was expelled from baseball for “gambling issue,” pitched for nine years, primarily for the Cubs and Giants and was the subject of the 1978 bio One Last Round for the Shuffler, by Tom Clark. Also celebrating, “Super Joe” Charboneau, 55, one of […]
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Ron LeFlore turns 62 today. The speedy Tiger presented an interesting story of getting that “one in a million” chance while in prison to try out for the Detroit team, which he turned into a book with Jim Hawkins with One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story. The two collaborated on Breakout: From Prison […]
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Several former Major Leaguers share a birthday today, including: Wade Boggs Boggs!The Techniques of Modern Hitting Billy Williams Billy Williams: My Sweet-Swinging Lifetime With the Cubs Babe Dahlgren Rumor in Town: A Grandson’s Promise to Right a Wrong
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The former catcher who played 15 years — mostly for the Toronto Blue Jays — turns 58 today. He published Catch: A Major League Life, co-written with Greg Cable, in 1989.
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to Bobby Murcer, who would have been 64 today. He published Yankee for Life: My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes, written with Glen Waggoner, shortly before his death. Also born this date, in 1921, “Prince” Hal Newhouser, subject of A Tiger in His Time: Hal Newhouser and the Burden of Wartime Ball, written by David M. […]
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This top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, May 14. Title Rank General The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime, by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca 1 The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran, by Dirk Hayhurst 2 Moneyball: The Art […]
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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.
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
Birthday greetings
September 27, 2010 · 4 comments
Happy birthday to Johnny Pesky, inventor of Fenway Park’s Pesky Pole, 91 years young today. Pesky was the author or subject of several books about the Red Sox, including Diary of a Red Sox Season Mr. Red Sox: The Johnny Pesky Story, by Bill Nowlin Few and Chosen: Defining Red Sox Greatness Across the Eras […]
Tagged as: Johnny Pesky, Mike Schmidt
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