Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Use PED, of course. That’s one of the topics of Murray Chass’s Aug. 16 column, in he he ponders the advisability of a Mike Piazza auto-bio. I quote, at length: Several months ago I heard that Piazza may be doing a book. The publisher, Simon & Schuster, I was told, had signed a contract for […]
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As in Fritz Peterson, the former pitcher for the New York Yankees who caused a major stir back in 1973 when he and teammate Mike Kekich swapped families. Peterson, who finished an 11-year career with a record of 133-131 (including a 20-win season in 1970), has published his story in Mickey Mantle is Going to […]
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This review comes from Sawxheads, a Red Sox-centric blog. And guess what? It’s a glowing review! But the part that caught my my was this: In the interview with WEEI, Pedroia’s words were very encouraging. He spoke about writing this book for every generation, and it speaks volumes to all the little leaguers wearing #15 jerseys. “I […]
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From TrueblueLA (“Where The Dodger Dogs Are Always Grilled”), this review of the new Strawberry autobio.
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And why not. Remember Joe Charbonneau? The article also links to an excerpt from the book. “My life in the game?” Must be a thin book.
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Darryl Strawberry and Josh Hamilton. Brothers from different mothers. Both had all the talent in the world. Both were number one draft picks (Strawberry in 1980, Hamilton in 1999) and were expected to do great things.Both became born-again Christians when their lives turned toward the dark side. And both have autobiographies in which they openly […]
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Larry Tye’s new biography has generated renewed interst in Paige’s own (purported) autobio. There are two versions of Jane Leavy’s book on Sandy Koufax, the first abridged (6 hours, 14 minutes), narrated by Robert Pinsky (his named is listed, but it dosn’t sound like a male voice on the sample); the latter, unabridged (almost 10 […]
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Dover Publications, under the direction of contributing editor Paul Dickson, has just begun a series of classic books on sports with an emphasis on baseball titles, which are running about 3:1 over other sports. The line will be varied to include fiction but its early emphasis is on autobiography and oral history. Connie Mack’s My […]
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This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, June 19. Title Rank General The Yankee Years, Torre and Verducci 1 As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires, Weber 2 Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, Tye 3 Moneyball: The Art of Winning […]
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Sorry, give me a minute here. The Mets just lost their game with the Yankees when Luis Castillo dropped a two-out POP UP that allowed two runs to score. TWO HANDS, dammit!! Anyway, my review of several books that encompass the Yankees and Mets during interleague weekend appear on the latest posting of Bookreporter.com. Titles […]
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Davis was another of those ballplayers with Mickey Mantle-potential, compared with his friend Darryl Strawberry, who had Ted Williams-potential. Neither of them fulfilled the predictions but both did share a life-threatening malady: colon cancer. Davis wrote about his travails in Born to Play: The Eric Davis Story, Life Lessons in Overcoming Adversity on and off […]
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That’s according toMa Hae-young, a Korean pro player (right), in his new book,Yagu Bonsaek “roughly translated as The True Color of Baseball in Korean,” says this article from JoongAng Daily. “During my playing days, I witnessed several players taking banned substances such as steroids on a regular basis,” he writes in the book. “It wasn’t […]
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Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports published this item on the latest struggles by David “Big Papi” Ortiz. Good thing he’s not a horse, or it would be “off to the glue factory with him.” My first thought was that I was surprised to see he’s only 33; he’s one of these guys who seems like […]
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The Baseball Reflections blog (“where Old School baseball meets Sabermetrics”) posted this review of Miracle Man: Nolan Ryan, The Autobiography (Macmillan 1993). Upshot: Ryan touches on many different aspects of baseball and life throughout the book and the fact that he wrote it while he was still in the middle of his career gives readers […]
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Ordinarily, I wouldn’t go back to a review of The Yankee Years; that so over. But I’ll make an exception for Roger Angell. The veteran sportswriter praises the work of both Torre and Verducci (“Verducci has range and ease; he’s a shortstop on the page.”) In the book, it’s a rush when you reach those […]
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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
* TWIBB — Aug. 21
August 22, 2009
This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, August 21. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, Lewis 1 Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain, Appel 2 The Yankee Years, Torre and Verducci 3 Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, […]
Tagged as: baseball books
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