Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
In an item on The New Yorker website, Ben McGrath reminds us that Jose Canseco, the author of Juiced and Vindicated reported on A-Rod’s juice use years ago, but no one wanted to believe him. Does that make Canseco a Cassandra? In other book news of special interest to New York fans: Don’t look for […]
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A feeling of discomfort brought on by the use of the word “betrayal” by many sports pundits has Joe Torre on the defensive. In this piece from yesterday’s NYTimes.com, the former Yankee manager seeks to right the wrong impressions that the publisher’s marketing department probably looooves. You can practically see them rubbing their hands with […]
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(Man, I wish I had a named that rhymed cooly with something.) Can’t believe WINS radio led off some of its segments with the “controversy” of the new book. One person interviewed sagely opined that the whole media blitz was just a way to sell more copies, to which the reporter added something along the […]
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In his new autobiography, Call Me Ted, Ted Turner includes one chapter devoted to his ownership of the Atlanta Braves. Using the lessons learned through the Rob Neyer School of Detection, it seems that Turner has some lapses of memory, at best, or is fabricating, at worst. He writes about taking over the team in […]
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I have not read Joe Torre’s new book, written with SI’s Tom Verducci and published by , but judging by the buzz from several sources, it’s a tell-all in which he “blasts” Alex Rodriguez, Brian Cashman and George Steinbrenner, among others. The New York Post, in its typical tabloid headline-screaming fashion, yells “Joe Blows: Rips, […]
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Random House is scheduled to release The Yankee Years, Joe Torre’s autobiography (written with SI‘s Tom Verducci), in early February, 2009.
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The Hall of Fame veterans Committee will announce any decision on Monday, Dec. 8. Players who are under consideration include: SINCE 1943 • Dick Allen • Gil Hodges • Jim Kaat • Tony Oliva • Al Oliver • Vada Pinson • Ron Santo • Luis Tiant • Joe Torre • Maury Wills PRE-1943 • Bill […]
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according to Michael Weinreb on ESPN.com’s Page 2 is Veeck: As In Wreck, the autobio of the game’s most maverick front office man (What, you thought the McCain/Palin campaign invented the word?) If there was ever a guy who didn’t take life too seriously, it was Bill Veeck, who made even the St. Louis Browns […]
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Cubs’ skipper Lou Pienlla and Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon were named managers of the year for 2008. Pinella published Sweet Lou, written with Maury Allen in 1986. He’s got a new one coming out next year from St. Martin’s/Thomas Dunne. So can it be long before Maddon has one, too? Managers whose teams […]
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According to a report in today’s Publishers Weekly e-mail: Mike Piazza, a 12-time All Star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, has signed a deal to write his autobiography for Simon & Schuster. V-p and senior editor Bob Bender acquired world rights from David Black, CEO of Black Inc., and Dan […]
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Rapid Robert turned 90 on Nov. 3. Feller was one of those players from “the greatest generation” — including Ted Williams, Warren Spahn, Bob Buhl, Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio and many others — who lost precious years to the service of their country. Yes, some, like Feller and Williams, were on the front lines while […]
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The Ft. Worth Star-Telegram ran this piece on Josh Hamilton’s new book, which is receiving great praise, especially locally. Hamilton, by the way, Hamilton won a Players Choice Award on Tuesday as the American League’s Most Outstanding Player. He batted .304 with 32 homers and an AL-best 130 RBIs. I’m almost glad his book came […]
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The Dodger Hall of Famer died this date in 1993. His autobiography was also turned into a made-for TV movie, starring Paul Warfield as the catcher and Louis Gossett Jr. as his physical therapist. The Amazon Report on Roy Campanella: It’s Good to Be Alive
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The Hall of Fame outfielder for the Chicago Cubs and Oakland Athletics, turns 75 today. Williams was part of the famous Cubs team — Santo, Banks, Hundley, Jenkins, Holztman, Hands, Kessinger, Beckert, etc. — that couldn’t stop the Mets juggernaut in 1969. he recently released his autobiography. The Amazon Report on Billy Williams: Billy Williams: […]
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The Hall of Fame catcher turns 54 today. Carter was a “like him, hate him” kind of guy. There are those who said he was too eager to smile for the camera. For me, as a fan of the Mets, he was a savior, one of the tools helping propel them to some quality years […]
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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
* RK Review (and then some): Odd Man Out
March 3, 2009
A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit, by Matt McCarthy (Viking) When I first read Odd Man Out, I thought it was the best book of its kind I had seen in many years. Too many “flavor of the month,” riding the high from a World Series win at best or a […]
Tagged as: baseball memoirs, Matt McCarthy, Rob Neyer
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