Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. On with the show… The top ten baseball books as per Amazon.com, […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Here’s something you don’t see every day. I’m guessing you could count on one hand the number of times Women’s Wear Daily has run feature pieces on baseball (items referring to baseball caps as accessories do not count). But here’s a major profile on the venerated writer Roger Angell. Didn’t realize he was a fashion […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The top ten baseball books as per Amazon.com. Caveat 1: Print editions only (at least for now); because I’m old school. Caveat 2: Since the rankings are updated every hour, these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them. But it’ll be close enough for government work. Caveat 3: […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
First of all, congratulations to Josh R. of Madison, NJ, winner of last week’s book, Doc: A Memoir, by Dwight Gooden and Ellis Henican. This week’s offering is (another copy of) Stars and Strikes, Dan Epstein’s critically-acclaimed look at the national pastime at the nation’s bicentennial. Changing up the “rules” a bit: This will henceforth […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Call me old-fashioned, call me a baseball dinosaur, call me irresponsible (kids, ask your parents), but I think this is just wrong Of all the teams, you expect the Yankees, who boast about their proud tradition and heritage as the “uber-franchise,” to stay the sartorial course. And several fans apparently agree with me. My complaint […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The excellent Joe Posnanski writes about Field of Dreams, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. As such, the 1989 film, which was nominated for three Oscars and won several “best foreign language film” from international organizations, will no doubt he the subject of similar pieces, some which will heap praise, others derision. The next […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Lou Gehrig. Jackie Robinson. Two of the game’s most iconic players, celebrated for their courage under extreme conditions. Both the subjects of outstanding biographies by Jonathan Eig, and both of which appear in 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die Eig has worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Chicago magazine, […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The Passover holidays have played havoc with my schedule, so there’s a lot to catch up on. First off, can you remember those Bicentennial Minutes that CBS used to broadcast in the months leading up to the big celebration? Well, Dan Epstein, author of the new Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Last month I received a copy of Chasing Dreams, the companion volume to the baseball exhibit at the National Museum of American Jewish History. Thumbing through it, I found this portrait of Bernard Malamud, author of The Natural, one of the highest regarded baseball novels of all time. A few days afterwards, the cover story […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
This it the time of year when the baseball media offer their considered opinions on their favorite prospects. Sometimes they’re spot on, other times, not so much. So I thought, why not apply this to the upcoming “rookie crop” of baseball books? That is, titles that are making their debuts in 2014 — no reprints/reissues […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Editor’s Note: Not exclusively baseball, but pertinent enough to include here. The New Jersey Council for the Humanities, in partnership with the Smithsonian Institution Museum on Main Street Program and six host locations in New Jersey, welcomes the newest Smithsonian traveling exhibition, Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America, to the Garden State in 2014. What […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Sometimes I wish publishers would be a little more detail-oriented when sending review copies. Most recently I have received three copies of Ben Bradlee Jr.’s The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, and two of Steve Rushin’s The 34-Ton Bat. So in an effort to share the wealth (and not clutter up the house […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Football-looking image, but the sentiment applies to baseball as well.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The Cleveland County Arts Council, 111 S. Washington St., Shelby, OH, will host Baseball as Art: A Negro League Retrospective through Aug. 29. From ShelbyStar.com: The Arts Council is hosting the exhibit in conjunction with the American Legion World Series Tournament. This exhibit features six diverse artists that share a love of baseball and the […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
A fair share of the recent Cooperstown Baseball Symposium considered myriad aspects of Casey at the Bat, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this month. The esteemed sportswriter Frank Deford was the keynote speaker for the event. Deford contributed a speculative article, “Huge Commotion in Mudville” to the July 18, 1988 issue of Sports Illustrated. Shortly […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
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
“Jane, you ignorant slut.”
May 19, 2014
If you can remember the old Saturday Night Live skit — a take-off on 60 Minutes‘ “Point/Counterpoint” segment between conservative James J. Kilptarick and Shana Shana Alexander representing the liberal POV — you might be old enough to get where Boston Globe sports columnist Bob Ryan is coming from when he asks “Do baseball fans […]
Tagged as: baseball statistics, Bob Ryan, FranGraphics, sabermetrics, Saturday Night Live
{ Comments on this entry are closed }