Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Given that I have three books out and worked as a newspaper reporter/editor, I guess that serves as proof that I can put words together, but when it comes to art, I can barely draw a straight line with a ruler. I didn’t inherit that gene from my father, who was an excellent sketcher. Then […]
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Regular visitors know that I usually post a Baseball Best-Sellers list on Fridays. These feature the top 10 titles according to Amazon in print, e-books (Kindle), and audio formats. Amazon offers lists for paid and free books in the e-book category. (Here’s an explanation of why some books are offered for free. Still trying to […]
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I’ve been collecting baseball cards for most of my life; not as much these days because I’m a grown-ass adult. For the most part, they have all been the same: a photograph surrounded by the annual change in design. More recently, a number of companies have joined Topps, coming out with multiple sets, almost ad […]
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Red Foley’s Cartoon History of Baseball. Illustrated by S.B. Whitehead (Little Simon/Simon & Schuster, 1992) When I posted about Alex Irvine’s The Comic Book Story of Baseball, I also had Red Foley’s book in mind. Foley, a longtime sportswriter and official scorer, published this lively little number in a relatively more innocent era. The players […]
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The Comic Book Story of Baseball: The Heroes, Hustlers, and History-Making Swings (and Misses) of America’s National Pastime, by Alex Irvine with Tomm Coker and C.P. Smith A brief one today. I fear these things are becoming unsustainable, but we’ll see. I first came across the work of Alex Irvine with his short “speculative” piece, […]
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If they ever put this out in a miniature form, tell me where I can get one; it’s going straight on the bookshelf. As per the Los Angeles Times, “Legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax will get a statue at Dodger Stadium.” Wouldn’t be surprised if this shows up in the next edition of Josh Pahigian’s 101 […]
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Fifteen bobbleheads for $300 seems like a bargain. (especially when you can buy them individually for $25 bucks apiece) but when you see that these are figurines from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, it’s a true find. Teams represented include: Rockford Peaches Chicago Colleens Battle Creek Belles Grand Rapids Chicks Fort Wayne Daisies South […]
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Did you have it on your calendar? August 11 is National Baseball Card Day. MLB.com posted this story yesterday in advance of the occasion, listing the coolest card for each year since Topps launched in 1951. No spoiler alerts here, but if you want to jump to the specific decade… 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s […]
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And how we love to hate some of those shirts (and pants). Todd Radom, a graphic designer specializing in branding for professional sports franchises, has compiled an entertaining collection and deconstruction of some of the greatest, worst, and most unusual baseball attire in his recent release, Winning Ugly: A Visual History of the Most Bizarre Baseball Uniforms […]
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These are my favorite posts, taking a look at what new baseball books are on the horizon. A few notes: Traditional print rules the land here here. There may be a Kindle edition involved, but no Kindle-only titles are included herein. Second, Amazon does not want top make my life easier. I practically never include […]
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Should have posted this earlier, but the opening reception is tonight and Scilla will be a the featured speaker at an event on May 5 at the Italian American Museum in Manhattan.
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In addition to the regular reasons — the signaling of the start of summer, the lazy evenings, the smell of the grass, etc. — I love the beginning of the baseball season because of the previews in the newspapers. These have often come in the form of supplements of substantial length and breadth and tailored, […]
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I wouldn’t mind having some of these on my bookshelf. The “odd” could have a double meaning: yeah, there are 100-something items on display (the exhibit actually features more than 150 paintings). And yeah, some of them are pretty odd. The LA-based Skirball Cultural Center will offer this exhibition by Southern California–based artist Ben Sakoguchi, […]
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Here’s a sample of a regular card from the 2016 Topps series: It’s all right, but I start thinking about television commercials and how much is “enhanced” by computers. You can throw in all the bells and whistles you want, but it doesn’t necessarily make for a superior product. Now here’s one from their 2016 […]
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(Japanese for “Big Windup!) Tanoshinde kudasai!
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We’re getting to the time of year when spring training is about a month away and publishers are warming up as well. The bulk of baseball titles won’t be released until after opening day, but the handful of glossy magazines, which seem to be dwindling year by year, will be on newsstands shortly. Last week […]
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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
