Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
I love these investigative analysis from The Hardball Times Card Corner columns by Bruce Markusen. This time, it’s Alex Johnson from the 1972 Topps set.
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♦ From the Tulsa World, this on on Robert Fitts’ Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan. Upshot: “It is very well-researched and a balanced account, but it occasionally threatens to sag under the weight of such details. Readers need not be fans of baseball to appreciate the sport […]
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Conducted my semi-regular scan of new titles. Submitted for your interest. It may seem unfair, but I do tend to judge e-books by their cover, especially when they are offered only in that format. It’s an indication of the time and effort the author/publisher puts into the project. Similarly, I’m basing my opinions strictly on […]
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The New York Times ran a couple of interesting pieces in the July 8 issue. (Yeah, I know I’m late, so sue me.) * Tyler Kepner wrote, “The 83F project: Sign here, please,” about one man’s attempt to have his entire 1983 Fleer card set signed by the subjects, all 660 of them. he’s 99 […]
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Look, I love baseball and baseball cards as much as, if not more than, the next fellow, but some people just don’t know what to do with their money.
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This card from the 1984 Fleer set shows the Blue Jays pitcher singing the Canadian National Anthem prior to a game against the Texas Rangers. The questions include: On what night of the season did Jackson sing? Who is the Rangers’ catcher, seen in the background? The Rangers’ catchers that season included Jim Sundberg (we […]
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That’s what it’s coming to these days. Topps is undoubtedly looking for a new audience, according to these recent pieces in The New York Times and Time magazine (both of which use the same photo to illustrate the story). According to the Time story, [T]oday, as Angry Birds and iPads beckon, the baseball card has […]
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This list appeared on a SABR post and it seemed like a good resource, so I’m recreating it (sans links) here, FYI: Bloom, John, A House of Cards: Baseball Card Collecting and Popular Culture (Univ. of Minn. Press, 1997) Boyd, Brendan and Harris, Fred, The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book […]
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Believe it or not, today is Opening Day for Major League Baseball. The Seattle Mariners defeated the Oakland Athletics, 3-1 in 11 innings. In Japan. Sigh. Call me old-fashioned, but I remember when the Cincinnati Reds — the first professional team, back in 1869 — always had the honor of playing the first game of […]
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Another story about the death of the baseball card industry, via CBS News Sunday Morning. The segment features Dave Jamieson, author of Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession. (Click here for the Bookshelf interview with Jamieson.) Back in the day, before they became part of an investment portfolio, kids used to stick […]
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He’s not getting any younger. This post on Cardboard Icons may not the the most illuminating (all due respect to the blogger), although it does explain how some card companies to not have the blessings of Major League Baseball and therefore cannot show any official logos (i.e., they didn’t pay any licensing fees) . But […]
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Via Bruce Markusen at The Hardball Times.
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But savvy baseball cards buffs like Night Owl Cards caught them. To be fair, back int he day when the company released one series at a time, instead of all at one (kids, ask your parents), they often airbrushed logos onto the hats and/or unis of players who had been traded during the season. In […]
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When you’re a young kid, you don’t have any real concept of age. One of the first things you say to a new contemporary is, “I’m seven; how old are you?” When you go to camp, you think the counselors are adults, even though they’re only a few years your senior. But now that I’m […]
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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
