Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Now that the season is over, it’s time to look ahead to see what reading material will carry us over to “pitchers and catchers.” As with previous lists like this, I have omitted anything that falls into the general category of “romance novels.” Also, no books about trivia or designed for younger readers. In last […]
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A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
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Heard on NPR’s Morning Edition show, March 6: “Evan Drellich’s new book sheds light on the Houston Astros cheating scandal.” I usually don’t mix baseball with politics with baseball (unless it’s in a good way), but this is important enough to me that I don’t care if I ruffle a few feathers by […]
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I gotta get back to Weight Watchers. Between injuries and ennui, my exercise habits have fallen to crap while my food intake has increased (depressed eating I believe is the popular term). I found I did pretty well when I had to keep track of what I was consuming via that support system. So, kids, […]
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(As opposed to ESPN’s 30 for 30 series). Once again, Tom Hoffarth of the LA Daily News has done a great service to the baseball reading community with his annual 30-books-in-30-days series on his “Farther off the Wall” blog. I advise going deep into each piece because Hoffarth offers interesting links among his DVD-type “extras.” […]
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And the wrap-up… * denotes items of particular interest (to me, at any rate). Odds and Ends ** It will be interesting to see how The Hidden Game of Baseball: A Revolutionary Approach to Baseball and Its Statistics has held up since it was first published 30 years ago. Authors John Thorn and Pete Palmer […]
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Got it. Got it. Need it. But really, it’s not like opening a pack of baseball cards; you can’t keep Pop-Tarts that long after tearing the foil. Now Twinkies in their clear plastic wrap… Twinkies last for-ev-er. Put logos on those bad boys.
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The beverage, not the drug. Honestly, get your mind out of the gutter. From Mark Aubrey, my “proofreader,” comes this item on eBay: “1967 Coke Cap RARE PASSOVER variation Willie Stargell Pittsburgh Pirates HOFer” Asking price: $75. When I was a kid growing up in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, there was a kosher […]
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I have been begging for an update of the classic Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks: The Ultimate Guide to America’s Top Baseball Parks, originally published in 1988 by Bob Wood. If they ever get around to do that, they’ll have to update the info to include not only the new teams, as well as the […]
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Either he’s hurting for money or has a real hankering to show he’s a renaissance man. Whatever the reason, look for The Nolan Ryan Beef Cookbook at a bookstore near you — in May 2014. I have no idea why the publisher Little, Brown and Company chose to make the announcement so early, but there […]
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First it was the Texas Rangers. Now it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers? Dear Lord, where will it end? Definitely time for an update on Robert Wood’s Dodger Dogs to Fenway Franks, wouldn’t you say?
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The Texas Rangers are offering a new item on their menu.
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Try as I might, I was unable to find a home from Becoming Manny. So after three attempts, I’ve decided to donate it to my local library and move on. The September FF book will be Chicago Cubs Cookbook: All-Star Recipes from Your Favorite Players, published by Triumph Books. Created as a fund-raising device for […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Aug. 6. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, by Bill Madden 2 Chicago Cubs Cookbook: All-star Recipes from Your Favorite Players 3 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing […]
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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
