Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Slate’s Hang Up and Listen, is one of my “must-hear” podcasts. The chatter is almost always entertaining (except when they talk about soccer. ugh.). This week one of the topics was the classic Abbot and Costello routine. Coming on the heals of the Seinfeld-Costas deconstruction aired last week on the MLB Network, I have to […]
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Came across this quirky animation while doing some Ryan Braun research. Enjoy. And don’t make a “thing” out of it, either, ‘kay? It’s a tad out of date, since prince Fielder is no longer a teammate. This is one of a number of “sports friends” animations. Other baseball “collaborations” include Jose Reyes and David Wright; […]
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Steve “Psycho” Lyons turns 51 today (so does Barry Lyons, who is no relation as far as I know). Lyons — a “colorful character” (or “flake.” depending on your point of view) batted .252 over nine season for the Red Sox, White Sox, Braves, and Expos. Perhaps his most famous moment on the field was […]
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(but not for too long, especially if it’s iced).
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Since I wasn’t on the What’s on Second Internet radio show this week, I had to get my “me” fix in somehow. My ode to [now former] Mets pitcher Ollie Perez was included in Bardball.com’s 2010’s Greatest Hits!, a collection of baseball poetry. So it’s Frost, Longfellow, Kaplan. End of story. That’s all you need. […]
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Like Bob Uecker, Garagiola was a so-so catcher who made more of a name for himself in retirement. He served as a co-host for The Today Show from 1967 to 1973 and again from 1990 to 1992. He also hosted several game shows, as well as working as an announcer for NBC Game of the […]
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The Definitive List
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When I play ball, most of my teammates call me Ronnie. When I was in college, they called me Kap, a take-off on my name coupled with the Kangolish-type of headgear I always wore (at camp in the Laurentian Mountains, they called me Casquette for the same reason). When I look for those literary birthday […]
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As in extra-terrestrials. In his new book, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Presents Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race, Jon Stewart hopes to explain/justify to anyone (thing?) out there in the vast universe what life was (!) like on our little blue planet. Earth considers science, religion, politics, and pop […]
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Alex Anderson, Creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Dies at 90 I used to love this show, even if, as a kid in the 1960s, I didn’t always understand it (there was a lot of political Cold War humor to it). The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle were the ancestors of such contemporary pop culture faves […]
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The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will host the Baseball Film Festival in Cooperstown, Oct. 1-3. As part of the three-day event, Billy Crystal, who directed and executive produced the classic film 61*, will be on hand as the Hall of Fame celebrates his 2001 production that told the story of the 1961 […]
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On the most recent Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Peter Sagal played “Not My Job” with Iranian stand-up comic, Maz Jobrani. Here’s the slightly-edited transcript. SAGAL: Well welcome to the show, Maz. We have asked you here to play a game we’re calling? CARL KASELL, host: Here, let me open that bottle for you. Ugh, […]
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Peter Sagal, staunch Red Sox fan and host of NPR’s Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me, paid “tribute” to the late Yankee owner George Steinbrenner on his July 17 program. Herewith, a transcript of the segment from the “Who’s Carl this time” portion of the program: Sagal: Your last quote is from a man who was […]
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So here’s a list of unusual injuries sustained by players this season, courtesy of SI.com’s Hot Clicks blog: — Feb. 12: Brad Bergesen, Orioles: Strained his shoulder filming a TV commercial for the team. — May 29: Kendry Morales, Angels: Broke his leg celebrating a walk-off home run at home plate. — June 30: Luke […]
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As I’ve stated in the past, I’m not a big fan of books that employ words like “best” and “greatest.” Add to that “Most,” as in Overrated: The 50 Most Overhyped Things in History, by Mark Juddery, who adjudges baseball as “the most overrated sport.” Of course, he also considers Star Trek the most overrated […]
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There are several popular drinking games around; one of my favorite focuses on the television show Lost. Since there are so many similar themes in baseball books, I though I’d try my hand a creating one of my own. So with your kind indulgence: If someone refers to Jaques Barzun and/or the quote: “Whoever wants […]
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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
