Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Sorry, couldn’t come up with an appropriate theme. Last week I linked to the first week in Tom Hoffarth’s annual 30-books-in-30-days feature. Catching up: Day 8: Bats, Balls, and Hollywood Stars: Hollywood’s Love Affair with Baseball, by Joe Siegman Day 9: A Game of Their Own: Voices of Contemporary Women in Baseball,by Jennifer Ring Day […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Submitted for your interest from another semi-regular scan of new titles. 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 […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
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 […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
On this date: In 1952, Ted Williams plays his final game before leaving for military duty in Korea. In his last at-bat on “Ted Williams Day” at Fenway Park, he blasts a game-winning, two-run home run against Dizzy Trout of the Detroit Tigers. The home run gives the Red Sox a 5 – 3 victory. […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The World War II veteran who returned from devastating injury sustained in the service of his country to play Major League baseball, passed away yesterday at the age of 89. Brissie, who earned a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, pitched seven seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics and Cleveland Indians, compiling a 44-48 record with […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Just because it’s my birthday… Born this date: Lou Brissie (1924), subject of Ira Berkow’s engaging The Corporal Was a Pitcher: The Courage of Lou Brissie. Mike Coolbaugh (1972), subject of S.L. Price’s touching Heart of the Game: Life, Death, and Mercy in Minor League America. Also on this date: 1977 – The Dodgers retire […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
I bring this up because I was reminded of one of my all-time favorite actor’s baseball-related oeuvres by Jonathan Coe’s new pictorial biography, Jimmy Stewart: A Wonderful Life. Stewart’s career is often discussed in two broad periods: pre-World War II, when he generally played lighter, more genial roles, and following the war (in which he […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The inspiration for the character of Dottie Henson in A League of Their Own, died on Saturday at the age of 88. Davis published her memoir, Dirt in the Skirt, (which weighs in at over 500 pages) in 2009. There was also a website in her name. I just visited the spot and there’s some music […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Today marks the “official” beginning of American involvement in World War II, spurred by the attack on Pearl Harbor. There are several excellent books that note the toll the War took on the national pastime, as well as the role baseball had in keeping up the country’s morale. Among them: Spartan Seasons: How Baseball Survived […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Anyone who’s read my blogs for awhile knows I’m all about the veterans. So it was especially please to have them honored before last night’s World Series game. The triple-amputee Marine acquitted himself most nobly in throwing out the first pitch (about the 7:30 mark).
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
If this doesn’t bring a lump to your throat, then you have no soul. Either scripts and active content are not permitted to run or Adobe Flash Player version10.0.0 or greater is not installed.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
♦ 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 […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The author of the classic Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, as well as other highly praised baseball titles (Baseball in ’41: A Celebration of the “Best Baseball Season Ever” and Stengel: His Life and Times) turned 90 on Saturday. Baseball: Past and Present posted this interview with Creamer earlier this year.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
On this Memorial Day, I just wanted to offer a totally inadequate not of appreciation to all the men and women who sacrificed for this country. In addition to Gary Bedingfield’s thorough Baseball’s Dead of World War II: A Roster of Professional Players Who Died in Service, other books on baseball players and wartime include: […]
{ 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
