Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Baseball Nation posted this entry about “Ten baseball movie posters worth another look.” It may be a matter of semantics, but I have a problem with some of the selections, even though the blogger includes the caveat that [N]ot all baseball movies have baseball elements on their posters and not all movies with baseball elements […]
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From the film version of Eight Men Out: [Shoeless Joe Jackson is talking to his bat] Shoeless Joe: Big whop now. Big whop, Betsy; you tell me when. Freddie: Does it ever answer you, Joe? Lefty Williams: Probably sleeps with it, too. Lefty Williams: Lay off, you guys. Hap Felsch: You crackers stick together, huh? […]
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Note: This entry is a combination of the official press release sent by the Hall of Fame and my comments/edits. With the release of Legendary Entertainment’s landmark film 42 this spring, the worlds of movies and baseball came together for fans across the globe. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will recognize the […]
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But wouldn’t it be soooo cool? And in 3D, no less! Via John Thorn on Facebook via Jonah Keri.
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Hard to believe it’s only been 20 years since this minor classic came out. That means that the actors, for the most part, are still not yet 40. The movie got the treatment in Sports Illustrated‘s annual “Where Are They Now” issue and has also been the subject of articles from Yahoo Sports and others. […]
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Happy Canada Day, everybody! Here’s a tease from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Allen Barra’s Mickey and Willie (because there’s a pay-wall). Frankly, I don’t know of the first sentence — “Books about Major League Baseball abound.” — would entice me to investigate further. The Albany Times-Union ran this on their neighbor’s new book, Inside the Baseball […]
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It’s a fine line. I am in the early stages of watching Knuckleball!, the 2012 documentary about the “trick pitch” and its practitioners by Ricki Stern and Anne Sundberg. So far I’m really enjoying every aspect of it: the cinematography, the special effects, the music. But what has taken the total bloom off the rose […]
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The legendary swimmer-turned-movie star died today at the age of 91. She was a surprisingly competent actress, compared with many other sports stars who tried their hand at the silver screen. Studios went out of their way to compose scenes in which she would display her aquatic prowess (and the fact that she looked good […]
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I had the opportunity to watch Big Leaguer yesterday. Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I can get a little cynical at times, but I was pleasantly surprised by this modest endeavor about young athletes at a New York Giants try-out camp, led by Edward G. Robinson as a kind-but-firm former Major Leaguer. Sure […]
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That remains to be seen, but Baseball National posted this about one of the few baseball movies that I have missed: the 1953 vehicle Big Leaguer, starring Edward G. Robinson as a former, well, big leaguer. Pro ballplayers Tony Ravish (!), Bob Trocolor, Harv Tomtor (in an uncredited role), and Al “Necessities” Campanis all appeared […]
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The critics seem to fall into two main camps: movie critics with no special knowledge about baseball, who based their comments solely on the production values and storytelling and those baseball nerds with lots of knowledge about the topic who were mostly interested in the attention to detail, some to a most picayune level. Let’s […]
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All right, let’s get this out of the way. I haven’t seen the movie yet, and will be writing my own review, but I think I’ve heard enough and read enough to spout off. Since this is a biopic “based on a true story,” I had no qualms about listening to Slate’s Spoiler Special for […]
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The long-time movie critic succumbed to cancer yesterday at the age of 70. He was given a “melancholy happy trails” tribute on Pardon the Interruption, in which co-host Tony Kornheiser noted that his show copied liberally from the dynamic Ebert and his co-host, Gene Siskel, employed in their TV show, At The Movies. As would […]
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Billy Sample, who enjoyed a nine-year career, primarily with the Texas Rangers, has turned to “act two” of his life, literally. Sample served as executive producer, co-director, and writer of Reunion 108, a feature film about to make its official release. From the IMDB plot summary: Two generations of professional baseball players return for a […]
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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 […]
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Hit the mother lode on Kirkus today in a good-news/bad-news scenario. On the plus side, I found several reviews of forthcoming topics for your interest and information. On the down side, 501 isn’t among them. 🙠Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes, by John Rosengrean (buy it here). Baseball as a Road to God: Seeing […]
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Last week I posted this entry on Tom Shieber’s frame-by-frame analysis to say “yea” or “nay” (sort of) to the urban legend that Gary Cooper’s baseball action while portraying Lou Gehrig was inverted since the actor was a natural righty (I wonder: there’s a scene where Gehrig is signing a ball for sick little Billy […]
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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 […]
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Ron reading about baseball. Ron loves movies. Therefore, Ron loves reading about baseball movies. So you know where I stand on this fascinating piece — “The Pride of the Yankees Seeknay,” published by Tom Shieber, senior curator of the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, on his Baseball Researcher blog. You can watch the whole […]
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is available on Amazon.com,
In my most recent "day job," I was the sports and features editor for a weekly New Jersey newspaper, where I hosted another blog. Busy, busy, busy.
I did a profile piece on the award-winning cartoonist Arnold Roth and he was nice enough to "immortalize" me.
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
Bookshelf review: 42
April 25, 2013
This will be relatively short (and hopefully sweet?), since there’s not much I can add to the dozens of critiques previously offered on the new Jackie Robinson biopic. Although I had read just about everything I could find on the film, I still believe I went in with an open mind. I am predisposed to […]
Tagged as: 42
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