Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Sorry for a second consecutive self-promotional item, but I have to admit I was a bit disappointed to see that 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die wasn’t part of ForeWord Magazine‘s Best of the Year Awards in the adult sports category. At least it didn’t make the final cut; I have no […]
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They’re starting to come in hot and heavy. Witness: John Rosengren, author of the The Fight of Their Lives: How Juan Marichal and John Roseboro Turned Baseball’s Ugliest Brawl into a Story of Forgiveness and Redemption, was arecent guest on WBUR’s Only a Game. OAG‘s host, Bill Littlefield included it in a trio of books […]
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This it the time of year when the baseball media offer their considered opinions on their favorite prospects. Sometimes they’re spot on, other times, not so much. So I thought, why not apply this to the upcoming “rookie crop” of baseball books? That is, titles that are making their debuts in 2014 — no reprints/reissues […]
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Ralph Kiner, one of the game’s all-time great sluggers, passed away today at the age of 91. Kiner, who led the National League in home runs for seven straight seasons, was favorite of mine on one of the best trio of broadcasters in baseball. He was the last to go from his NY Mets booth-mates […]
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Posted on Facebook by John Rosengren, author of Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes: Babe Ruth’s birthday today. Born 1895. Hank Greenberg thought Babe was the greatest ballplayer ever. In early 1947 he visited Ruth at his Riverside apartment while the Babe was recovering from throat cancer surgery and on a doctor-prescribed beer diet to […]
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A collection of items about Ben Bradlee Jr.’s new bio of Ted Williams. With all due modesty, kicking this off with my own review of the book, which appears on Bookreporter.com. Here’s another one from USA Today. Slate’s review, by David Bry And while I’m at it, no harm in reposting the two NY Times […]
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From ESPN.com: Joe Torre, Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox, baseball’s winningest managers over the past four decades, were unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame on Monday by the expansion era committee. Books about these gentlemen include: Joe Torre The Yankee Years by Torre with Tom Verducci Joe Torre’s Ground Rules for Winners: 12 […]
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The Wall Street Journal published this piece on The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams (pay wall). And although Bruce Weber wrote this review for the Dec. 5 edition of The New York Times, another one appeared in the Sunday Times book section. Sorry, maybe it’s sour grapes, but with all the books out […]
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Yesterday Tyler Kepner posted this “Personal Journey Through the Hall of Fame Ballot” in which he comments on all 36 player who were eligible for listing. The New York Times does not allow their writers to vote on awards, perhaps because of some conflict of interest concerns, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have some […]
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I’m reading The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams for an upcoming review on Bookreporter.com. When I received the galleys, my first thought was similar to Rob Neyer’s, who noted in this post, “Hey, there’s another book about Ted Williams.” (Excerpt here. By the way, although I understand the title, it’s too similar to […]
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Another in an attempt to look over the over-looked news in baseball books. I’ve only just begun listening to the unabridged audio book of Bill Bryson’s newest, One Summer: America, 1927, but if Richard “Pete” Peterson says it’s “a good read for Cards, Cubs fans,” that’s good enough for me. Kevin Baker, who worked with […]
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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 […]
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The grandson of the controversial Hall of Famer will speak at at the Grant Brimhall Library, 1401 E. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks, Calif., on Saturday, Oct. 19 , at 2 p.m. Cobb is the author of Heart of a Tiger: Growing up with My Grandfather, Ty Cobb. I have not read the book yet — […]
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I just love those radio commercials that implore listeners to either call within the next few minutes to take advantage of an extra special promotion (even though the spots run all day), or to be caller number xx. Like they won’t take your money if you’re late. Actually, I always thought of these things as […]
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Multiple Cy-Young winner Pedro Martinez will release his eponymous memoir, Pedro, next spring. The book, co-written by the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman, will be published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The family of Roberto Clemente has collaborated on Clemente: The True Legacy of an Undying Hero, was released last month. The book was the Hall of Famer’s […]
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To steal a line from a regular segment of Pardon the Interruption. Baseball Nation reminds us (okay, reminded me) that today is the 105th anniversary of Merkle’s Boner. Hopefully, this is drumming up some renewed interest in Mike Cameron’s empathetic biography, Public Bonehead, Private Hero: The Real Legacy of Baseball’s Fred Merkle, which is included […]
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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
