Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
MLB Reports reported on David Stinson’s Deadball: A Metaphysical Baseball Novel. Upshot: “…David Stinson accomplished his mission. I read. I learned. I experienced. I thought. I questioned the baseball past and starting looking to my baseball future. I am. Therefore baseball is the answer. The Metaphysics of Baseball. Welcome to Deadball.” The Jackson (Miss.) Clarion […]
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My review of Dan Ewald’s new book, Sparky and Me: My Friendship with Sparky Anderson and the Lessons He Shared About Baseball and Life, appears on Bookreproter.com. It appears below for your convenience: A caveat before we begin. When I first started as a freelancer, I was asked to do an interview with Sparky Anderson […]
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♦ In its Sunday edition, the Boston Globe published this roundup of sports book reviews, including A People’s History of Baseball by Mitchell Nathanson and Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick by Paul Dickson. Thumbs up for both books. ♦ The Lemuria Bookstore Blog offers mini-reviews for three baseball novels: The Art of Fielding, The Might […]
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[Note: My spring baseball roundup appears on Bookreporter.com and is reposted here as individual reviews for your convenience.] Harvey Araton tells a touching story in Driving Mr. Yogi: Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, and Baseball’s Greatest Gift. Reminiscent of David Halberstam’s 2002 The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship, Driving Mr. Yogi is a bit more […]
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♦ Bailey’s Baseball Book Reviews posted this one on Grisham’s Calico Joe. Upshot: “We’ve now had baseball tales from two of the literary world’s heavyweights in the past three years. Both have failed to live up to expectations.” [The other one is Stephen King’s novella, Blockade Billy.] ♦ Bailey also offers this on Just a […]
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My annual spring baseball book roundup appears on Bookreporter.com. Titles include: Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball, by R.A. Dickey and Wayne Coffey Turning Two: My Journey to the Top of the World and Back with the New York Mets, by Bud Harrelson and Phil Pepe Driving Mr. […]
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♦ Recently “discovered” At Home Plate, a nice little baseball site that posts the occasional review. Recent titles include Long Taters: A Baseball Biography of George “Boomer” Scott The Greatest Minor League: A History of the Pacific Coast league, 1903-1957 Hit By Pitch: Ray Chapman, Carl Mays, and the Fatal Fastball Wherever I Wind Up: […]
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♦ Bill Jordan posted this review of Paul Dickson’s Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick, on Baseball Reflections. Upshot: “Anyone who considers themselves to be a fan of baseball history should pick this work up. Whether you were familiar with Veeck or not before reading the book, you stand to learn a lot about this interesting […]
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♦ The latest on Tom Hoffarth’s 30/30 list: Double No-Hit: Johnny Vander Meer’s History Night Under the Lights, by James W. Johnson. Upshot: “Details come to life here, and thankfully, we find out much more about “The Dutch Master” than a box score can show.”
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♦ Tom Hoffarth’s latest 30/30 entry: Ruling Over Monarchs, Giants & Stars: True Tales of Breaking Barriers, Umpiring Baseball Legends and Wild Adventures in the Negro Leagues. ♦ Only a Game host Bill Littlefield offered his thought’s on John Grisham’s Calico Joe (scroll down about half way). Upshot: “some of the baseball elements of Calico […]
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♦ The Washington Times posted this review of Paul Dickson’s new Bill Veeck bio. ♦ Baseball reflections posted this on R.A. Dickey’s Wherever I Wind Up. ♦ Tom Hoffarth’s livre-du-jour is Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World’s Most Loved (and Hated) Team.
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♦ The Hardball Times posted this review of Mitchell Nathanson’s A People’s History of Baseball. Nathan was also a recent guest on Only a Game, which you can hear here. ♦ The Washington Post ran this roundup of kids’ titles, which I am passing along only because I’m for anything that gets the little buggers […]
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The always-entertaining, education, and interesting Baseball Reliquary will host “Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick,” an exhibition at the Arcadia Public Library, Arcadia, California, from April 9 and through May 24. The exhibition is based on Paul Dickson’s book, Bill Veeck: Baseball’s Greatest Maverick, the first major biography on this American original, which is due out […]
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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
