Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Richard Sandomir, who covers sports media for The New York Times, has this on Ian O’Connor’s latest appearing in this week’s Sunday Book Review section. Upshots: “O’Connor rarely elevates his material beyond a narrative about Jeter’s greatness as a man and player. A straightforward storyteller, he gods up his subject without irony, detachment or recognition […]
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Carlos Zambrano turns 30 today. In addition to being one of the best pitchers of the past decade (121-76), he is, as the old announcer used to say, a pretty fair country hitter. He leads all active pitchers-as-batters with 22 home runs and is a three-time Silver Slugger winner. Pedro Miranda wrote The Big Z: […]
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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: […]
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Come on, admit it, won’t you miss hearing “Manny being Manny?” The one-time sure-fire Hall of Famer turns 38 today. I wonder if the authors of Becoming Manny: Inside the Life of Baseball’s Most Enigmatic Slugger would consider a revised edition? Also born this date, actual Hall of Famer Amos Rusie (1871). Bonus nicknames of […]
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Frank Thomas turns 42 today. He’s one of the few sluggers of the recent vintage who have not been (overly) tainted with the steroids suspicion brush. He was a two-time MVP and five-time All-Star in his 19-year in which he averaged 36 homers and 119 RBI per season. There have been several books written about […]
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The first Jewish major Leaguer was born this date in 1845. A few months back I did an interview with Richard Michelson, author of a new children’s book about Pike. You can hear it here.
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Clyde King was born this date in 1924. He published A King’s Legacy: The Clyde King Story in 1999, which isn’t bad considering his playing career lasted just seven seasons and five as a manager (but only one full season). Also born this date, Hall of Famer Zack Wheat (1888). I don’t understand how there’s […]
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Minnesota hometown favorite Kent Hrbek turns the big five-oh today. Surprisingly, he was an All-Star just once, finishing second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 1982 and MVP voting two years later. He lent his name to Kent Hrbek’s Tales from the Minnesota Twins Dugout in 2007. Also born this date (in […]
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The Journey of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Connor. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011 (Note: This review was published on Bookreporter.com on May 20.) You wouldn’t think Derek Jeter would be the cause of any headaches for the New York Yankees. An 11-time All-Star, 1996 American League Rookie of the Year, presumptive first-round Hall of Famer. A […]
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The Hall of Famers were born this date. Brooks Robinson turns 74, while Reggie Jackson turns 65. Books on Robinson include Third Base is My Home, by Robinson, 1974 Putting it all together,by Robinson, 1971 The Brooks Robinson Story, by Zanger, 1967 Books on Jackson include Reggie Jackson: The Life and Thunderous Career of Baseball’s […]
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Billy Martin, the feisty ballplayer and feistier manager, was born this date in 1928. Martin was hired and fired so often by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, it became something of a pop culture phenomenon. I’m pretty sure the original of this Miller Lite commercial has Steinbrenner saying, “You’re fired.” Sounds (and looks) like a dub […]
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Say a prayer for Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew. Just received this statement via the Baseball Hall of Fame: “It is with profound sadness that I share with you that my continued battle with esophageal cancer is coming to an end. With the continued love and support of my wife, Nita, I have exhausted all […]
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The Yankee legend turns 86 today. You can’t have a baseball book about the Yankees post-war dynasty without Berra, who happens to be a nominal neighbor of mine in that we live in the same New Jersey town. One of his books is titled The Yogi Book: “I Really Didn’t Say Everything I Said. “ […]
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The Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award, which recognizes outstanding baseball research in areas other than history and biography, has been awarded for the following books published in 2010: Satch, Dizzy, and Rapid Robert: The Wild Saga of Interracial Baseball Before Jackie Robinson, by Timothy M. Gay (Simon & Schuster) Evaluating Baseball’s Managers: A History and […]
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I have a special affinity for players who remain with one team for their career: Carl Yazstremski, Cal Ripken, Jr., Mantle, Feller, Musial, etc. Free agency has rendered such a feat exceedingly rare. (Several years ago, The New York Times produced a pretty item featuring a a dozen or so contemporary players; the date isn’t […]
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Willie Mays turns 80 today. Wow. Somewhere in my stacks I have some yellowing magazines from the mid-60s that still compared Mays to Mickey Mantle, Duke Snider having been out of the picture for a couple of seasons. Mays appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated nine times (six as an active player). So much […]
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The Hall of Fame pitcher was born this date in 1884. He holds the record for most wins for players born on this date with 212 although he won more than 20 in a season just twice. He is also, surprisingly, second in saves (34). Bender was not too shabby at the plate either, with […]
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Now brought to you by … the breakfast cereal of AMC’s The Killing. Very cool. Anyway… * Ben Platt posted this review of Kostya Kennedy’s new biography of Joe DiMaggio on MLB.com. * The “Bats” baseball blog of The New York Times ran this profile of Steve Stone, author of the new book Said In […]
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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
