Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The Two Lives of Roy Campanella, by Neil Lanctot. Simon and Schuster, 2011. My first thoughts when I heard about this book was, “It’s about time.” Roy Campanella was a three-time NL MVP and a Hall of Famer, yet aside from It’s Good to Be Alive, his own ghostwritten autobiography, there have been no “adult” […]
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Pitcher Virgil “Fire” Trucks turns 94 today. Throwing Heat: The Life and Times of Virgil “Fire” Trucks, by Trucks, with Joyner and Bozman, 2004 Also born this date: Sal Maglie in 1917. He earned his nickname because a) he always looked like he was in need of one; and b) hie licked giving batters close […]
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Omar Vizquel, the ageless wonder, actually does age. He turns 44 today. Omar!: My Life on and Off the Field, by Vizquel with Dyer, 2002
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The Hall of Fame pitcher was born this date in 1921. Spahn, Sain, and Teddy Ballgame: Boston’s (almost) Perfect Baseball Summer of 1948, by Nowlin, 2008 The Greatest Game Ever Pitched: Juan Marichal, Warren Spahn, and the Pitching Duel of the Century, by Jim Kaplan, 2011 The Warren Spahn Story, by Shapiro, 1958 Warren Spahn, […]
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Apropos of the review I posted the other day of Jerome Charyn’s new biography Joe DiMaggio: The Long Vigil, I wanted to point out that the book has a web presence of its own. Should be interesting to peruse; some are baseball sites, some are not.
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Time once again for a major links dump to make up for bad behavior. Warning: some of these links go back to March. Just sayin’. * A member of Red Sox Nation pays tribute to a “mortal enemy” by giving the NY Times photo book on Derek Jeter the thumbs up. * The Wall Street […]
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Don Mattingly turns the big 5-Oh today. Donnie Baseball: The Definitive Biography of Don Mattingly Don Mattingly’s Hitting Is Simple: The ABC’s of Batting .300 Also born this date in 1929, Harry Agganis, the Golden Greek, who tied way too young, at the age of 26 due to massive pulmonary embolism. Harry Agganis, ” the […]
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Eisenreich, who turns 52 today, managed to carve out a 15-year career despite suffering from Tourrette’s Syndrome. Dan Gutman wrote Jim Eisenreich (Overcoming the Odds), part of a series of books for kids about athletes overcoming adversity of one kind or another.He also merits a chapter in Jack Walsh’s 2004 book, Baseball’s Good Guys: The […]
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by Jerome Charyn. Yale University Press, 2011. * * * This year marks the 70th anniversary of one of those sports records still considered to be unbreakable: Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. While most of the books over the years — especially those written in a long-ago time, when athletes were always heroic rather than […]
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As in Tom Hoffarth’s one-a-day Book reviews: Day 7: The Baseball Hall of Fame Collection Day 8: Baseball — How to Play the Game Day 9: The Bill James Handbook 2011 Day 10: Baseball in the Garden of Eden Day 11: The Greatest Game Ever Pitched Day 12: Mexican American Baseball in Los Angeles Day […]
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Among baseball players, those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach hitting. Charley Lau was consider a master instructor, even though his lifetime batting average over 11 seasons as a part-timer was just .255. Lau’s theories on batting were published in several volumes, both by him and others, including: The Winning Hitter How to Win […]
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Congratulations to Nathan Cordery of Stoney Creek, Ontario, this month’s winner of the Bookshelf Facebook prize: John Thorn’s Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game. The next book prize will be Neil Lanctot’s Campy: The Two Lives of Roy Campanella. In addition, as a special “season opener” bonus, another […]
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Very sad, the end of Ramirez’s career. To have played as long as he did, only to have people look at you funny now that this information has come out. But in a bizarro way, you have to give him credit for not saying: “It was my teammate’s stuff. I didn’t know what it was.” […]
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Gary Carter turns 57 today. Among the books written by or about The Kid: Still a Kid at Heart: My Life in Baseball and Beyond, by Carter A Dream Season, by Carter Gary Carter, le “Kid” (French Edition) Catfish Hunter was born in 1946. Catfish, by Hunter Cooking with “Catfish” Hunter: Tasty recipes for people […]
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This originally appeared in the New Jersey Jewish News, March 31. It’s not quite one of the Four Questions, but Washington Post sportswriter Thomas Boswell devoted an entire best-selling collection of his columns to explain Why Time Begins on Opening Day. For long-chilled fans, time begins again today, baseball’s earliest start ever. Several new books […]
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The Red Sox Hall of Fame second baseman turns 93 today. As my people say, ken ahora. Doeer was a nine-time All Star and one of the subjects of the late Dave Halberstam’s 2003 bittersweet book, The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship. Also born this date, John McGraw — the Billy Martin of his […]
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Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane was born this date in 1903. According to Baseball-Reference.com’s “Bullpen” section, Cochrane earned his nickname because of his competitive nature and fiery temper. Mickey Cochrane: The Life of a Baseball Hall of Fame Catcher, by Bevis, 1998.
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Gil Hodges was born this date in 1924. While compiling my list of books about Hall of Famers, I couldn’t help but ask why some of these guys were in while someone like Hodges was out. Praying for Gil Hodges: A Memoir of the 1955 World Series and One Family’s Love of the Brooklyn Dodgers, […]
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Intro: As previously stated, the recent election of Robert Alomar and Bert Blyleven got me to thinking: how many Hall of Famers have had books written about them or penned their own stories. Here are the results. Again, this is not an all-inclusive list; almost all juvenile titles have been omitted. * * * Rube […]
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Daniel “Rusty” Staub turns 67 today. Rusty Staub of the Expos, by Robertson, 1971. Hello, Mr. Met!, by Staub, 2006 (juvenile). Few and Chosen: Defining Mets Greatness Across the Eras, by Staub with Pepe, 2009. Also born this date, Hall of Famer Phil Niekro, who turns 72. Knuckle Balls, by Niekro with Bird, 1986. The […]
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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
