Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Hall of Famers — and former Cardinals — Bob Gibson (75) and Whitey Herzog (79) share a birthday today. Books on Gibson: Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played Stranger to the Game: The Autobiography of Bob Gibson From Ghetto […]
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Jerry Remy, the Red Sox’ popular second baseman from the late ’70s to mid ’80s, turns 58 today. A local product who made good in Red Sox Nation, Remy became a broadcaster following his active career and wrote a couple of primers on the game: Jerry Remy’s Red Sox Heroes: The RemDawg’s All-Time Favorite Red […]
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A couple of book-related birthdays today: Jim “Kitty” Kaat, turns 72 today. This is one of those “longevity” cases for Hall of Fame consideration. Kaat won 283 games, but he did it in 25 seasons. He published his memoirs, Still Pitching: Musings from the Mound and the Microphone in 2003, looking back on his playing […]
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Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Janey Leavy. Harper, 2010. If she’s not careful, Jane Leavy will earn a reputation as the Boswell of the battered ballplayer. In 2002, she wrote the definitive biography (to this point) of the role model to Jewish boomers everywhere in Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy. In […]
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Bob Feller, one of the fastest pitchers in Major League history, turns 92 today. Feller was one of those “Greatest Americans” who served in combat in World War II (as opposed to ballplayers who continued to play, albeit within the confines of military service). He lost more than three prime years. Several sabermetricians have posited […]
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Thanks to Greg Spira for this list of links to reviews of Jane Leavy’s latest: The Cleveland Plain Dealer The Oregonian Dallas Morning News Christian Science Monitor (author interview) Ottawa Citizen CBS News (feature with excerpt) Los Angeles Times SecondAct.com (feature) Here’s another from the Watching the Game blog, which is quickly becoming one of […]
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Johnny Vander Meer, owner of one record that is unlikely to be broken, was born this date in 1914. The Dutch Master, The Life And Times Of Johnny Vander Meer, by Paul Lichtman Also born on Nov. 2, Al Campanis, the Dodgers’ baseball lifer who made an infamous name for himself with his remarks about […]
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Fernando Valenzuela hits the big Five-Oh today. As a rookie in the strike-shortened 1981 season he won the hearts and imaginations of baseball fans everywhere — as well as the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Award — and years later got a shout-out from Annie savoy in Bull Durham. The impetus behind “Fernandomania” […]
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Mickey Rivers turns 62 today. Rivers was one of the ex-Yankees down in Florida last year when I attended Fantasy Camp. He wasn’t one of my coaches, so I didn’t have too much interaction with him. But one indelible memory: After the games one day, the campers and staff gathered in the plush snack bar […]
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Marking the occasion: Ed Delahanty and Bill Terry. Born in 1867, Delahanty was one of the games first superstars, plying his trade for the primarily for the Philadelphia Phillies in the 1980s. In his 16 year career, he batted .346 with 101 home runs and 1,466 RBIs. He met his fate under odd circumstances that […]
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The Hall of Fame slugger and host of the popular Mets post-game show bearing his name, turns 88 today. Kiner is one of those former players employed as a broadcaster to compare contemporary players to those of their (back in the) day. Like many of his fellow announcers, Kiner was known to mangle a few […]
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Mike Hargrove turns 61 today. “The Human Rain Delay” spent most of his 12-season career with the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians. After he retired as a player, Hargrove managed the Indians for nine seasons, getting them to two World Series (1995, 1997). he also had the helm of the Orioles (2000-03) and Mariners (2005-07), […]
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Pedro Martinez turns 39 today. Hard to believe he couldn’t find somebody to take a chance on him in 2010. He was the subject for numerous children’s books in both English and Spanish, as well as Pedro, Carlos, and Omar: The Story of a Season in the Big Apple and the Pursuit of Baseball’s Top […]
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A busy today today with one Hall of Famer and perhaps a future inductee? Ichiro Suzuki turns 37 today. The first position player from japan to make a big splash, it’s understandable Suzuki is naturally the subject of several books, both on his baseball prowess and the cultural significance of his achievements. Ichiro on Ichiro: […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 22. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael […]
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The other “Chairman of the Board” turns 82 today, a day after the birthday of his Yankee friend and teammate, Mickey Mantle. In his last two seasons with the Yankees, Ford — inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974 — had a record of 4-9. Subtract that from his career totals and he would […]
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Several high-profile ballplayers share Oct. 20 as a birthday. Tops on the list: Mickey Mantle. There are dozens of books about The Mick. Many of the more recent ones examines his flaws as a person well as his strengths as an athlete, including Jane Leavy’s just-published The Last Boy. Since this book — and by […]
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To Mordecai “Three Finger” Brown, born this date in 1876. The Hall of Famer pitched mostly for the Chicago Cubs the last time they were good, compiling a record of 239-130, 2.06 in 14 seasons. He won 20 or more games for six consecutive seasons. And he didn’t even ame his big league debut until […]
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Many thanks to Greg Spira for these outlets that ran reviews of Jane Leavy’s new biography, The Last Boy: From Keith Olberman in the Sunday NY Times Book Review section. Upshot: “Leavy comes as close as perhaps anyone ever has to answering “What makes Mantle Mantle?” She transcends the familiarity of the subject, cuts through […]
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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
