Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 8. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis 2 Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu: John Updike on Ted Williams, […]
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Jonathan Mahler, author of Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City, wrote this profile of Texas Rangers president and Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan in this Oct. 3 Sunday Times Magazine. I like Ryan. He’s old school. None of the pitch-count BS. […]
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Can’t believe the season is almost over. The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of 2 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 1. Title Rank General Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu: John Updike on Ted Williams, by John Updike 1 The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 2 Moneyball: […]
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To Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who turns 65 today. Carew, by Carew with Ira Berkow Rod Carew’s Art and Science of Hitting Also marking the occasion, Mark McGwire, who perhaps could have been a Hall of Famer, turns 47. There were two “waves” of books about Big Mac. The first came in 1998 when […]
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To beloved Brooklyn Dodger Johnny Podres, born this date in 1932. Johnny Podres: Brooklyn’s Yankee Killer And to Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, born in 1926. Roberts, one of the last great complete game practitioners, died just this past May. He penned, My Life in Baseball,with the help of C. Paul Rogers III, in 2003.
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Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka turns 30. Dice-K: The First Season of the Red Sox $100 Million Man Former Yankee favorite Bernie Williams is 42. The Journey Within (since you can put a CD on your bookshelf.)
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To two Hall of Famers. Bill Mazeroski, whose home run in the 1960 World Series remains one of the game’s most dramatic moments, turns 74. Twin Killing: The Bill Mazeroski Story, by John T. Bird Napolean Lajoie, born this date in 1874. He published Napoleon Lajoie’s Official Base Ball Guide in 1906. Surprisingly, there seems […]
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Playing a little catch-up here: Aug. 30 Hideo Nomo, 42: Nomo: The Tornado Who Took America by Storm, by Edmon Rodman Frank Robinson, 75: Robinson has published a couple of his own titles, including My Life Is Baseball (1975), Frank: The First Year (1976), and Extra Innings (1988). Other titles about Robinson include Russ Schneider’s […]
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Several “ballplayers with books” mark a birthday today including: Ron Guidry, 60. He published Guidry, his autobio with Peter Golenbock in 1985 and was the subject of Maury Allen’s kids book, Ron Guidry, Louisiana Lightning in 1979. And the recently-retired Lou Pinella, 67, Gudry’s Yankee teammate, has a couple of books himself, including Sweet Lou: Lou […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Aug. 27. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran, by Dirk Hayhurst 2 The Game from Where I Stand: A Ballplayer’s Inside View, by Doug Glanville […]
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Cal Ripken, Jr., 50. Ripken is big on instructionals for younger players, as well as life lessons learned from the game. The Only Way I Know Baseball’s Iron Man: Cal Ripken JR. a Tribute The Longest Season Tim Salmon, 42, also celebrated yesterday. Always an Angel: Playing the Game With Fire and Faith And Harry […]
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Celebrating today are Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski (71), Paul Molitor (54), and Ned Hanlon. “Yaz” has several titles associated with his name, including Yastrzemski (Icons of Major League Baseball); Yaz: Baseball, the Wall, and Me; and Batting (1972, with Al Hirshberg). He’s also an integral piece of any book written about the 1967 “Impossible […]
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Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had, by Edward Achorn (Smithsonian, 2010). If contemporary fans can’t relate when their baseball-loving parents tell them about Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays or, going back farther, when the grandfolks talk about DiMaggio or Jackie Robinson, how do you think they’d react when […]
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According to this Michael McCann story on the Sports Illustrated website. Clemens “was indicted Thursday on six counts of federal perjury, false statement and obstruction of Congress charges. While Clemens is undoubtedly worried about the prospect of a conviction and possible prison sentence — under Title 18 of the U.S. Code, a defendant convicted on […]
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go to Bobby Richardson, who turns 75 today, and Ron Darling, who hits the half-century mark. The Bobby Richardson Story The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball and the Art of Pitching
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Roberto Clemente, born this date in 1934. Clemente!, by Kal Wagenheim Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero, by David Maraniss And Buck Weaver, born this date in 1890. The Ginger Kid: The Buck Weaver Story, by Irving M. Stein.
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Was checking Facebook and saw an entry from Edward Achorn, author of Fifty-Nine in ’84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had, on the 90th anniversary of the day Ray Chapman was hit in the head by a Carl Mays pitch. Chapman succumbed to his injuries the following day. […]
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The now-questionable future Hall of Famer turns 48 today. Books that were released early in Clemens’ career were pretty much all lauditory, including The Rocket: Baseball Legend Roger Clemens, Facing Clemens: Hitters on Confronting Baseball’s Most Intimidating Pitcher, and, of course, his “own” story, Rocket Man. But those that came after his retirement take a […]
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Of course, Rodriguez has a shadow over him, thanks in no small part to Selena Robert, who wrote A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez. People will be talking about the validity of his records for a long time. Whichis a shame, since so much of it came before he (allegedly) indulged in PEDs. More […]
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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
