Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Two for the price of one this weekend, as the Times publishes an overview of Howard Bryant’s The Last Hero (“Much of this has been told before — most vividly in Aaron’s autobiography, “I Had a Hammer.” Written with Lonnie Wheeler and published in 1992, it explores the tangled theme of baseball and race with […]
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to Bobby Murcer, who would have been 64 today. He published Yankee for Life: My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes, written with Glen Waggoner, shortly before his death. Also born this date, in 1921, “Prince” Hal Newhouser, subject of A Tiger in His Time: Hal Newhouser and the Burden of Wartime Ball, written by David M. […]
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to Reggie Jackson, born this date in 1946. Reggie (no last name necessary) has been the subject of several books, including Reggie Jackson: The Life and Thunderous Career of Mr. October, the just-released bio by Dayn Perry, which I’ll be reviewing for Bookreporter.com in the very near future. The Jackson collection includes: Also celebrating a […]
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Born this date in 1928. All’s I know is that I found the TV version of The Bronx Is Burning to difficult to watch, if only because of John Turturro’s ears.
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At home plate posted this extensive review of James Hirsch’s bio of the Hall of Famer. Upshot: “This book is a feast for serious baseball aficionados and a veritable banquet for Giants fans. The sheer heft should not matter to those folks. They should plunge right in, especially those who remember the young Willie. A […]
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This top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, May 14. Title Rank General The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime, by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca 1 The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran, by Dirk Hayhurst 2 Moneyball: The Art […]
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The Hall of Fame catcher (and my Montclair “neighbor”) was born this date in 1925. Ain’t it amazing how many books by/about him — on basically the same stuff — there are, including, but not limited to:
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I was reading this New York Times review of Howard Bryant’s new biography, The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron, when the title hit me. The Last Hero. What does that say about us? Are heroes just for kids? Have we become so jaded that such an idea seems old-fashioned? I probably say this […]
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Milt Pappas (1939). From the Baseball-Reference “Bullpen”: Milt Pappas came one batter short of throwing a perfect game for the Chicago Cubs on September 2, 1972. He had 2 balls and 2 strikes on hitter #27, Larry Stahl, and his last two pitches were ruled balls. He settled for the no-hitter, but he never forgave […]
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to Willie Mays, who turned 79 yesterday.
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The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran this review of the Pirates’ Hall of Fame third baseman Pie Traynor: A Baseball Biography and Kiss It Goodbye, The Mystery, the Mormon and the Moral of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates. The piece also links to reviews of Willie Mays: The Life the Legend; The Last Hero: A Life of Hank […]
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Rogers Hornsby 1896 Enos “Country” Slaughter 1916
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Born this day in 1917 Sal “The Barber” Maglie Virgil “Fire” Trucks
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This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, April 23. Title Rank General The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime, by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca 1 The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran, by Dirk Hayhurst 2 Moneyball: The […]
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This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, April 16. Title Rank General The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran, by Dirk Hayhurst 1 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime, by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca 2 Willie Mays: […]
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This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, April 9. Title Rank General The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran, by Dirk Hayhurst 1 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime, by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca 2 Willie Mays: […]
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Traditionally, this is the time of year when newspapers (remember those?) run round-ups of baseball book reviews (like this one by yours truly on Bookreporter.com). They’re good for those with short attention spans, since they tend to cover multiple titles briefly (but then, if that’s your problem, how will you get through the books themselves?). […]
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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
