Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Just as Opening Day is just around the corner for players, so is it also for readers about the national pastime. The schedule might not be the same: there won’t be multiple releases every day, not even one a week, at least not on a regular basis. But the “rookies” will be hitting the shelves […]
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When will this end? Tom Seaver. Jay Johnstone. Lou Brock. Al Kaline. Jimmy Wynn. And a host of others. And now, Bob Gibson, who passed away Friday at the age of 84. A Hall of Famer, seven-time All-Star, and two-time Cy Young winner, he spent his entire 17-year career with the St. Louis Cardinals. Here’s […]
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As I mention in the conversation with comedian Adam Felber, one of the things I miss most about my previous job was the long commute which allowed me time to listen to lengthy podcasts. Chief among them was Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, the NPR news quiz show on which Felber was a regular panelist. […]
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Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]
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Lost in all the drama of the continuing pandemic, presidential election conventions, and other items: August 17 marked the 100th anniversary of the only fatality on a major league baseball field. Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Naps (as the Indians were known at the time) was killed by a pitch from the New York Yankees’ […]
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Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Some creators who have appeared in these Conversations have admitted that their project became a chore. For others, it was just a job. And sometimes that shows up in the work. A lot of biographies seem to be showing off the amount of research the author did. Very good, but they kind of read like […]
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Missed over the holiday weekend: the passing of the talented Mr. Wheeler, a writer who assisted on the autobiographies of superstars like Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, and Mike Piazza, as well as his own thought-provoking work. Here’s The New York Times‘ obituary, contributed by Richard Sandomir. I had the pleasure of talking with Wheeler for […]
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When I was a kid, I looked forward to another “opening day,” besides the one where the umpires yelled “Play ball!” for the game of the season. For me, it was almost more important when the first boxes of Topps cards arrived at my local candy store. I was once so excited to buy an […]
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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
