Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
This can be either endlessly amusing or incredibly frustrating: commercials read by radio broadcasters during games, as per Bob Greene in this CNN piece (with commentary by this piece from RadioLink.com. In sports, everything seems to be “brought to you by…” and some business is the “official (fill-in-the-blank) of the (team)…” One spot for the […]
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The New York Times‘ Ben Strauss published this profile of old-school White Sox broadcaster Ken “Hawk” Harrelson (the subject of a recent MLB Network documentary), who is unabashedly anti-Moneyball (and perhaps, by extension, anti-The Extra 2%). I must admit, I was kind of surprised to look at his stats: Considering he hit 23 homers in […]
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Born this date: 1916 – Bob Prince, announcer (d. 1985) We Had ‘Em All the Way: Bob Prince & His Pittsburgh Pirates Lest we forget: 2008 – Jules Tygiel, author (b. 1949) Baseball’s Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy Past Time: Baseball As History\ Extra Bases: Reflections on Jackie Robinson, Race, and Baseball History […]
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Brought to you as a public service announcement. MLB.com is seeking stats stringers to cover these clubs in 2013 and beyond: Baltimore/DC (both clubs) Houston Kansas City Oakland/SF (both clubs) Philadelphia Pittsburgh San Diego Seattle Texas (Arlington) Toronto Stats stringers are responsible for digitally scoring games from the MLB ballparks, which provides the data used […]
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Baseball Reflections posted this review of High Fives, Pennant Drives, and Fernandomania: A Fan’s History of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Glory Years (1977-1981), by Paul Haddad. Just in time for Opening Day in Japan (which just passed. Sorry for the late post): baseball terms in Japanese! Another late post: GQ ran this profile on broadcasting […]
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A day late, but with all due respect to Scully, who turned 84 yesterday. Curt Smith, the go-to writer on the history of baseball broadcasting, published Pull Up a Chair: The Vin Scully Story in 2009.
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Take heart, Houston. You may have the worst team in the Majors this season, but you can relive past glorious and otherwise amuse yourselves by reading these Astros-related titles, posted by Ray Kerby and Darrell Pittman on AstrosDaily.com.
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Had an unusual and fun experience on Tuesday. WNET/Channel 13 will broadcast the documentary Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story on Monday, June 6, at 8 p.m. According to the program description on the website, “Yogi Berra, Sandy Koufax and more greats are featured in this look at Jewish Americans and baseball.” Didn’t know […]
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Now brought to you by … the breakfast cereal of AMC’s The Killing. Very cool. Anyway… * Ben Platt posted this review of Kostya Kennedy’s new biography of Joe DiMaggio on MLB.com. * The “Bats” baseball blog of The New York Times ran this profile of Steve Stone, author of the new book Said In […]
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I looked and looked but could not find any on-line video for the scene in Field of Dreams in which a young Archie Graham stands in awe and rattles of the names of some of the ghost players that Shoeless Joe Jackson has recruited to play. Doesn’t this commercial from the MLB Network remind you […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb 18, at 3:30 p.m. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (Kindle […]
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If you’re not otherwise busy watching Gossip Girls or some such nonsense, I will be guesting on What’s On Second: The Seamhead.com Radio Hour (not to be confused with The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour… or is it? Hmmm.) Anyway, the festivities begin at 9 p.m. and I’m slated to go on at 9:15 p.m. EST […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Dec. 31,2010. 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, by 2 Baseball Forecaster 2011, by Ron Shandler 3 Baseball Prospectus 2011 4 Beyond […]
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The MLB Network will broadcast Thursday’s Silver Slugger Awards, given to the best offensive player at each position. Why not, they have to do something to fill the time between now and spring training. I would love a marathon movie schedule once a week, bringing back all those movies that don’t get played ad nauseum, […]
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“ESPN Breaks Up Sunday Night Baseball Team Of Jon Miller And Joe Morgan” I know a lot of people had problems Morgan, citing his monotonous prattle and over-analysis, but frankly, I don’t care who the announcers are. In fact, call me perverse, but I find the more they annoy, the more enjoyable the game. In […]
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Tim McCarver is either a genius or an annoyance, depending on your point of view. For some, he’s a keen analyst, for others, he just one of those ex-player blowhards with whom the modern rarely finds favor. He’s been accused of trying to make the game too “deep inside,” although there are plenty of fans […]
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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
