Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Yes, another book about Pete Rose. This one is by Kostya Kennedy, author of 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports, so I expect good things. One line that particularly caught my eye in the piece: “Kennedy told me his publicists don’t want him to talk about the book before its release […]
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Steve Rushin was a guest on Milwaukee’s WUWM to discuss his new book, The 34-Ton Bat: The Story of Baseball as Told Through Bobble Heads, Cracker Jacks, Jock Straps, Eye Black, and 375 Other Strange and Unforgettable Objects. You can read about and listen to his appearance here. Missed this one from Nov. 29: On […]
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From ESPN.com: Reginald St. Fleur, 20, a tanning salon employee, was charged Wednesday by Boca Raton police with armed burglary. The charge stems from the March 24 break-in of a car rented by Porter Fischer, a former Biogenesis client and investor. Documents that Fischer had previously taken from the clinic were stolen and would later […]
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Another in an attempt to look over the over-looked news in baseball books. I’ve only just begun listening to the unabridged audio book of Bill Bryson’s newest, One Summer: America, 1927, but if Richard “Pete” Peterson says it’s “a good read for Cards, Cubs fans,” that’s good enough for me. Kevin Baker, who worked with […]
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Regardless of your opinion of Tim McCarver, endings are almost always sad. Last night’s World Series finale was the swan song of his broadcasting career. I especially appreciate McCarver’s comment that his goals as a broadcaster included “teaching you something you may not have known about this great game.” He’s done that on the air […]
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XX Because this is an ongoing concern and I can’t be bothered to remember how many of these I’ve done before. You know how many baseball “experts” picked a World Series in which the Boston Red Sox faced the St. Louis Cardinals? According to PunditTracker, zero. Where do I apply for a job in the […]
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Dan Gilbert, author of Expanding the Strike Zone: Baseball in the Age of Free Agency, will be the featured speaker at the next Varsity Letters event hosted by Gelf Magazine on Thursday, Oct. 10, at 7:30 p.m. at The Gallery at LPR, 158 Bleecker St. Gilbert, will be joined by Michael O’Keeffe, Teri Thompson, and […]
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The best way to play catch-up is via a “Bits and Pieces” entry so here goes: James Bailey offers this appreciation for W.P. Kinsella’s The Iowa Baseball Confederacy. Rob Neyer, Grant Brisbee, and Murray Chass on Mike Piazza and his new book, Long Shot. Don’t know where this excellent Simpsons/Moneyball mashup came from, but Brisbee […]
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Former Red Sox skipper Terry Francona’s self-named memoir debuts on the NY Times‘ Best Seller list at number 2. Gregory Cowles included it in the print edition of the Sunday Book Review’s “TBR: Inside the List” column. Unfortunately, it’s not on-line as of this writing so you’re own your own, since it’s too long for […]
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Literary birthday greetings: 1895 – Babe Ruth, outfielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer (d. 1948) Previous Babe Ruth birthday entry. Lest we forget: 2007 – Lew Burdette, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1926) Lew Burdette of the Braves, by Gene Schoor, Putnam, 1960. Also on this date: 1934: New York sportswriter and broadcaster Ford Frick is named the […]
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Value Over Replacement Grit offers a baseball-themed crossword puzzle. At the risk of appearing sexist, I must say this is the first time I’ve encountered a woman who collects baseball cards with such a passion as Cee Angi, who wrote this mournful “Requiem for the 00s: The Decline of Topps Baseball Cards,” in which she […]
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Literary birthday greetings: Poor Feb. 1. It has a tough act act to follow with Jan. 31, which celebrates the arrival of such legends Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks, and Nolan Ryan, who, between the three of them, have been the subjects of scores of books. Turns out there are no players who were born on […]
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It’s the Winter Baseball Meetings, which runs through Dec. 6 in Nashville (so I guess it doesn’t have to be a heavy overcoat). I came across this item from SB Nation about the meetings and it reminded me of Josh Lewin’s Getting in the Game: Inside Baseball’s Winter Meetings, published in 2003. Lewin, who currently […]
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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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The man responsible — for better or worse — for the astronomical salaries baseball players receive these days, died this morning at the age of 95. He had been battling cancer for more than a year. Miller was one of the most powerful men in sports during his tenure as head of the players union. […]
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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
