Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
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 […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The entry on Christy Mathewson’s Pitching in a Pinch was quite popular so I thought I’d add some more info as provided by Mark Aubrey. You can read it online or download a copy in several formats (including for the Kindle) from Archive.org. Those interesting in hearing the book have a couple of options. You […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Can’t figure out the maze of links for this one. The Campaign for the American Reader posted this item posted by Marshal Zeringue on “Five top works of baseball fiction,” according to Leigh Montville, the author of two wonderful biographies on Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. The initial offering is The Brothers K by David James […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
One person’s opinion on “A few baseball books to extend the season.” Really? That’s all you could come up with? IMHO, one of the nice things about 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die — which includes entries about the three titles in the aforementioned piece — is that it lets you, the […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
I just love those radio commercials that implore listeners to either call within the next few minutes to take advantage of an extra special promotion (even though the spots run all day), or to be caller number xx. Like they won’t take your money if you’re late. Actually, I always thought of these things as […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Actually, it should be the Bookshelf getteth, I guess. My thanks to Ron A. for sending along as part of a recent exchange of books.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Switched over to a new podcasting plug-in. Not working exactly as I had hoped. The best I can do at the moment is link to it this way: hear the podcast here. Apologies for the extra click. * * * You can’t find any listing of the best baseball (or sports) fiction without finding Eric […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
See what I did there? I combined Dan Epstein, author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging ’70s, with the publication to which he contributed this article on “The 20 Best Baseball Books Ever,” his choice for the top 20 non-fiction titles in the genre to […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Back from vacation, lots to catch up on. Baseball Reflection’s posted this review of Tom Dunkel’s Color Blind: The Forgotten Team That Broke Baseball’s Color Line. And the rich get richer: Sports Illusrated‘s Extra Mustard blog posted this piece about “Five Baseball Books You Owe It to Yourself to Read This Summer” (plus a couple of […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Excellent piece in the NY Times by my neighbor Harvey Araton on the lost art of keeping score. My daughter, Rachel, was manager for her high school baseball team for three seasons, winning the job for her ability to keep score (and take pictures and bake cupcakes). We don’t go to a lot of games, […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Burton Boxerman, co-author with his wife, Bonita, of the two-volume Jews and Baseball series published by McFarland a few years back, published this review of Larry Ruttman’s American Jews and America’s Game: Voices of a Growing Legacy in Baseball in Baseball in a recent edition of the St. Louis Jewish Light. As an ye shall […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
All I know about Yankton, South Dakota, was that it was an element in one of my all-time favorite TV shows, Deadwood. Al Swearengen: Bloodletting on my premises that I ain’t approved I take as a f***ing affront. It puts me off my feed. Hearst:How do we know when you are off your feed? Al […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Our long national holiday being over, it’s time to get back to work. Had the opportunity to finish (and re-finish) a couple of baseball books over the last few days. I found Doc, the memoirs of fallen super-ace Dwight Gooden, a frustrating experience. On the one hand I thought it was a great self-assessment of […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
One author that frequently comes up in comments about who I neglected in 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die is John Tunis, who published a series of books for younger reader about fictitious players for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The list includes: The Kid from Tomkinsville, 1940 Keystone Kids, 1943 World Series, 1944 […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Nuckolball posted a review of Robert Creamer’s classic bio, Babe: The Legend Comes to Life. These are kind of like mini-reviews, so I’m including Baseball Nation’s piece on “Your favorite baseball books,” which includes, among others, Philip Roth’s The Great American Novel, The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
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
Mathewson still ‘pitching’ for baseball literacy
October 28, 2013 · 1 comment
The New Yorker posted this interesting piece on “Christy Mathewson and the Thinking Man’s Game” (although in the body of the article, it does refer to the more PC “thinking person”). The article by Luke Epplin refers to several books, including Mathewson’s “memoir,” Pitching in a Pinch: Baseball from the Inside — recently re-released by […]
Tagged as: Christy Mathewson, George F. Will, Lawrence Ritter, Men at Work, Pitching in a Pinch, The Glory of Their Times
{ Comments on this entry are closed }