Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
In addition to the Black Sox papers that mysteriously resurfaced recently, another piece of baseball history is heading to auction. Memory Lane, Inc, a Tustin, Calif. sports collectible enterprise, will be offering Christy Mathewson‘s rookie contract, dated 1900. “Vintage baseball contracts have become more sought after in recent years by collectors, and that demand has […]
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Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, By Robert Creamer, narrated by Tom Parker (Unabridged) Listen here: The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe , by Leigh Montiville, narrated by Scott Brick (Unabridged) Listen here: These two biographies, written about 30 years apart, have one thing in common besides their subject matter: Both are […]
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Apropos to yesterday’s post on The Babe Ruth Story, these are the only baseball books to make the top spot on The New York Times Best-Seller list, along with the dates of their “coronation”: The Boys of Summer, by Roger Kahn, May 28, 1972 (a total of 24 weeks on the list) Summer of ’49, […]
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The Babe Ruth Story, by Babe Ruth and Bob Considine, was the first baseball book to make the prestigious NY Times‘ Bestseller List (July 4, 1948), debuting at #15. Read the original review, which appeared 0n May 2, 1948 together with Walter Johnson, King of the Pitchers, by Roger L. Treat; Jackie Robinson: My Own […]
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I received an advance copy of The Best American Sports Writing, 2007 yesterday. One of the first items I noticed, since I was scanning specifically for baseball, was Derek Zumsteg’s “Bugs Bunny, Greatest Banned Player Ever,” a deconstruction of the 1946 Looney Tunes classic, “Baseball Bugs,” in which the title character takes on a goonish bunch […]
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An Associated Press story in the Washington Olympian about a new book and exhibit highlighting The Glory Days: New York City Baseball, 1947-1957, edited by John Thorn. Note that this should not be confused with Harvey Frommer’s New York City Baseball: The Last Golden Age 1947-1957, published originally by Macmillan in 1980, and re-released by […]
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Who would have thunk it? The co-author of the printed version of Ken Burns’ Baseball documentary claims he was never much of a baseball fan, prior to the project. The reason is reminiscent of Ray Kinsella’s rationale in Field of Dreams: I’ve never liked baseball much, in part because my father has always loved it […]
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The Baseball Timeline, by Burt Solomon (Dorling Kindersley Publishing). The Chronicle of Baseball: A Century of Major League Action, by John Mehno (Carlton Books). A Stitch in Time: A Baseball Chronology, 1845-2000. by Gene Elston (Halcyon Press). Day-by-Day in Baseball History, by Carl R. Moesche (McFarland). Baseball Extra: A Newspaper History of the Glorious Game […]
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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
Baseball titles included in Amazon list of "20 Books That Changed Men's Lives"
December 11, 2007
Two baseball titles account for 10 percent of “Books That Changed Men’s Lives,” according an Oct. 3 entry on Amazon Bookstore’s Blog. I’m guessing these are not in any kind of order, but Michael Lewi’s Moneyball is listed second. I daresay the most unusual addition to the eclectic list (Batman: The Dark Knight Returns? The […]
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