Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Not the first — that honor went to Jim Brosnan — but perhaps the best of the genre he tackled, Bouton turns 69 today. “The Bulldog” enjoyed a couple of good years for the New York Yankees, winning 20 games in1963 and 18 more in 1964, the last good year the team had for more […]
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From YouTube, clips from Lawrence Ritter’s interviews with “Wahoo” Sam Crawford, Hans Lobert, and Jimmy Austin from his 1966 classic The Glory of Their Times. The video also features the voices of Ty Cobb and Cy Young.
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An interview by GOTT author Lawrence Ritter with Fred Snodgrass, presented in a slide show backed nicely with Scott Joplin music.
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From Jim Caple’s Page 2 column on ESPN.com: Rereading “Ball Four” every spring…is an annual requirement — sort of like pitchers’ fundamental drills, only a lot more fun.
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The CASEY Award was inaugurated in 1983 by Mike Shannon and W.J. Harrison, the editors and co-founders of Spitball: The Literary Baseball Magazine, to honor the authors and publishers of outstanding baseball books, a heretofore unrealized notion. Seven books were named as finalists for the first CASEY: Baseball’s Greatest Experiment, The Celebrant, Hoopla, Invisible Men, […]
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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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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
Goodbye, Mr. Chips
February 17, 2008
From a Feb 15 press release from the Oakland A’s: The Oakland A’s today announced that they have agreed to terms with free agent catcher Matt LeCroy on a minor league contract. LeCroy will be a non-roster invitee to spring training. The A’s also announced that non-roster invitee catcher Jeremy Brown announced his retirement….Brown was […]
Tagged as: Jeremy Brown, Moneyball
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