Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
But how sad is this: The Newark Bears Professional Baseball team and its concessions company are hosting a liquidation sale and auction at 10am on April 26, 2014. Location: Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, 450 Broad Street, Newark, NJ 07102 Business and personal items will be available for purchase. There will be items offered through set pricing as […]
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The Yogi Berra Museum and Education Center on the campus of Montclair State University is holding a fun and potentially profitable event on Saturday: America’s Roadshow: Memorabilia Appraisal Event Wondering what an old baseball card or autograph or your other memorabilia is worth? Check out America’s Roadshow at the Museum on Sat. April 5 from […]
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First of all, congratulations to Jim M. of Austin, Texas, winner of last week’s book, A Game of Brawl: The Orioles, the Beaneaters & the Battle for the 1897 Pennant, by Bill Felber. Thank you all for your comments. In an attempt to encourage even more commenting, and brighten up your week when you need […]
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(As opposed to this; you can stop watching at about the one minute mark.) What else can you say about the new set of Jewish Major Leaguers cards? The updated edition, the first since the 2010 “Deck of the Decade,” features all-new photography for the players who appeared during the 2010-13 seasons (including a clean-shaven […]
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The Wall Street Journal ran this cute piece about several members of the NY Mets who got married during the off-season.
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The beverage, not the drug. Honestly, get your mind out of the gutter. From Mark Aubrey, my “proofreader,” comes this item on eBay: “1967 Coke Cap RARE PASSOVER variation Willie Stargell Pittsburgh Pirates HOFer” Asking price: $75. When I was a kid growing up in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, there was a kosher […]
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Well, that was relatively easy. The Boston Red Sox are your new World Series Champions! As a newspaper buff, I always like to see how the local press covers such high-profile sports events. Frequently, tabloid publications employ “wraps,” using the entire front and back page for one large photo, like these from the Boston Herald. […]
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Brought to you by the folks at Mental Floss, the magazine that gave me my first national exposure and cover story (right). Have these World Series matchups ever happened? (Not to brag but I aced it.) The Baseball Card Brand Quiz (a lot tougher; ugh, I only scored 64%, which was slightly higher than the […]
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Baseball Nation posted this appreciation of “The 10 greatest World Series program covers,” beginning with I’m kind of partial to this one, which came in at No. 4 in Jim Baker’s list:
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The Killeen (TX) Daily Herald posted this review of Steve Rushin’s new title, The 34-Ton Bat: The Story of Baseball as Told Through Bobbleheads, Cracker Jacks, Jockstraps, Eye Black, and 375 Other Strange and Unforgettable Objects. (Is it just me or are these subtitles getting longer and longer?) I’ve started reading this one and am […]
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Remember when you were a kid and you would go through a stack of your friends’ baseball cards: (Okay, so it’s not baseball cards; work with me here, people.) Fans aren’t the only ones who collect memorabilia. This excellent and somewhat sad story by Richard Sandomir from the Sunday NY Times is a bit different, […]
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Or attic, or basement? From the Yogi Berra Museum: What’s your old signed baseball, family heirloom, or favorite piece of Americana worth? Check out America’s Roadshow at the Yogi Berra Museum & Learning Center on Sat. Sept. 21 from 12 noon to 4 p.m. Visitors can bring up to three items to be appraised by […]
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You have to fill it with something… Sure, the beer is $12 but you get to keep the cup! How cool is that? Actually, wouldn’t it be great if you could fish in your pocket, count your change, and ask for three ounces? Hat tip to Ed Achorn , author of The Summer of Beer […]
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I’m getting to the point where I really don’t need any more T-shirts (or baseball caps), but if I did, I would probably pick from this series of Negro League-inspired attire, currently a Kickstarter project by Charlie Hustle: The Negro League Collection (not sure how that name will affect sales). There are a limited amount […]
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A propos to yesterday’s entry about the Hollander “Complete Guide to…,” I ventured into the attic to take these pictures last night. [SlideDeck id=’15980′ width=’100%’ height=’300px’] This “series” — mostly edited by Don Schiffer and, later, Jack Zanger — predates the Hollander books (by the way, the story appeared on the New York Times‘ website […]
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The New York Times ran this marvelous story about the annual Complete Book of Baseball (and lesser sports) edited by Zander Hollander. A nice history lesson. I still have all of these, along with their predecessor, The xxxx Major League Baseball Handbook. These paperbacks sold for, like 50 cents, maybe a buck towards the end […]
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For all the great programs the Bergino Baseball Clubouse sponsors and hosts, it’s nice to see Jay Goldberg’s labor of love get some swell-deserved recognition, as in this piece from The Wall Street Journal in July. Goldberg has opened his “home” to countless authors and artists to basically chew the fat in a relaxed atmosphere […]
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I want one of these. On the other hand, not too sure about these. And speaking of the players suspended for the Biogenisis mess, I’m just curious, since I do not indulge: how does this affect “owners” who drafted these guys for their fantasy teams?
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Not to the same extent, and certainly mine isn’t worth anywhere near $10 million, but like Gary Cypres, as reported in today’s New York Times, I am starting to look to divest some my baseball holdings, lest that burden fall on my family at some point. You wouldn’t believe the difficulty I’ve had trying to […]
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is available on Amazon.com,
In my most recent "day job," I was the sports and features editor for a weekly New Jersey newspaper, where I hosted another blog. Busy, busy, busy.
I did a profile piece on the award-winning cartoonist Arnold Roth and he was nice enough to "immortalize" me.
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
That reminds me of a story…
August 29, 2013
Josh Levin of Slate’s Hang Up and Listen podcast posted this educational piece on “The Worst Baseball Card of All Time.” Spoiler alert: It’s Bob Hamlin in the 1996 Pinnacle Foil set (card no. 289). Levin’s essay makes some very good arguments and offers a mini-history lesson on the industry, full of links to examples […]
Tagged as: Baseball Cards, Josh Levin
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