Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The two-time MVP (one in each league) and veteran manager was born Aug. 31, 1942. Robinson was the first big-league manager I ever met. I was doing research for a book on what was then supposed to have been the last season of the Montreal Expos. I drove up for the week of the final […]
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“The Mick” died on Aug. 13, 1995. I happened to be home sick that day, and remember the State-like funeral. Thousands of words have been written on how he came to realize the impact he had on America, how he felt he failed to live up to expectations — both his own and those of […]
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In 2006, Roy Green published 101 Reasons to Love the Yankees and 101 Reasons to Love the Red Sox. Released by Stewart, Tabori, and Chang, these were nice little books (a similar book about the Mets also came out that year), full of pictures and brief texts about the author’s favorite moments and people for […]
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Before the advent of the wonderful Sports Illustrated “Vault” archives, the magazine’s only presence had a little more pizzazz than it seems to these days. Maybe the company doesn’t want to devote time or resources to making two versions, so they’re just doing a “vault-like”, no frills version: no pictures, just plain (unattractive fonts). Case […]
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Funny how the editor of Deadspin.com has such disdain against traditional journalism except when he seems to benefit from it. Case in point, his article on the Chicago Cubs in the New York Times‘ “Play” supplement. On the other hand, is the newspaper just as “guilty” of providing the forum? I’m just askin’…
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[This piece appears in the May/June issue of ForeWord Magazine.] Baseball books: Class is in session The notion that baseball is a metaphor for life has been around since man first took bat to ball. In reality, it’s more appropriate to say that the national pastime is a metaphor for education; academic disciplines that baseball […]
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these last few days, the aftereffects of a dislocated finger suffered during a softball game with my new team, which I can also use as an excuse for my poor typing of late. (Thanks to those who have written out of concern.) This does, however, open the door for a couple of related reviews and […]
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Michael Rowe wrote this analysis of modern sportswriting on the Utne Reader Web site. He laments the art of the craft, as was evidenced by such wordsmiths as Ring Lardner, Huey Fullerton, and, more recently, the likes of Roger Angell. “Does sportswriting suck,” he asks, bemoaning the lack of reporting “that tackles an actual ethical […]
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There’s a lot of material that’s fallen by the wayside as I try to keep this blog fresh with the latest in baseball book publishing information. But in the words of the revered philosopher, Regis Philbin, “I’m only one man!” So I’m using this space to try to catch up. Some of the items might […]
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I heard about this Washington Post item via one of my favorite podcasts, The Tony Kornheiser Show. The raging redhead rails against this analysis of the new edifice by WaPo architecture columnist Philip Kennicott, calling him a variety of colorful names and attacking his skills as a writer. The opening paragraph is apparently what set […]
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Sports Illustrated launched its new digital archive earlier this week. After a quick glance, and realizing it’s still in beta, I have mixed feelings. Bear in mind I’m only talking about the baseball here, but I’m assuming the same applies for everything else. As of today, there are 14,985 articles, 3,750 pictures, 69 “galleries” (photo […]
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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 […]
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I heard about Curt Schilling’s lengthy entry on his Blog about the Clemens/PED. If you print it out, you can put in on your bookshelf, so even though I normally wouldn’t link to it, here it is. I’ve heard sports pundits discussing Clemens’ refutation of the allegations found in the Mitchell Report. They pretty much […]
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Steve Kettman submitted this rather lengthy Letter to the Editor to The New York Times (Dec. 19) in which he states, among other things, that the Mitchell Report “immediately recasts the importance of the small library of books documenting — and in some cases, shaping — baseball’s steroid era.” This should be taken with a […]
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From the Sept./Oct. 2007 edition of the Columbia Journalism Review, this piece by Robert Weintraub on the changing face of sports journalism in a new technological age. The writer complains about the increasing incidence on the part of leagues, club owners, and players to control what is reported about them. Remember the movie Eight Men […]
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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
* The Pride of the…oh, never mind
September 2, 2008
At the risk of sounding like an old coot, I have to say, what’s up with this instant untucking of the uniform shirts? As soon as the last out is made, C.C. Sabathia and Jose Reyes seem to rebel against the constraints of their unis: You just know Little Leaguers around the world are going […]
Tagged as: baseball uniforms
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