Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
There’s no better way than to give an undeserving, self-serving book publicity than to disparage it in the press. That’s what Sen. George Mitchell is doing, giving the former batboy/drug supplier some added buzz (I’m somewhat embarrassed I can even recall his name without looking it up). That’s how Jose Canseco got a whole bunch […]
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A story in today’s New York Times reveals the uniform patches that the Mets and Yankees will wear for the inaugural season at their new stadiums. Regardless of your feelings about the teams themselves, the Yankees patch is quite classy, a mix of old and new as one would expect from an organization that prides […]
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At least that’s what it seems like when teams have press conferences to show off their new acquisitions, such as the one today for the Yankees’ Mark Teixeira. With all due respect, what can these guys possibly have to say that warrants such attention? I just keep coming up the same old rote answers. (Warning: […]
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I know we’ve only just begun, but you know me: I have no filter. The first day of MLB Network was pretty much a disappointment, as far as I’m concerned. The opening hour-long show, featuring four talking heads (including Harold Reynolds, Al Leiter, and Barry Larkin) alternated with a replay of Don Larsen’s World Series […]
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Been receiving some publisher’s catalogs recently. Here are a few 2009 titles to look forward to: >> As mentioned previously, Joe Torre and Tom Verducci have collaborated on the manager’s autobio, coming next month from Random House. >> Bloomsbury will release a behind-the-scenes look at the machinations of baseball’s Valhalla in Cooperstown Confidential: Heroes, Rogues, […]
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Stealing an idea from ESPN the Magazine (and others, no doubt). Took my math-challenged mind awhile to figure out that W2W4 means “what to watch for.” Duh. Anyway, the always-informative BizofBaseball.com offers this list of ten stories to watch for in 2009, including: The economy Credit Digital media rights Cubs sale New stadia Ticket discounting/price […]
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The Yankees just signed Teixiera. Enough is enough. Getting on my soapbox again, I think that just as international teams are only allowed to have a certain amount of foreign-born players, so should the Majors only be allowed a certain amount of free agents; everyone else has to be “home grown.”
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You have to either be a small child or living with your head in the sand not to know what’s going on in the economy these days. Jobs lost, stocks plunging, parents wondering how they’ll send their kids to college or pay the mortgage. Those who think sports will provide a diversion might be in […]
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Been a bit remiss in recent weeks, so trying to catch up with a roundup of items: BaseballFarming.com offers a list of “Baseball Books to Love,” which includes fiction and non-fiction titles. Prior to 2008, baseball didn’t have to sully itself with official instant replay, but since it did, might as well bone up on […]
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Spitball Magazine just announced the finalists for the 2008 CASEY Award, Almost a Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the 1980 Phillies, by William Kashatus (University of Pennsylvania Press) Neil Leifer: Ballet in the Dirt: The Golden Age of Baseball, by Neil Leifer (Taschen) (See here for samples.) Baseball’s Greatest Hit: The Story of “Take […]
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Thirteen years in the making. In 1995, I delivered my first “scholarly paper.” It was at Hoftsra University’s centennial celebration of Babe Ruth’s birth and it was a hoot. I spent three days there, listening to all sorts of presentations, visiting exhibits and finally — nervously — making my own. My topic was “The Books […]
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With rumors of a sequel to Bull Durham running around, I thought I’d take this opportunity to vent about something that’s been bugging me for awhile. I recently watched the movie for the umpteenth time and one scene in particular always makes me scratch my head. It takes place in the night game in which […]
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This one by Mark Cressnan in The A to Z History of Baseball. At the risk of being totally unfair, I wonder about such books, self-published and without much pomp and circumstance. For the brief press release to state “Cressman, who possesses a Master’s Degree in Sport Administration, is an authority on the subject matter […]
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I know it was really cold and nasty weather in Philly during the World Series. I can accept the storm coats and balaclavas the players have taken to wearing on the frigid east coast fall nights. I could put up with the “pajama pants” and baggy jerseys that seem to be the rage these days […]
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(…Because you can keep those little pocket schedules on your bookshelf.) I am still waiting for some sports pundit to start off about the possibility of having three inning baseball games. It worked out pretty well for the Phillies and the fans. Started at 8:30, over before 10:30. Might even bring the young fans back […]
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Humbly submitted via the pages of ForeWord Magazine, this non-fiction list of RK’s “essential” baseball reading. I’ll be working on a fiction version soon.
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In this Allen Barra piece that appears in today’s Wall Street Journal, Rob Neyer wodners why the sue of instant rplay should be limited to home run calls? [The] author of “The Big Book of Baseball Blunders,” asks: “Why can’t umpires use replay in calling safe or out? Official scorers already use it to decide […]
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Pay for the preview privilege? Apparently Sports Illustrated thinks its entitled, raising the price for their specials by a buck, from $4.99 to $5.99, according to this item. Come on, does any serious fan still get information from the printed page? Of course, there are those who are more interested in the thoughtful prose that […]
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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
* Say it ain't so, Joe.
January 25, 2009
I have not read Joe Torre’s new book, written with SI’s Tom Verducci and published by , but judging by the buzz from several sources, it’s a tell-all in which he “blasts” Alex Rodriguez, Brian Cashman and George Steinbrenner, among others. The New York Post, in its typical tabloid headline-screaming fashion, yells “Joe Blows: Rips, […]
Tagged as: Joe Torre
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