Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Celebrating today are Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski (71), Paul Molitor (54), and Ned Hanlon. “Yaz” has several titles associated with his name, including Yastrzemski (Icons of Major League Baseball); Yaz: Baseball, the Wall, and Me; and Batting (1972, with Al Hirshberg). He’s also an integral piece of any book written about the 1967 “Impossible […]
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Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had, by Edward Achorn (Smithsonian, 2010). If contemporary fans can’t relate when their baseball-loving parents tell them about Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays or, going back farther, when the grandfolks talk about DiMaggio or Jackie Robinson, how do you think they’d react when […]
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Roberto Clemente, born this date in 1934. Clemente!, by Kal Wagenheim Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero, by David Maraniss And Buck Weaver, born this date in 1890. The Ginger Kid: The Buck Weaver Story, by Irving M. Stein.
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Received the latest (Summer 2010) issue of the BSJ. To be honest, a lot of the statistical stuff therein is a bit over my head/interest level, but there are several book reviews, so it balances out. Among them: Phil Birnbaum on The Bill James Gold Mine 2010 Lee Lowenfish on Satchel: The Life and Times […]
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Andre Dawson, Whitey Herzog, and umpire Doug Harvey. While Dawson and Herzog have both published autobios/memoirs, I hope Harvey does so soon. Here are just a few titles that reflect some aspect of the National pastime’s ultimate showplace: There are several coffee table books that illustrate the many holdings of the Cooperstown museum. This is […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, July 16. Title Rank General Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, by Bill Madden 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 2 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime, by Scott Turbow […]
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I first “discovered” Dick Perez many years ago via his “Diamond King” baseball cards inserted into the Donruss sets. Little did I realize that that was just the tip of the iceberg. Perez, a former “official artist” for the Baseball Hall of Fame, has just released The Immortals, a massive, gorgeous collection of his work […]
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The exact date of birth of the American icon has been in dispute for many years. Books on Paige include: Maybe I’ll Pitch Forever, by Paige with David Lipman Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, by Larry Tye (read my Q&A with Tye here) Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, by James […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, July 2. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, by Bill Madden 2 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime, by Scott Turbow […]
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When Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record in 1974, Ernie Harwell and Bill Slayback collaborated on “Move over Babe, Here Comes Henry,” a musical tribute. Wonder if some tunesmith will do the same now that Jamie Moyer has “bested” Robin Roberts on the all-time home runs allowed list? Like the pundits say, […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, June 25. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, by Bill Madden 2 The Game from Where I Stand: A Ballplayer’s Inside View, by Doug Glanville 3 The Bullpen Gospels: Major […]
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“King Carl” was born this date in 1903. The Hall of Famer was the subject Carl Hubbell: A Biography of the Screwball King, by Lowell L. Blaisdell, and A Pitcher’s Moment: Carl Hubbell and the Quest for Baseball Immortality, by Fritz A. Buckallew. he also ostensibly contributed a chapter on pitching for Joe DiMaggio’s 1949 […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, June 18. Title Rank General Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, by Bill Madden 1 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime, by Jason Turbow with Michael Duca 2 Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend, by James […]
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Several former Major Leaguers share a birthday today, including: Wade Boggs Boggs!The Techniques of Modern Hitting Billy Williams Billy Williams: My Sweet-Swinging Lifetime With the Cubs Babe Dahlgren Rumor in Town: A Grandson’s Promise to Right a Wrong
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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
