Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Mazel tov to Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, and Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez on their election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. That’s the good news. The (relatively) bad news is that they played for teams in markets that don’t necessarily lend themselves to glamor and glitz. Bagwell spent his entire 15-year career with the Houston Astros. […]
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Monday at 9 a.m. From the posting by the Hall of Fame Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is not only for celebration, remembrance, education and tribute, but above all a day of service. Join us as we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day through guided tours and museum programs, and learn about Hall of Famers […]
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Tyler Kepner published this story in today’s NY Times about the new batch of players eligible for Hall of Fame consideration. I totally agree with his assessment that most of these fellows will not meet the five-percent of votes needed to remain on next year’s ballot. The only names that jumps out as a possible/probable […]
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Congrats to Arnold Hano, recently elected to the Baseball Reliquary’s Shrine of the Eternals, the national organization’s equivalent to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Don Newcombe and Bo Jackson will join Hano for this year’s “induction.” They will be formally enshrined in a public ceremony on Sunday, July 17, at the Donald R. Wright Auditorium […]
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NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
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NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
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Haven’t been posting much lately but I have a good excuse. No, really, I have a better reason. Just contracted to do a book focusing on Hank Greenberg‘s 1938 season in which he put up a valiant fight to break Babe Ruth‘s single-season home run record of 60. The as-yet untitled project will also take […]
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Graham Womack published this ranked list of the 25 greatest baseball books on The Sporting News site. When I wrote 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die, I made a decision not to put them in an order other than alphabetical to avoid having to defend my choices. Such a method invites arguments […]
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One of the great ambassadors of the game, Monte Irvin passed away last night at the age of 96. Irvin was member of that generation of African-American ballplayers who suffered greatly as they integrated the game. Jackie Robinson was the first and most famous, and sometimes men like Irvin and Larry Doby don’t get the […]
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I was surprised when I saw the invitation from the Baseball Hall of Fame to attend their press conference introducing Mike Piazza and Ken Griffey Jr. as their newest members-elect. By my way of thinking, the ranking goes something like this: The MLB Network ESPN Sports Illustrated New York Times Wire services TV Networks Local […]
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Piazza published a memoir, Long Shot (with Lonnie Wheeler), in 2013, but I wonder if there will be something rushed out to commemorate the honor. Same for Junior, although there really hasn’t been an “adult” book on him.
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The late sports radio pioneer Graham McNamee has been named the recipient of the 2016 Ford Frick award for excellence in broadcasting. From the Hall of Fame press release: Graham McNamee, whose national play-by-play of the World Series in the earliest days of radio transformed the one-time opera singer into a household name, has been […]
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It might have been more timely if this had come out in an earlier issue, but John Rosengren, author of Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes, contributed “Heeding a Higher Calling: Jewish Players’ Observance of High Holy Days Shine Spotlight on Religious Holidays” for the current (winter) publication of Memories and Dreams, the magazine of […]
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More like a couple of days. Coming in early 2016, fans can get a unique look at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown with two new “experiences.” The Custom Tour Experience and Collection Care and Conservation Workshop will offer behind-the-scenes access and educational opportunities for Museum visitors in the coming year. Participants will have […]
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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
Bits and pieces, March 3, 2016
March 3, 2016
♦ As you know, I normally do not include books written for kids on this blog, but in this case — The William Hoy Story: How a Deaf Baseball Player Changed the Game — I’ve made an exception because of the special “teaching moment” involved and the fact that, unlike a lot of other titles […]
Tagged as: Buck O'Neil, Fans, Howard Megdal, Joe Posnanski, St. Louis Cardinals, William "Dummy": Hoy
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