Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
On this date in 1981: Seattle Mariners manager Maury Wills is suspended for two games as punishment for ordering the grounds crew to enlarge the batter’s boxes at the Kingdome. Wills decided to tamper with the chalk lines after the Oakland Athletics complained that Seattle’s Tom Paciorek repeatedly stepped out of the batter’s box while hitting. […]
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A Celebration of Baseball’s Greats In Stories and Images, The Complete Roster of Inductees, by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Little, Brown and Company, 648 pages. $35. In a sense, it’s not fair to judge a book like this. After all, who has more resources about the history of the game and […]
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All of these came in this week from my “alma mater,” the University of Nebraska Press. So many books, so little time.
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This it the time of year when the baseball media offer their considered opinions on their favorite prospects. Sometimes they’re spot on, other times, not so much. So I thought, why not apply this to the upcoming “rookie crop” of baseball books? That is, titles that are making their debuts in 2014 — no reprints/reissues […]
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Posted on Facebook by John Rosengren, author of Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes: Babe Ruth’s birthday today. Born 1895. Hank Greenberg thought Babe was the greatest ballplayer ever. In early 1947 he visited Ruth at his Riverside apartment while the Babe was recovering from throat cancer surgery and on a doctor-prescribed beer diet to […]
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Hey, if A-Rod can do it, why not Bud? Commissioner Selig has said he wants to write a book when he retires. For you Yankee and home run fans, this looks interesting: New York Yankees Home Runs: A Comprehensive Factbook, 1903-2012, by Mitchell S. Soivenski. It should not be surprising that this is a McFarland […]
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Yesterday I posted about the mockery sportscaster Dan Le Batard made with his Hall of Fame voting privileges. Well, he doesn’t have to worry about that any more. According to this piece on ESPN, he “has been kicked out of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America for one year and barred from future Hall of […]
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Congrats to the newest electees to the Hall of Fame — Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas. But shed a tear for Craig Biggio, who missed joining them by two votes. At least one potential vote is attributed to that genius who declined to vote for anyone on the who played in the PED […]
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Congratulations to Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Frank Thomas, who were announced today as the newest inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame. According to the organization’s press release, this marks just the second time that three players were elected in their first year of eligibility. From a fan’s point of view, I think it’s […]
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With the news of the Hall of Fame Class of 2014 awaiting announcement, there have been scads of article written about players who have or may not have used PED and how to cast a ballot give n this information (or lack thereof). Batten down the hatches, because this issue is going to be with […]
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A collection of items about Ben Bradlee Jr.’s new bio of Ted Williams. With all due modesty, kicking this off with my own review of the book, which appears on Bookreporter.com. Here’s another one from USA Today. Slate’s review, by David Bry And while I’m at it, no harm in reposting the two NY Times […]
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UPDATE: It seems only fitting that The New Yorker post a piece of appreciation, and here it is, with”as a holiday bonus…a kind of mini-anthology, a taste of the best of a marvellous writer and man.” * * * The “dean” of baseball writing was named recipient of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s J.G. Taylor […]
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From ESPN.com: Joe Torre, Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox, baseball’s winningest managers over the past four decades, were unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame on Monday by the expansion era committee. Books about these gentlemen include: Joe Torre The Yankee Years by Torre with Tom Verducci Joe Torre’s Ground Rules for Winners: 12 […]
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Yesterday Tyler Kepner posted this “Personal Journey Through the Hall of Fame Ballot” in which he comments on all 36 player who were eligible for listing. The New York Times does not allow their writers to vote on awards, perhaps because of some conflict of interest concerns, but that doesn’t mean he can’t have some […]
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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 Bookshelf Conversation: Jonathan Eig
April 21, 2014
Lou Gehrig. Jackie Robinson. Two of the game’s most iconic players, celebrated for their courage under extreme conditions. Both the subjects of outstanding biographies by Jonathan Eig, and both of which appear in 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die Eig has worked as a reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Chicago magazine, […]
Tagged as: ALS, Jackie Robinson, Jonathan Eig, Lou Gehrig
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