Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
(A Baseball Bookshelf encore with revisions.) Small wonder in that they had a lot to do with Jackie Robinson. Robinson’s teammate, Don Newcombe, recalled a meeting between the two iconic figures for a piece in Time Magazine in 2007: Do you know what Jackie’s impact was? Well, let Martin Luther King tell you. In 1968, […]
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According to the Orlando Sentinel, “Mark Gilbert, a prominent Democratic Party fundraiser from Boca Raton, may be on his way to New Zealand and Samoa” as U.S. ambassador. If Gilbert’s name seems at all familiar, you’re an older baseball uber-fan: Gilbert appeared in seven games for the Chicago White Sox in 1985, batting .273 in […]
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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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Kind sounds like the title for a country-western song, don’t it? Anyway, Rob Neyer as Baseball Nation posted this piece about how prescient Bill James was in an essay in the 2001 edition of The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. BN’s Scott Lindholm had published this one a few days earlier.
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Trying to clear out my mailbox o’ links by the end of the year. USA Today had high praise for The Kid, allowing that “chances are, no “Teddy Ballgame” biography will ever match up with Ben Bradlee Jr.’s new and exhaustive book about baseball’s greatest hitter.” (Here’s a 10-year-old’s take on the book. He must […]
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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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I used to think it was unfair that a sports media giant like Sports Illustrated can make even more money by dipping into their archives and publishing the compilations or photos or writing. But you have to give them credit; they do come out with some mighty good products. The latest from the SI library […]
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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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A Gallery of Rogues, by Jonathan Weeks. Scarecrow Press, 2013. Until there is no more baseball, there will always be books like Baseball’s Most Notorious Personalities. It’s our predilection for schadenfreude and curiosity that leads us to red stories about the likes of Ty Cobb (who graces the cover), Carl Mays, Pete Rose, the 1919 […]
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The baseball lifer — player, broadcaster, raconteur, game show host, and author — was named recipient of the Hall of Fame’s Buck O’Neil Award in recognition of his “extraordinary efforts to enhance baseball’s positive impact on society. ” From the Hall of Fame press release: The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s Board of […]
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I’m reading The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams for an upcoming review on Bookreporter.com. When I received the galleys, my first thought was similar to Rob Neyer’s, who noted in this post, “Hey, there’s another book about Ted Williams.” (Excerpt here. By the way, although I understand the title, it’s too similar to […]
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Another in an attempt to look over the over-looked news in baseball books. I’ve only just begun listening to the unabridged audio book of Bill Bryson’s newest, One Summer: America, 1927, but if Richard “Pete” Peterson says it’s “a good read for Cards, Cubs fans,” that’s good enough for me. Kevin Baker, who worked with […]
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Pitchers who won a combined seven Cy Young Awards and position players who totaled three Most Valuable Player Awards are among 19 new candidates on the 2014 Hall of Fame ballot that is being mailed this week to more than 600 voting members of the BBWAA. Pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Eric Gagne, first […]
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This piece by Rob Neyer on Baseball Nation relates to two recent entries on the Bookshelf, one about Tim McCarver calling it a broadcast career, the other about the poor job FOX does producing the World Series. Among my favorite passages from Neyer: About Tim McCarver’s Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans: “There are […]
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Regardless of your opinion of Tim McCarver, endings are almost always sad. Last night’s World Series finale was the swan song of his broadcasting career. I especially appreciate McCarver’s comment that his goals as a broadcaster included “teaching you something you may not have known about this great game.” He’s done that on the air […]
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Brought to you by the folks at Mental Floss, the magazine that gave me my first national exposure and cover story (right). Have these World Series matchups ever happened? (Not to brag but I aced it.) The Baseball Card Brand Quiz (a lot tougher; ugh, I only scored 64%, which was slightly higher than the […]
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In The Baseball Uncyclopedia: A Highly Opinionated, Myth-Busting Guide to the Great American Game, authors Michael Kun and Howard Bloom write about the state of baseball literature.According to their calculations, there are: Books about the Yankees. Books about the Red Sox. Books about the Yankees and the Redd Sox. Books about players who played for […]
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It’s a bit too pricey for me, but I’m sure some of you out there can spring for it. Here’s a four-day trip to Cooperstown during next year’s Induction Week July 31- Aug. 3), with all the fixin’s, starting at $4,390. Bear in mind the candidates for induction include a number of high profile names […]
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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, Jan. 15
January 15, 2014
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 […]
Tagged as: Baseball Hall of Fame, Bud Selig, C. Trent Rosencrans, Christina Karhl, Ed Sharman, Joe Posnanski, New York Yankees, Rob Neyer
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