Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Enjoyed reading a few … well, what to call them? They’re not exactly graphic novels since they deal with real-life figures.. Anyway… The first was 21: The Story of Roberto Clemente, which is described as a graphic novel on the dust cover. Written/drawn by Wilfred Santiago and published by Fantographic Books last year, this is […]
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Conducted my semi-regular scan of new titles. Submitted for your interest. It may seem unfair, but I do tend to judge e-books by their cover, especially when they are offered only in that format. It’s an indication of the time and effort the author/publisher puts into the project. Similarly, I’m basing my opinions strictly on […]
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♦ The Summer 2012 issue of Jewish Currents features a review by Cynthia Werthamer of Pitching in the Promised Land: A Story of the First and Only Season in the Israel Baseball League, by former IBL hurler Aaron Pribble. Upshot: “While Pribble’s book could do with less foreshadowing…, his retelling of the ups and downs […]
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A Documentary of the Game of Baseball, by Branch Rickey with Robert Riger. Simon and Schuster, 1965. I discovered this gem on the Facebook “Baseball Book” Group. Had I known about this beforehand, I probably would have included it in my forthcoming 501 Books Baseball Fans Must Read Before They Die. Rickey, who served in […]
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♦ Bleacher Report posted this one about Golden Boys: Baseball Portraits, 1946-1960 by the late Andy Jurinko. Upshot: “Seldom does a book come around that can boast about being magnificently illustrated as well as historically captivating, let alone a book based on the Golden Age of baseball.” ♦ SouthBendTribune.com posted this review of Andre Dawson’s […]
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by Arnold Hano. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1964. After reading his classic A Day In The Bleachers and interviewing him for a Bookshelf podcast, I was thrilled to find this little gem available through my local library coop. What makes Sandy Koufax: Strikeout King interesting is the fact that it was published before his famous decision […]
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Probably only a few die-hard Dodger fans or baseball historians remember, but Ed Stevens was the man Jackie Robinson replaced when he joined Brooklyn in 1947. I think it’s kind of sad that that is how a person is remembered (Wally Pipp), but at least he is remembered As the New York Times‘ obituary by […]
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Came across an interesting website recently: Forgottenbooks.com. I think it’s worth it to reproduce their mission statement in its entirety 1,000,000+ Free Books by Forgotten Books! You have reached the world’s largest online library of high-quality eBooks. Forgotten Books is an independent book publisher, boasting over 1,000,000 different titles, and offering all of our titles […]
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I often wonder why some of our most intellectual writers would want to do baseball. Perhaps, as Star Trek‘s Mr. Spock said in the episode “Shore Leave” (Geek alert!), “The more complex the mind, the greater the need for play.” So when a George Will or a Tom Olpihant or a Doris Kearns Goodwin starts […]
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♦ The Wilmington Star News posted this review of James Bailey’s novel Bull Durham. Upshot: “The Greatest Show on Dirt will appeal to any hardcore reader of box scores who doesn’t mind the feel of wooden bleachers and isn’t put off by tobacco chaws.” ♦ This review of Robert Fitts’ Baseball, Espionage, & Assassination During […]
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An American Odyssey, by Vernona Gomez and Lawrence Goldstone. Ballantine Books, 2012. Note: My review of this bio of an overlooked superstar appears on Bookreporter.com and is reproduced here for your convenience. Vernon “Lefty” Gomez, one of the greatest pitchers in New York Yankees history, came on the scene at roughly the same time as […]
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♦ The New York Times posted their annual baseball roundup, albeit with fewer titles than usual. But remember, it’s quality, not quantity. Jim Bouton offers his review of two Yankees books: Marty Appel’s Pinstripe Empire: The New York Yankees from Before the Babe to After the Boss and Damn Yankees: Twenty-Four Major League Writers on […]
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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
August 30, 2012
Time for the occasional declutter of the accumulated links and stories, so here goes. “Dan Barry’s Bottom of the 33rd has won the PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing, which honors a nonfiction book on the subject of sports.” More here. From the Yogi Berra Museum: Former Yankee star second baseman Bobby Richardson, a cornerstone […]
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