Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The iconic folk singer/activist died yesterday at the age of 94. These videos I found on Youtube were posted by Rolland Moussa who told me in an e-mail, “[Pete] wanted me to film it because he wanted to be known as an American who loved baseball, not labeled as a Communist.. No one had a […]
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The ex-Yankee favorite and member of the Greatest Generation who — like Ted Williams — served as a decorated aviator in both World War II and Korea, passed away following complications from a fall at the age of 89. Coleman played for only nine seasons, gaining All-Star Status in 1950. He went on to become […]
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The World War II veteran who returned from devastating injury sustained in the service of his country to play Major League baseball, passed away yesterday at the age of 89. Brissie, who earned a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts, pitched seven seasons for the Philadelphia Athletics and Cleveland Indians, compiling a 44-48 record with […]
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One of the few Jews to umpire in the Major Leagues, Allen “Al” Forman passed away Saturday at the age of 85. I had the pleasure of interviewing Forman in 2006 for a feature in the NJ Jewish News.
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One of the grand old men of broadcast sports passed away yesterday at the age of 92. I remember Mazer from WNEW-TV (Channel Five) in New York. He was one of — if not the –first to host a half-hour Sunday night sports show, following the evening’s newscast. I always thought it was a “dead”space. […]
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The four-time all star and veteran of 17 Major League seasons passed away yesterday at the age of 92. Here’s the New York Times‘ obit, written by Richard Goldstein, whose resume includes publishing Superstars and Screwballs: 100 Years of Brooklyn Baseball. Pafko had the distinction of appearing in the Chicago Cubs’ last appearance in a […]
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The long-time umpire passed away on Wednesday at the age of 78. Here’s the NY Times obit. Pulli, who began his career in 1972 and served almost 30 years, was the first umpire to “use” video replay technology, according to the Times. Pulli made baseball history on May 31, 1999, after Florida Marlins outfielder Cliff […]
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One of my favorite non-baseball writers passed away this morning. For all of his quirkiness, Leonard was a solid baseball fan. He even had the privilege of throwing out a first pitch at a Detroit Tigers game in 1999 and was the subject of a chapter in Tom Stanton’s The Final Season: Fathers, Sons, and […]
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The uber-fan and founder of the nomadic Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame died Tuesday at the age of 76. From the Richard Goldstein obit in The New York Times: When Jackie Robinson died in 1972, Mr. Adler campaigned to have his school, then known as Crown Heights Intermediate School 320, named for him. “The parents […]
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You know you’ve earned respect from your arch-rival city when they run your obituary in the papers. George Scott, the hard-hitting first-baseman for the “Impossible Dream” Boston Red Sox in 1967, died Sunday at the age of 69. Scott also played for the Milwaukee Brewers and led the AL in home runs and RBI (36/109) […]
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The legendary swimmer-turned-movie star died today at the age of 91. She was a surprisingly competent actress, compared with many other sports stars who tried their hand at the silver screen. Studios went out of their way to compose scenes in which she would display her aquatic prowess (and the fact that she looked good […]
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Proof that if you look hard enough, you can make a baseball connection. And he’s got a pretty good motion, too. R.I.P. to a comic legend.
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A lot of publications are call this woman — who died last December at the age of 83 — the “inspiration” for the novel The Natural. I think that’s wrong. To me it was Eddie Waitkus, whom Steinhagen shot in a hotel room in 1949, that served as the inspiration. After all, it was Roy […]
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And so am I. Jury duty and still trying to get my day job done is taking up my blogging time, much to my (and I hope, to a degree) your dismay. But I wanted to pay tribute to one of my favorite sports photographers, Ozzie Sweet, who passed away Wednesday at the age of […]
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Lest we forget: 1950 – Kiki Cuyler, outfielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer (b. 1898) Hazen “Kiki” Cuyler: A Baseball Biography, by Ronald Waldo, McFarland 2012. 2011 – Chuck Tanner, outfielder, manager (b. 1928) Chuck Tanner’s baseball playbook, by Tanner with Jim Enright, Rutledge/Mayflower Book, 1981 Also on this date: 1985 – Minnesota Twins first baseman […]
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Shelby Whitfield, the former play-by-play announcer for the Washington Senators who wrote Kiss it goodbye (1973), a critical book about the team’s owner in the early 1970s and later managed an all-star cast of announcers for ABC Radio, died Feb. 5 at a rehabilitation facility in Jackson, NJ. He was 77. According to Whitfield’s obituary […]
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Literary birthday greetings: 1942 – Fritz Peterson, pitcher; All-Star Mickey Mantle Is Going To Heaven, by Peterson, Outskirts Press, 2009. The Art of De-Conditioning: Eating Your Way to Heaven, by Peterson, Light Side Books, 2012. Lest we forget: 1956 – Connie Mack, catcher, manager; Hall of Famer (b. 1862) My 66 Years in the Big […]
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Literary birthday greetings: 1895 – Babe Ruth, outfielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer (d. 1948) Previous Babe Ruth birthday entry. Lest we forget: 2007 – Lew Burdette, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1926) Lew Burdette of the Braves, by Gene Schoor, Putnam, 1960. Also on this date: 1934: New York sportswriter and broadcaster Ford Frick is named the […]
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The inspiration for the character of Dottie Henson in A League of Their Own, died on Saturday at the age of 88. Davis published her memoir, Dirt in the Skirt, (which weighs in at over 500 pages) in 2009. There was also a website in her name. I just visited the spot and there’s some music […]
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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
