Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The 1969 Cy Young winner died at the age of 72. Here’s his obit from The New York Times and a couple from the Baltimore Sun, where the Cuban pitcher had his gloey days in the lates 1960s to early 1970s: Orioles pitching great Mike Cuellar dies at 72 George Diaz’s column, “Mike Cuellar’s legacy […]
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The jurist who opened the door for girls to play Little League baseball, died Feb. 16 at the age of 75. From the NY Times obituary by Bruce Weber (author of As They See ‘Em): …she was best known for her decision in the Little League case, which she made before she was elevated to […]
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The jurist who opened the door for girls to play Little League baseball, died Feb. 16 at the age of 75. From the NY Times obituary by Bruce Weber (author of As They See ‘Em): …she was best known for her decision in the Little League case, which she made before she was elevated to […]
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Thanks to a comment by Robert Loy, I had a “Homer Simpson” moment for totally forgetting about a crucial Salinger/baseball connection. Loy wrote, “What I want to know is why the ever-litigious Salinger didn’t sue Bill Kinsella over being included in ‘Shoeless Joe.’ And if he was okay with it why did they change it […]
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How often was his seminal novel of youth struggling for identity and acceptance mistaken for a baseball story? Maybe that’s because of former major league catcher — and later TV personality and broadcaster — Bob Uecker’s homonymic book. (Quick aside: In the mid-90s, I worked part time for one of those statistical companies that track […]
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The baseball lifer — and one of my earliest recollections of my baseball card collection — died on Thursday at the age of 92. From the Dallas Morning News. And Randy Galloway contributed this appreciation in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. Bragan published his memoirs (right) in 1992.
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The crime novelist, perhaps best known for his “Spenser” series, passed away at the age of 77. As much as I enjoyed the TV version, starring Robert Urich and Avery Brooks, the novels were all pretty much the same. Parker branched out in later years. He wrote a few mysteries with a female protagonist as […]
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This week’s best-selling baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Saturday, January 16. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2010 1 2010 Baseball Forecaster (Ron Shandler’s Baseball Forecaster) 2 Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 3 Moneyball: The Art of Winning […]
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The pioneering African-American writer/broadcaster was a favorite around our household in the days of a kinder, gentler sports-talk radio format. Rust, who also appeared on WNBC-TV news programs, died Jan. 12 at the age of 82. From the New York Times‘ obituary by Richard Goldstein: In his 1976 book “Get That Nigger Off the Field!,” […]
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One more legend I missed an opportunity to interview. Rodney, who died at the age of 98, was the sports editor of the communist newspaper, The Daily Worker. He was also a champion in the battle to have Major League Baseball admit African Americans to its ranks. So in a sense, he was probably doubly […]
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The wordsmith passed away at the age of 79 on Sept. 27. I’ve always had a love for words and language, how everything comes together. Safire was a hero when it came to bringing it all together without being too academic about it. From the “On Language” column — Safire’s outlet for many years — […]
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The poster girl for ill-treated baseball wives passed away on Monday at the age of 77.
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I looked for some connection here, perhaps he recorded a rendition of “Casey at the Bat” but te best I could come up with was this. Nevertheless, Cronkite was one-of-a kind in the industry. The videos of him reporting the eeath of JFK have been looping since last night and the tributes continue to pour […]
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ESPN’s Outside the Lines provided this touching look at the correspondence of the Iron Horse after his diagnosis with ALS and his retirement from baseball. You can read copies of the letters as well as view video of his famous farewell speech, delivered on 70 years ago today. Kirk Minihane from sports radoio station WEEI […]
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who died this day in 1972. Also see My Time with the Catcher Spy Morris Moe Berg, by Neil Farkas.
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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 things we keep: The National
December 4, 2009
Twenty years ago, next January 31, The National Sports Daily made its debut. In the pre-Internet days, the mission statement of this publication was to provide readers with as much information as quickly and well-written as possible, taking a swipe at the weekly Sporting News (less so Sports Illustrated). Those lending their name to the […]
Tagged as: sports newspaper, The National
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