Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The Passover holidays have played havoc with my schedule, so there’s a lot to catch up on. First off, can you remember those Bicentennial Minutes that CBS used to broadcast in the months leading up to the big celebration? Well, Dan Epstein, author of the new Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial […]
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The top-ten baseball books as per Amazon.com. Caveat 1: Print editions only (at least for now); I’m old fashioned that way. Caveat 2: Since the rankings are updated every hour, these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by the time you read it. But it’ll be close enough for government work. Caveat 3: […]
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A while back I posted about the “Chasing Dreams” exhibit at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, specifically Dan Okrent’s “bracket” of Jewish Major Leaguers. Since then, I’ve perused the book whence that came — The Final Four of Everything, co-edited by Mark Reityer and Richard Sandomir, sports media writer for The […]
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Yesterday, I posted a question to the Baseball Books group on Facebook. If you could have dinner with any four authors who have written about baseball — not strictly baseball authors — at the same table, who would they be? My choices: Roger Angell, David Halberstam, Lawrence Ritter, and Bernard Malamud. Of course, four is […]
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As of this writing, according to Amazon.com’s rankings, these are the top baseball best-sellers. Still fiddling with the format of the list, whether to have just paper versions, or separate paper and kindle editions, or just have 2014 titles… Any thoughts? (and this counts towards the book giveaway contest, too): Where Nobody Knows Your Name: […]
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You don’t have to be a SABR member to enjoy The Emerald Guide to Baseball 2014. That is, if you’re willing to access the 600-plus page PDF version. Otherwise you’ll have to pay for the printed edition, which comes out around opening day. According to the page at the SABR site, The 2014 edition of […]
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I used to do this awhile ago: Every Friday (or as every Friday as I can), I’ll post the top-ten baseball books as per Amazon.com. The only caveat: print editions only (at least for now). Actually, another caveat: as the rankings are updated every hour, these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by […]
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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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Although that’s not quite accurate for what I’m trying to relate here. I do not take joy in others’ misfortunes. They’re not even misfortunes and I’m sure the Germans have a better word for what I’m trying to say. I just take a small degree of satisfaction in knowing that, as of this writing, 501 […]
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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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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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The list is in for finalists for the 2013 CASEY Award for “Best Baseball Book of the Year,” as designated by Spitball magazine. Class A: Baseball in the Middle of Everywhere, by Lucas Mann Color Blind: The Forgotten Team that Broke Baseball’s Color Line, by Tom Dunkel Going the Distance, by Michael Joyce Heart of […]
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Can’t figure out the maze of links for this one. The Campaign for the American Reader posted this item posted by Marshal Zeringue on “Five top works of baseball fiction,” according to Leigh Montville, the author of two wonderful biographies on Babe Ruth and Ted Williams. The initial offering is The Brothers K by David James […]
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Baseball Nation posted this appreciation of “The 10 greatest World Series program covers,” beginning with I’m kind of partial to this one, which came in at No. 4 in Jim Baker’s list:
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Baseball Nation’s Jim Baker posted this list of “The 10 best songs about baseball players.” Counting down from ten, we have: 10. “Ken Griffey, Jr.” by Doe B. featuring Jr. Boss 9. “One Man, Five Tools” by Puig Destroyer 8. “Move Over Babe (Here Comes Henry)” by Richard (Popcorn) Wylie 7. “Panda and the Freak” […]
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In this case I am the Grinch; I am the one who knocks…Ben Reiter’s list on SI.com, written after the Tampa Bay Rays’ Jose Lobaton beat the Boston Red Sox with a walk-off on Monday night. I think you would agree that the most exciting situations are one where there’s no tomorrow, where everything is […]
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Like “Light the menora at your Thanksgiving feast”-early. So it’s not too soon to think about gifts for that baseball book fan on your list. Might I suggest (in addition to 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die, which is perfect for off-season reading-by-the-fireside), the new Sports Illustrated Baseball’s Greatest. As one has […]
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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
More fun opening day items
April 2, 2014
Nate Silver recently began his 538.com site under the aegis of ESPN. One would hope that he and his minions will produce a lot of smart sports (i.e., baseball) stuff. Obviously a site dedicated to projections and predictions has a lot of math to it. Ugh.But you have to take the “bad” with the good. […]
Tagged as: 538.com, baseball predictions, baseball statistics, Joe Posnanski, Jonah Keri, Kansas City Royals, Mets, Nate Silver
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