Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb 18, at 3:30 p.m. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (Kindle […]
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Several years ago, I published this list on the now-defunct fastball.com. Resubmitted for your consideration in case you missed it the first time around. UPDATE: Feb, 14 –An alert reader noted that Josh Beckett might have been a better chocie than the short-careered Robbie. Just goes to show how long ago I created this list. […]
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I knew I was in trouble when one of the co-hosts of last night’s What’s On Second program on BlogTalkRadio didn’t know who the Smothers Brothers were (are, actually). I figured the SB’s were one of those cultural icons that transcended age, but I guess I was wrong. Then I look at GQ‘s poll of […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Feb 4, at 10 a.m. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (Kindle […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Jan. 28 at noon. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 2 The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane […]
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As I mentioned in a previous entry, look for new bios about Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven to come out before the inductions (I wouldn’t be surprised if manuscripts are in prep already). I was wondering: out of all the personnel — players, executives, managers, etc. — enshrined to the Hall of Fame, how many […]
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By the way, it’s still winter so why aren’t we hearing snow-themed songs anymore? “Winter Wonderland” and “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” among others, are not “holiday” songs, per se, so they’d still be valid. Just sayin’. Thought I saw my first “annual” at the bookstore last week, but it was a fantasy publication, so it […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Jan. 21 at 9 p.m. Title Rank General Baseball Prospectus 2011 1 Baseball America 2011 Prospect Handbook: The 2011 Expert Guide to Baseball Prospects and MLB Organization Rankings (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) 2 The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by […]
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Another in a series of futile attempts to catch up. Because you can keep minutiae on your bookshelf, here’s a new community baseball site that looks like it’s going to be fun: Eephusleague.com.It has a cool design and icons that take the visitor to a host of categories, including uniforms, rules, articles, photos, scorekeeping, etc. […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Jan. 14, 1:37 p.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Baseball Prospectus 2011 2 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 3 Baseball Forecaster 2011, by Ron Shandler 4 […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Jan. 7, at 1 p.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Baseball Prospectus 2011 2 Baseball Forecaster 2011, by Ron Shandler 3 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Dec. 31,2010. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis, by 2 Baseball Forecaster 2011, by Ron Shandler 3 Baseball Prospectus 2011 4 Beyond […]
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(and other media, of course.) With the close of 2010, I thought I take a few moments to review the highlights of the past 12 months as pertains to our favorite topic. It’s been a banner year for baseball biographies. We’ve enjoyed munch-anticipated titles from major publishers on Hall of Famers such as Hank Aaron, […]
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The year-end issue pays tribute to the sports figures who passed away in 2010. Baseball notables included Bob Feller, Ron Santo, Bobby Thomson, George Steinbrenner, Phil Cavarretta, Sparky Anderson, Robin Roberts, Gil McDougald, Willie Davis, Dorothy Kamenshek (All-American Girls Professional Baseball League), Bob Sheppard, Jose Lima, Jim Bibby, Ernie Harwell, Ralph Houk, and Mike Cuellar […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com, as of Friday, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. Title Rank General The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 2 Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh […]
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Kirkus Reviews just posted several “tops” lists, including two baseball titles. Jane Leavy’s The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood is among the top biographies of 2010. Dan Epstein’s Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging ’70s has been deemed as one of […]
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A whole bunch today, beginning with Fergie Jenkins, the Hall of Fame pitcher, who turns 68. You often read about how dark-skinned Hispanics players such as Robert Clemente or Vic Power were amazed by the prejudice they encountered in the 1950s and 1960s, coming from countries where none existed. I wonder how Jenkins felt, coming […]
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TIME magazine published its top 10 list of everything this year, including sports. Baseball is at the top of the top: Baseball’s Imperfect Game (no further explanation needed) LeBron’s Bad Decision (no further explanation needed) A College Basketball Cinderella Comes Oh So Close (Butler vs. Duke) Football Uses Its Head (concussions) Ghana’s World Cup Giveaway […]
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One of my favorite off-beat baseball sites is Craig Robinson’s Flip Flop Flyball. (I wrote about Robinson and his work awhile back.) Rather than the usual staid numbers, Robinson — a graphic artist originally from Great Britain — takes unusual items and turns them into colorful graphic representations. Among the topics he’s considered on the […]
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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
