Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Every issue of the classic publication is available through Google books. The first issue: July 1945. Cover price: 15 cents. Tag line: “64 Pages — and Every Word Baseball!” Thanks to John Zajc and Rob Neyer for the item.
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The cover story of the May 4 issue features Joe Posnanski’s profile of Royals’ ace Zack Greinke. Other baseball items include a look at the Dodgers; high school no-hitters and how they do (or don’t) predict pro success; a little girl who was perfect against the boys; and an essay wondering if baseball fans shouldn’t […]
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Congratulations to Paul Dickson, author of the eponymous Baseball Dictionary, which was cited in William Safire’s “On Language” column in the April 19 issue of the Sunday Times Magazine. Safire devoted his weekly offering to Baseball Lingo. It’s really nothing you haven’t seen over and over again: how someone at work pinch hits for a […]
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Baseball items include: The evolution of MLB salaries: “Opening Day payroll this year—$2,655,395,194 total for the 30 clubs—was $31 million less than in 2008, a 1.2% drop and only the third year-to-year decline since the 1994 strike.” Bill Jenkins’ profile of Nick Adenhart What’s up with Cliff Lee, last year’s AL Cy Young winner? “Hit […]
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After all Patriot’s Day is coming up (April 19)… This month’s issue of Boston magazine features 2008 Rookie of the Year Dustin Pedroia as the cover boy. “The Obsessive’s Guide to the Sox,” proclaims the banner. Among the articles: “67 Things You didn’t Know About the Local Nine.” Why 67? Something to do with the […]
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The cover story features the NCAA hoops tourney, as could be expected, but from kids at what might be the start of a pro career, the only baseball story in the April 13 issue looks at Jamie Moyer, at the other end of the spectrum.
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The March 30 issue is, IMHO, the best of the regular baseball publications when it comes to their 2009 preview issue. Perhaps it’s catering to readers’ short attention spans, but the items are short with lots of photos to break up the page, making it kind of hard to separate into meaningful components. That doesn’t […]
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The back page of The New York Times Book Review features a full page advertisement from Bauman Rare Books. I usually don’t pay attention because as much as I lvoe ’em, they’re out of my league, to borrow from a famous title. But a photo of Joe DiMaggio caught my eye and sure enough there […]
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Another bi-weekly product, it also features a defensive theme in “Smell the Glove.” Each (very small) team capsule includes a pretty little color-coded chart pointing out the slick, so-so, and sieve spots at each position; a defensive +/- number indicates the team’s “projected total runs saved or lost relative to the ML average.” Huh? Why […]
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The BA March 23 issue serves as the preview for what is almost a trade publication. As always, the whole issue is devoted to baseball, but only part is devoted to a look ahead. Their “Fearless Forecast includes: ALDS: Red Sox over Twins, Yankees over Angels NLDS: Mets over Dodgers, Cubs over Phillies ALCS: Red […]
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Aside from the annual magazines, several weekly and bi-weekly publications put out a preview issue, which, one would think/hope, are more up-to-date. Suffice it to say there are team previews, a.k.a. “scouting reports (duh), so we won’t dwell on them. Suffice it to say each team profile includes a starting lineup, “Consider this: A Modest […]
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From SABR’s Jim Charlton: Google Book Search has the full-text, searchable archive of New York Magazine, dating back to the 1960s; Jet Magazine, dating back to the 1950s; Ebony Magazine, dating back to the 1950s; Prevention Magazine, dating back to 2006; Popular Science Magazine, dating back to the 1870s; and Baseball Digest, dating back to […]
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Some people don’t know when to shut up. A-Rod, for example. Doesn’t he have enough people mad at him without this self-serving piece in Details magazine? “Listen,” Rodriguez says. “I was thinking about one thing that I spoke about—it’s something that’s kind of trivial but will give me a hard time for no reason.” He […]
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The cover of SI shows Albert Pujols flexing his muscles and asking baseball fans to believe in him. Sports pundits on shows such as Pardon the Interruption make no bones about saying they;re having a difficult time believing anyone these days, that it’s become a matter of guilty until proven innocent. But with drugs evoling […]
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The April edition of Esquire celebrates opening day with three baseball-related items: A profile of Red Sox reliever John Papelbon, by Chris Jones “The Data,” a new column by Baseball Prospectus’ Nate Silver on “What Tim Geithner can learn from baseball.” Looks like you should have take your bar mitzva money and invested it in […]
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Ordinarily, I wouldn’t go back to a review of The Yankee Years; that so over. But I’ll make an exception for Roger Angell. The veteran sportswriter praises the work of both Torre and Verducci (“Verducci has range and ease; he’s a shortstop on the page.”) In the book, it’s a rush when you reach those […]
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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 blog 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 joy of sections
April 6, 2009
One of the major complaints from fans and (especially) non-fans is that the games take too long. Don’t look at it as a lot of down time; instead perceive it as a chance to catch up on your reading. That’s why I love compilations such as those published by The Washington Post‘s Thomas Boswell and […]
Tagged as: Roger Angell, Thomas Boswell
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