Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
What is it, two days after the Cubs won the series and while compiling the (usually) weekly list of baseball best-sellers, there are publications about the team that weren’t even listed when I did my search for items coming down the pike (although, to be strictly accurate, I was basically looking at 2017 items). So […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
ESPN the Magazine (Cover price: $5.99) Maybe it’s an age thing, I found ESPN’s attempt to replicate old English (or whatever the hell they were trying to accomplish), pretty difficult to read. It would have been enough if they had just used it on the cover, but they compound the error (IMO) repeatedly Once again, […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Earlier this month, I posted about the joys and sorrows of the rare creature known as the baseball magazine. And we’re not talking about those publications geared specifically towards fantasy baseball enthusiasts; goodness knows there are plenty of those. Last week I picked up a copy of another perennial favorite of mine, Athlon Sports’ 2016 […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Had a mishap at the gym yesterday and went to the CVS this morning on my way to work to pick up an ace bandage. I passed by the magazine section and there, beckoning like a siren, was this Welcome back, old friend. First up: TSN has picked up the mantle from the old […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
We’re getting to the time of year when spring training is about a month away and publishers are warming up as well. The bulk of baseball titles won’t be released until after opening day, but the handful of glossy magazines, which seem to be dwindling year by year, will be on newsstands shortly. Last week […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
At least you won’t have the ridiculous dramatic pauses with camera zoom-ins and throbbing music as the audience awaits the name of the winner. (DWTS, I’m looking at you.) The editors of Spitball Magazine announced the nine finalists for the coveted CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year. The titles include: The Betrayal: […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
I have mixed feelings about the outcome of the World Series. Maybe it’s a product of getting older, but I found myself not caring who won the extra inning affairs; I just wanted them to be over so I could go to sleep. Naturally, I would have preferred the Mets to beat the KC Royals, […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Whenever I learn of a situation where another library closes or a cache of baseball material is thrown away due to lack of space, money, or interest, I refer to this scene from the 1960 film version of H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine. That’s how I felt after reading Jeff Pearlman’s piece in The Guardian, […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Publishers occasionally offer excerpts of the books to major newspapers an/or magazines to give potential consumers a free sample of their product.In many cases, the selections are the literary equivalent of movie trailers, picking the most interesting plot points. Often a local publication will give the treatment to a person associated with the market reach. […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
I was listening to a Leonard Lopate interview with Greg Proops, a comic featured on the popular TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway, host of The Smartest Man in the World podcast, and, most recently, author of The Smartest Book in the World: A Lexicon of Literacy, A Rancorous Reportage, A Concise Curriculum of […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
“The Curious Case of Sidd Finch” — ostensibly a feature article by George Plimpton — was the cover story for the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated. Of course, we all know now (spoiler alert) it was an elaborate hoax. Over the year’s, the myth has be debunked several times, including in the pages […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
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
Throwback Thursday (aka, links dump), Dec. 17, 2015
December 17, 2015
Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
Tagged as: baseball stadiums, Bill Veeck, cricket, Dock Ellis, New York Mets, New York Yankees
{ Comments on this entry are closed }