Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
NEW STUFF: 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… […]
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NEW STUFF: 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… […]
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NEW STUFF: 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… […]
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Submitted for your interest from another semi-regular scan of new titles. It may seem unfair, but I do tend to judge e-books by their cover, especially when they are offered only in that format. It’s an indication of the time and effort the author/publisher puts into the project. Similarly, I’m basing my opinions strictly on […]
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All right, so it’s not exactly weekly. So sue me. Congratulations to Patrick M. of Mexico City, winner of Francona: The Red Sox Years. Next up for grabs: Philadelphia’s Top 50 Baseball Players, by Rich Westcott. A reminder of the new rules: This is now a random pick. I didn’t think it was fair for […]
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As you probably know, there’s a podcast component to this blog on which I chat with authors, artists, filmmakers, etc. I sometimes get first-timers who reach out to me because they may not have the cachet to get “real media” attention. I know I went through that with 501 Baseball Books. Just about every author […]
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On this date in 1981: Seattle Mariners manager Maury Wills is suspended for two games as punishment for ordering the grounds crew to enlarge the batter’s boxes at the Kingdome. Wills decided to tamper with the chalk lines after the Oakland Athletics complained that Seattle’s Tom Paciorek repeatedly stepped out of the batter’s box while hitting. […]
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(And I hope that doesn’t mean anything dirty or inappropriate in Gaelic.) In honor of St.Patrick’s Day, I offer two Irish-themed pieces I’ve done: A review on Bookreporter.com of Charley Rosen’s The Emerald Diamond: How the Irish Transformed America’s Greatest Pastime. “The Sporting Life,”An overview of the Irish in America’s national pastime, published in the February/March […]
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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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From ESPN.com: Joe Torre, Tony La Russa and Bobby Cox, baseball’s winningest managers over the past four decades, were unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame on Monday by the expansion era committee. Books about these gentlemen include: Joe Torre The Yankee Years by Torre with Tom Verducci Joe Torre’s Ground Rules for Winners: 12 […]
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Nuckolball posted a review of Robert Creamer’s classic bio, Babe: The Legend Comes to Life. These are kind of like mini-reviews, so I’m including Baseball Nation’s piece on “Your favorite baseball books,” which includes, among others, Philip Roth’s The Great American Novel, The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball […]
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Just because it’s my birthday… Born this date: Lou Brissie (1924), subject of Ira Berkow’s engaging The Corporal Was a Pitcher: The Courage of Lou Brissie. Mike Coolbaugh (1972), subject of S.L. Price’s touching Heart of the Game: Life, Death, and Mercy in Minor League America. Also on this date: 1977 – The Dodgers retire […]
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Murray Chass weighs in on Terry Francona’s new memoir The Red Sox Years (written by Dan Shaughnessy). Russ Smith contributed this review of the same book on Baseball Musings. Speaking about managerial memoirs that raise an eyebrow, Mike Reuther, author the baseball novels Return to Dead City and Nothing Down, posts the occasional book review. […]
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Former manager Terry Francona will release his new memoir Francona: The Red Sox Years next week. Book publicity seems to be like movie trailers. The excerpts include the most exciting bits, which maybe just just a tiny fraction of the overall project. An excerpt of the book will appear in this week’s Sports Illustrated. The […]
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A review in The New York Times practically guarantees increased sales, so kudos to co-editors Tracy and Foer and all the contributors to this fine collection. Readers of the NJ Jewish News know I also do a weekly Torah haiku. Therefore I have to support my fellow poets. Here’s a haiku look at the players […]
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♦ The Washington Post published this piece on Tony La Russa’s memoir, One Last Strike: Fifty Years in Baseball, Ten and a Half Games Back, and One Final Championship Season. ♦ Better late than never: It seems the Seattle Post-Intelligencer finally got around to posting a review of Zack Hample’s 2007 publication, Watching Baseball Smarter: […]
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Recent baseball items from non-sports publications include: “Why Baseball Managers Don’t Make The (Relative) Big Bucks,” from Time. April may be the cruelest month, but it was also a weird one, according to The Atlantic website.
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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
