Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Fascinating piece by Andy Martino in the NY Daily News about how the subjects are portrayed in the book and movie. Kind of like listening to yourself on a tape recorder and asking, “Do I really sound like that?” There have been several articles noting the differences between the real Paul DePodesta and the interpretation […]
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With the movie about to make its debut this week, look for an increase in sales (especially if they put Brad Pitt on the cover of a new edition). I’m sorry to miss the premiere tomorrow (the newspaper goes to press on Tuesdays), but I hope to catch it on Friday (looking forward to see […]
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From the Baseball Hall of Fame: Baseball and the movies grew up together in America, becoming a part of the fabric of the nation that made both famous. Their shared history is on display every day at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum through the Baseball At The Movies exhibit. And the newest […]
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The swift Tiger/Expo/White Sox outfielder turns 63 today. The speedy Tiger presented an interesting story of getting that “one in a million” chance while in prison to try out for the Detroit team, which he turned into a book with Jim Hawkins with One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story. The two collaborated on […]
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“There’s no tomorrow, so it’s one of those things where you go out there and leave nothing in the tank.” That was Boston Red Sox third baseman Kevin Youkilis. And virtually every athlete you will talk to about a Game 7 will say some variation of the same thing. So while we’re on the subject […]
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Had an unusual and fun experience on Tuesday. WNET/Channel 13 will broadcast the documentary Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story on Monday, June 6, at 8 p.m. According to the program description on the website, “Yogi Berra, Sandy Koufax and more greats are featured in this look at Jewish Americans and baseball.” Didn’t know […]
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Minnesota hometown favorite Kent Hrbek turns the big five-oh today. Surprisingly, he was an All-Star just once, finishing second in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 1982 and MVP voting two years later. He lent his name to Kent Hrbek’s Tales from the Minnesota Twins Dugout in 2007. Also born this date (in […]
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Not the Ken Berry of F Troop fame, but Ken Berry the outfielder for the White Sox, Angels, Brewers, and Indians, who turns 70 today. The defensive standout (two Gold Gloves) served as a technical adviser for the movie version of Eight Men Out and even had a speaking part. He’s the loudmouth in the […]
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I exchanged a few e-mails with Fritz Peterson recently, wishing him birthday nachas. He said he was excited that the Matt Damon-Ben Affleck project about the family-switching he did with Yankee teammate Mike Kekich was being made into a feature film. But evidently not everyone is enthralled with that possibility. I can understand Kekich’s point […]
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Besides playing Irene Lorenzo, Archie Bunker’s liberal neighbor on All in the Family, as well as other TV, film, and theater roles, Garrett starred in the 1949 Sinatra-Kelly musical Take Me Out to the Ballgame. Garrett died yesterday at the age of 91.
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From the Baseball Hall of Fame, this list of programs in the months ahead: A Celebration of Black History Month – Feb. 21-25: The Hall of Fame will host a week’s worth of programs celebrating Black History Month. Programs will feature Artifact Spotlights, films that feature the stories of Negro leagues legends and a walkthrough […]
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I’ve been meaning to do an entry on him for awhile now. I recently saw Matewan, in which Jones — who turns 80 today — plays “Few Clothes” Johnson, a coal miner involved in a strike. What caught my attention — of course — was a scene in which the miners play a game baseball […]
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Actually, with the way it works, the Dec. 20 issue was last week (Tim Linceum graces the Dec. 27 year-end issue)), but there’s a goodly amount of baseball items in “The Year in Sports Media” issue that I didn’t want it to go by unremarked upon. The robots are taking over! Steve Rushin writes about […]
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and put it on your bookshelf. Owen Wilson plays Matty, a pitcher on the Washington Nationals, and Reese Witherspoon a former Olympic softball player in How Do You Know?, which opens in theaters today. I have no intention of seeing this one, but the trailer does include a scene (about the 1:24 mark) with Wilson […]
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There are certain baseball movies I never fail to watch whenever they’re on TV. Although with some, I find the more I watch, the less entertaining they seem and the more annoyed I get. Case in point: A League of Their Own. For the most part, I still love this film. But the past few […]
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The publishers of American History magazine just came out with 100 Greatest Sports Movies (and you know how I feel about the use of “Greatest” and “Best” in the title). Extracting just the baseball films, we have, in order: The Pride of the Yankees (#4 overall) Bull Durham (#6) Major League (#12) A League of […]
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Was it the “Hey, dad, you wanna have a catch?” ending of Field of Dreams… or Jimmy Morris giving his dad the ball for his Major League Debut in The Rookie? (Sorry, no video.) Or, coming from another angle, how about this from Fear Strikes Out, with its foreshadowing music, wide eyes, and guilt-inducing collapse […]
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The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will host the Baseball Film Festival in Cooperstown, Oct. 1-3. As part of the three-day event, Billy Crystal, who directed and executive produced the classic film 61*, will be on hand as the Hall of Fame celebrates his 2001 production that told the story of the 1961 […]
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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
The Lou’s
February 26, 2011
I don’t know, what name would you suggest for an award to honor the best baseball performances? At Oscar time, Jim Caple of ESPN’s Page 2 offers his take on “Academy Awards for Baseball Movies” (he dubbed his awards the “Oscar Madisons”). No real surprises here, although I would have selected Costner over Matthau, Davis […]
Tagged as: Bang the Drum Slowly, baseball movies, Jim Caple, TEGWAR
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