Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Yes, Robin, there was hardball in the Holy Land last year, with the inaugural season of the Israel Baseball League. Six teams played during the summer of ’07; three of which were led by former Major Leaguers Art Shamsky, Ken Holztman, and Ron Blomger, who led his team to the championship. Unfortunately, and for a […]
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The American Film Institute released its list of the top ten films in ten categories. Pride of the Yankees and Bull Durham came in third and fifth respectively in the Sports genre. The list includes: Raging Bull Rocky Pride of the Yankees Hoosiers Bull Durham The Hustler Caddyshack National Velvet Breaking away Jerry Maguire Talk […]
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The All-Star outfielder for the Tigers, Expos, and White Sox turns 60 today. LeFlore wrote about his experiences in prison in Breakout: From Prison to the Big Leagues, which was turned into One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story, one of those terrible ABC Made for TV movies, starring Levar Burton as the ballplayer. […]
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If they ever made a movie about my life, I’d want to be played by a post-WW II era Jimmy Stewart. He exudes a sense of humor but at the same times plays dark very well. Stewart played Chicago White Sox pitcher Monty Stratton — born this day in 1912 — in The Stratton Story, […]
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Andrea Weaver hosts a tribute site for David Strathairn, the actor who portrayed the knuckle-balling White Sox pitcher in Eight Men Out. She devotes an entire page to his accomplishments as an actor and surprisingly convincing athlete. Factoid: Strathairn’s sone, Tery, played the role of Bucky, one of the little kids who idolized the Sox […]
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To the consciousness of New York fans, that is. Former Mets’ manager Bobby Valentine was the subject of the May 4 “Questions for…” section of the New York Times‘ Sunday Magazine. Q; One American tradition you’ve imported to Japan is patting the players on the tush, as the film demonstrates. A: That has really been […]
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Here’s a PSA from an unexpected source, the American Jewish Committee, extolling the benefits of working together for a common cause. The cartoon was one of four in a series designed “to foster tolerance and human rights,” according to the edition of Variety (April 21, 1954), which gave AJC its annual award “for the best […]
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According to the New York Post‘s Page Six: YANKEE legend Mickey Mantle may have scored a home run with America’s perennial movie virgin. In his upcoming tell-all, “Doris Day: the Untold Story of the Girl Next Door,” David Kaufman says the perky star met the skirt-chasing Mick when he did a cameo in her 1962 […]
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Repeating yesterday’s movie theme, here are two more lists about the top baseball flickers. The SCNow web site, serving several communities in South Carolina, posted this column by Mark Haselden in which he picks some of the classics, but adds The Sandlot and the 1994 version of Angels in the Outfield. Meanwhile, StLtoday offers this […]
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SI.com has a slide show of their fantasy baseball team comprised of movie characters. Nice idea, until you see some of their selections: Jack Elliot (Tom Sellick), in Mr. Baseball Eppy Calvin “Nuke” Laloosh (Tim Robbins), Bull Durham Dotty Hinson (Geena Davis), A League of Their Own Montgomery Brewster (Richard Pryor), Brewster’s Millions Amanda Wurlizter […]
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The Story of Take Me Out to the Ball Game by Andy Strasberg, Bob Thompson, and Tim Wiles. Hal Leonard, 2008. This year marks the centennial of what baseball fans believe to be the true “national anthem” and this trio of authors have done the ditty proud. Baseball’s Greatest Hit is an “everything you always […]
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According to Firstshowing.net(and based on an interview on Collider.com), the neo-classic is under consideration by producer Mike De Luca. “De Luca confirms that he wants to adapt it and seems enthusiastic about the kind of movie it could become.”
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As much as we think we’re collectors, we’re just fooling ourselves. There’s (practically) no way to get everything of an item or theme that’s worth collecting. As that great philosopher, George Carlin, once said: “You can’t have everything. Where would you put it?” That being said, I have a dark spot for the entertainment industry […]
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Born this date in 1906. Died too young at the age of 53. Some people find the antics of this man-child along with his bullying partner, Bud Abbot, too gauche. That may be, but there will always be thanks in the hearts of baseball fans and copycats for their signature sketch. From The Naughty Nineties:
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From the Palm Beach Post. I’m embarrassed to say I got a 92.
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Grover Alexander Cleveland was born this day in 1887. Old Pete, who was indicted into the Hall of Fame in 1938, has his signature moment when he came in to fan Tony Lazzeri with the bases loaded and the Cardinals nursing a 3-2 lead in the seventh inning of Game 7 of the 1926 World […]
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With the Academy Awards on the horizon, I thought it would be appropriate to mention some of the excellent books that discuss the twin American treasures of baseball and the movies. Baseball and the movies are like peanut butter and chocolate: they were meant to go together. Baseball is the eternal struggle of man seeking […]
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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
* Catching up, Part 1
April 8, 2008
There’s a lot of material that’s fallen by the wayside as I try to keep this blog fresh with the latest in baseball book publishing information. But in the words of the revered philosopher, Regis Philbin, “I’m only one man!” So I’m using this space to try to catch up. Some of the items might […]
Tagged as: Audio, baseball books, Bobble heads, collections, hobbies, Memorabilia, Nostalgia, Sportswriting
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