Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Fimrite, a wonderful feature writers for Sports Illustrated, among other publications, died April 30. For some reason it took two weeks for his obituary to be published. Among Fimrite’s baseball books are The World Series: A History of Baseball’s Fall Classic, and Birth of a Fan.
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The Hall of Fame pitcher passed away today at the age of 83. Roberts was still in the majors when I was coming to the game. I can picture one his last baseball cards in my mind (and here on the page). One of the things I always admired about him — especially in this […]
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The Hall of Fame broadcaster died today at the age of 92.
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The 1969 Cy Young winner died at the age of 72. Here’s his obit from The New York Times and a couple from the Baltimore Sun, where the Cuban pitcher had his gloey days in the lates 1960s to early 1970s: Orioles pitching great Mike Cuellar dies at 72 George Diaz’s column, “Mike Cuellar’s legacy […]
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The jurist who opened the door for girls to play Little League baseball, died Feb. 16 at the age of 75. From the NY Times obituary by Bruce Weber (author of As They See ‘Em): …she was best known for her decision in the Little League case, which she made before she was elevated to […]
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The jurist who opened the door for girls to play Little League baseball, died Feb. 16 at the age of 75. From the NY Times obituary by Bruce Weber (author of As They See ‘Em): …she was best known for her decision in the Little League case, which she made before she was elevated to […]
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The first lady of the New York Mets passed away Jan. 25 at the age of 94. I had written about Jarvis a couple of years ago, once when she was taken ill and when she was honored at a Jazz concert.
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The baseball lifer — and one of my earliest recollections of my baseball card collection — died on Thursday at the age of 92. From the Dallas Morning News. And Randy Galloway contributed this appreciation in the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. Bragan published his memoirs (right) in 1992.
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The pioneering African-American writer/broadcaster was a favorite around our household in the days of a kinder, gentler sports-talk radio format. Rust, who also appeared on WNBC-TV news programs, died Jan. 12 at the age of 82. From the New York Times‘ obituary by Richard Goldstein: In his 1976 book “Get That Nigger Off the Field!,” […]
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One more legend I missed an opportunity to interview. Rodney, who died at the age of 98, was the sports editor of the communist newspaper, The Daily Worker. He was also a champion in the battle to have Major League Baseball admit African Americans to its ranks. So in a sense, he was probably doubly […]
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The wordsmith passed away at the age of 79 on Sept. 27. I’ve always had a love for words and language, how everything comes together. Safire was a hero when it came to bringing it all together without being too academic about it. From the “On Language” column — Safire’s outlet for many years — […]
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The poster girl for ill-treated baseball wives passed away on Monday at the age of 77.
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I looked for some connection here, perhaps he recorded a rendition of “Casey at the Bat” but te best I could come up with was this. Nevertheless, Cronkite was one-of-a kind in the industry. The videos of him reporting the eeath of JFK have been looping since last night and the tributes continue to pour […]
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What a shocker to learn The Bird had passed away so suddenly. I remember seeing Fidrych beat the Yankees on an ABC Monday Night Baseball telecast in 1976 during a day off from the summer camp where I coached the softball team. His antics drew rave reviews from the announcers and appreciation from the fans. […]
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No, it’s not a history of the Irish and the national pastime (although we are getting close to St. Patrick’s Day…) One of the benefits of being a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) are the wonderful publications that arrive in the mail each year. Scholars, historians, math professors, and just plain […]
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As I mentioned the other day, here’s Richard Goldstein’s obituary on the late Bill Werber, the oldest ex-major leaguer at the time of his death.
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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
