Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The last member of The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship — David Halberstam’s excellent project on baseball and life published in 2011 — passed away yesterday at the age of 99. A Hall of Fame second baseman who batted .288 with 288 home runs, and 1,247 RBIs, Doerr played his entire career (1937-51) with […]
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Bob Motley, the last surviving Negro Leagues umpire, passed away Thursday at the age of 94. I had posted about Motley when he turned 91. He was the author of Ruling Over Monarchs, Giants, and Stars: True Tales of Breaking Barriers, Umpiring Baseball Legends, and Wild Adventures in the Negro Leagues, which he co-wrote with […]
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The baseball world lost two alumni recently with the passings of Don Baylor and Darren Daulton, both succumbing to the ravages of cancer. Baylor, a fierce and fearsome batter who hit 338 home runs and drove in 1,276 runs in a 19-year career (Angels, Orioles, Yankees, Red Sox, As, and Twins), died early this morning. He […]
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The only man to be a member of a World Series winner (Milwaukee Brewers, 1957) and NBA championship (Boston Celtics, 1958-61) died on Tuesday at the age of 86. Gene Conley, a three-time All-Star, compiled a record of 91-96 in 11 big league seasons. he played for the Braves in 1952 when they were still […]
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Now it’s getting serious. Now we’re getting the the men who were playing when I was growing up. Sad. Jim Bunning, a Hall of Fame pitcher who became a U.S. Senator, died yesterday at the age of 85. Here’s the New York Times‘ obituary by Richard Goldstein. Bunning pitched a perfect game against the New […]
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The New York Times ran rather substantial obituaries on two baseball figures a few days ago, both by Richard Goldstein, himself a baseball author. Sam Mele, a baseball life, died on May 1 at the age of 95. Pretty smart guy: he attended Yale and NYU. Here’s his page from BaseballReference.com. I remember him from […]
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The New York Times obituary says the late actor was best known for his role as a southern sheriff in a couple of James Bond movies. Not for me. For me, Clifton was best known for his role as the penurious Charles A. Comiskey, owner of the Chicago White Sox, in Eight Men Out (which […]
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The acerbic comedian died today at the age of 90. A hardcore fan, he was frequently seen at those celebrity games as chronicled in Joe Siegman’s book, Bats, Balls, and Hollywood Stars: Hollywood’s Love Affair with Baseball, released in 2014. Rickles enjoyed talking about the game. Here he speaks with David Letterman in 1998. And […]
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About a year ago, I posted about the different covers for Bernard Malamud’s The Natural; they’re so pretty… Here’s something similar about the late Jimmy Breslin’s 1964 release, Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?: The Improbable Saga of the New York Met’s First Year, beginning with the original hardcover edition. I can’t vouch for the […]
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Perhaps best known for her portrayal of the avaricious owner of the Cleveland Indians in Major League, Ms. Whitton died on Sunday at the age of 67. Here’s her obituary in the New York Times by Richard Sandomir, who has moved from from his previous post as the sports media columnist to the “dead beat.” […]
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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 […]
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Forgive the nihilism, but such is the meaninglessness of life. I was about to line the bottom of the birdcage this morning and just happened to notice that one of the pages carried the obituary for “Tom Knight, 89; Knew It All About Brooklyn Baseball.” The 750-plus-word New York Times tribute was written by by […]
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One of the last great nicknames, Walt “No Neck” Williams died Jan. 23 at the age of 72. Williams debuted with the Houston Astros in 1964. He returned after another couple of years in the minors, spending six of his 10 big league seasons with the Chicago White Sox. He also played for the Cleveland […]
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One of the great ambassadors of the game, Monte Irvin passed away last night at the age of 96. Irvin was member of that generation of African-American ballplayers who suffered greatly as they integrated the game. Jackie Robinson was the first and most famous, and sometimes men like Irvin and Larry Doby don’t get the […]
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I was shocked and saddened to learn this morning that the long-time sportswriter and author passed away yesterday at the age of 80. Pepe was the epitome of the hard-working New York journalist, working for several papers, hosting his own radio show, and being one of those guys who seemed to know everyone. I had […]
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I frequently think about the statement, “X is going to be the first line in the obituary.” It’s usually offered when someone has a good life but will remembered for some unusual (often unfortunate) incident. Think about Steve Bartman or Bill Buckner, they should live and be well for many years. It’s a bit different […]
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Siebern died Friday at the age of 82. Another one of the “old” players on the cusp of my introduction to baseball. You know how you’re such a terrible judge of age when you’re a kid? This card comes from the 1968 set, when Siebern was 32 and in the last season of his Major […]
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I was surprised to see The New York Times given so much space for Chance’s obituary (by Bruce Weber). All due respect, Chance had a record of 128-115 in 11 major league seasons. Yes, he won 20 games twice, won the Cy Young Award in 1964 for the Los Angeles Angels, and was a two-time […]
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Yogi Berra, the Hall of Fame catcher for the New York Yankees during their glory years of the 1950s-early 60s, passed away Tuesday at the age of 90. Needless to say, Berra was one of a kind. One of the last great players of his generation as well as a “colorful character,” the media is […]
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The last man standing of the last Cubs’ World Series team. Merullo broke in with the Cubs — his only Major League team — in 1941 at the age of 24. In seven season, he compiled a lifetime batting average of .240 in 639 games with eight home runs and 152 RBI. He enjoyed his […]
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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
