Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
I subscribe to Scribd.com, a wonderful service which, for a flat fee, allows you to read and/or listen to thousands of books, new and old. While doing my semi-weekly search for new things, I discovered that Hank Greenberg in 1938 (as well as The Jewish Olympics: The History of the Maccabiah Games) is a part […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
“Die Hard” Phillies fan? He wasn’t much better at BP, either.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
You will forgive a father’s pride, but my daughter, Rachel, a photo editor for iHeart Media, recently compiled this listicle on baseball bobbleheads. I still haven’t gotten over her being a Yankees fan, though. Oh well, can’t have everything.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Just finished Ron Darling’s new book, 108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game (with Daniel Paisner, who also worked on Darling’s 2016 book, Game 7, 1986: Failure and Triumph in the Biggest Game of My Life). It’s fairly standard fare. Darling relates stories about memorable players, […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Headnote: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them. But it’ll be close enough for government work. In addition, sometimes the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category to which it […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
I was chatting with a co-worker who is about to go to Seattle for vacation. One of the items on his agenda is attending Comic-Con. Seems he’s a collector of Funko figures. Who knew? Evidently these are like the next generation of Beanie Babies. There are probably hundreds of these things, and some of them […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Belated, of course. There have been seven players with that last name, but only one has documentary about him. Bob Valentine, 1876 Bobby Valentine, 1968-79 Corky Valentine, 1954-55 Ellis Valentine, 1975-85 Fred Valentine, 1959-68 Joe Valentine, 2003-05 John Valentine, 1883 The former Texas Rangers, NY Mets, and Boston Red Sox manager was the subject of […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
I love big books and I cannot lie… Okay, enough of that. When I was in London, I stopped by Harrod’s where I found this in the sparse book department. Look at the people in the background and you can get a sense of the size of this collection of photos by Annie Leibowitz. […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Headnote: I’ve decided to bow to the times and include separate lists for e-books and audio books. Be aware that while many titles also appear in print versions, pretty much anyone can produce an e-book these days, so I’m not going to comment at all about the quality. As far as the audio goes, I’m […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
You know how when your favorite media figures go on vacation, the fill the space with “reruns?” Carrying on in that grand tradition as I head over to Merry Old England, here are a couple of pertinent selections to keep me in your hearts and minds: The New British Invasion (1/2/12) Bookshelf Review: Right off […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Heading off to merry old England on Wednesday to celebrate our 30th anniversary. While there, I was hoping to visit the British Baseball Federation. I did that five years ago when our anniversary trip took us to Paris. In the spirit of exchanging gifts, I gave them a copy of 501 Baseball Books fans Must […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
A semi-regular (I guess that sounds better than “irregular”) attempt to catch up on the baseball book and other news wince my last similar posting. * NY Daily News sportswriter/author Bill Madden contributed this list of the best baseball books of all time. All are worthy of the accolades (A Day in the Bleachers, The […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Fifteen bobbleheads for $300 seems like a bargain. (especially when you can buy them individually for $25 bucks apiece) but when you see that these are figurines from the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, it’s a true find. Teams represented include: Rockford Peaches Chicago Colleens Battle Creek Belles Grand Rapids Chicks Fort Wayne Daisies South […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Holy cats, has it really been almost two months since I posted one of these? Moving on… Headnote: I’ve decided to bow to the times and include separate lists for e-books and audio books. Be aware that while many titles also appear in print versions, pretty much anyone can produce an e-book these days, so […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
And how we love to hate some of those shirts (and pants). Todd Radom, a graphic designer specializing in branding for professional sports franchises, has compiled an entertaining collection and deconstruction of some of the greatest, worst, and most unusual baseball attire in his recent release, Winning Ugly: A Visual History of the Most Bizarre Baseball Uniforms […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Full disclosure: Prior to this, I have never watched more than a few minutes of DWTS in any of its previous seasons. I know sports figures have competed and some have acquitted themselves very well, but I can only guess the idea to have a bunch of athletes as a stand-alone theme was one of […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The Kearny, NJ-based Observer is holding an essay contest on favorite summer baseball memories. From the online story: Enter the contest by sending your family baseball memories — you can even write the memories together as a family — to us at editorial@theobserver.com by Wednesday, June 13, at 3 p.m. (Entries received thereafter won’t be […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
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
My (fantasy) Q&A with Sandy Koufax
January 28, 2018
“Who would be your fantasy interview?” I think I speak for a lot of Jewish fans when I say it would be Sandy Koufax. These are some of the questions I would ask, assuming he was bound to answer honestly and not just sit there sipping his wine. What was really behind the decision not […]
Tagged as: Sandy Koufax
{ Comments on this entry are closed }