Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
I was doing an on-line search for baseball book art to incorporate into a screen-saver slide show and came across an image that looked a bit odd and familiar. Sure enough, it was not an baseball cover but a faux cover included in one of a very entertaining series of entries by Jim Baker, a […]
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This originally appeared on my other blog, but I didn’t feel like reinventing the wheel, so… How abut that kid? Joc Pederson came within one home run of winning in his very first appearance. From an ESPN story: It was Pederson who had put on the best show of the night, crushing 13 mammoth homers […]
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It goes without saying that baseball is one of the more literate and literary sports. But to gauge the “education” of teams’ fans by the comments they leave on websites or via social media is a bit silly. I don’t mean to indict an entire generation, but texting, IMs, and emails have reached a point […]
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I’ve often wondered about the people who negotiate to retrieve home run balls for the players, so thank you, Billy Witz of the New York Times, for this fascinating piece about Yankees security guard/”collector” Eddie Fastook. How much leeway do you think Fastook has when negotiating for the piece of treasure? And if he considers […]
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Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
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WTF is up with that new and very creepy KFC commercial starring the resurrected Col. Sanders? “…Because if there’s two things I’m certain of, it’s that baseball will always be America’s number one sport, free from corruption, scandal, and cheating of any kind. And two, the summer meal featuring my Kentucky Fried Chicken tastes better […]
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The Yog turns 90 today, God bless. I ran this piece four years ago, listing several titles about and (ostensibly) by the Hall of Famer. Except for the age, the info remains valid except for the addition of my NJ neighbor Harvey Araton‘s excellent book, Driving Mr. Yogi: Yogi Berra, Ron Guidry, and Baseball’s Greatest […]
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Guess who has a new tune out about baseball? The song has been getting mixed reviews. Actually, the only “review” I’ve found so far is far from favorable, but since it’s from Deadspin, you have to take that into consideration. That’s it. I’m outta here. Enjoy your Mothers’ Day.
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Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. These are kind of fun; it’s like a box of chocolates — you never know what you’re gonna get. (Actually, I never understood […]
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Since I posted the first of these on a Thursday, which is known on social media as a time of reflection, I thought to make it a regular thing under this rubric. As a reminder, I highly recommend Pocket as a way to hold onto links you come that you want to keep. Unlike bookmarks, […]
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Came across this from The Wall Street Journal via a Facebook post: Here’s a Perplexing Question to Bat Around What does it mean to “bat around” in baseball? Is it the situation when nine batters come to the plate in one inning? Or is it 10? At first I thought it was so simple. Has […]
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When the baseball purists start calling for the heads of those who would buck tradition in finding ways to speed up the game, they might start with author Paul Auster. Auster came up with brilliant idea of two strikes and you’re out and three balls, take your base. The former is strictly two strikes, by […]
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I highly recommend Pocket as a way to hold onto links you come that you want to keep. Unlike bookmarks, Pocket keeps the entire page and makes it relative easy for you to find stuff you “pocketed.” I have keepers going back six years — more than 5,000 links — and I’ve decided it’s time […]
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“The Curious Case of Sidd Finch” — ostensibly a feature article by George Plimpton — was the cover story for the April 1, 1985 issue of Sports Illustrated. Of course, we all know now (spoiler alert) it was an elaborate hoax. Over the year’s, the myth has be debunked several times, including in the pages […]
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The 1953 unanimous MVP selection (the first time that had ever occurred) passed away Friday at the age of 91. To my mind, Al Rosen was the last of his generation, a Jewish ballplayer who grew up a time when anti-Semitism was still fairly prevalent, less so than Hank Greenberg but more so than Sandy […]
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Because tomorrow is 3-14-15…
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Skip to 2:20…
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Because these could fit on a bookshelf if it was big enough. Reggie Jackson is auctioning off “the 10-foot-high letters that spelled “YANKEE STADIUM” near the edge of the roof for 32 years after the renovated stadium opened in 1976.” Jackson purchased the letters when the Stadium closed down after the 2008 season. Of course […]
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is available on Amazon.com,
In my most recent "day job," I was the sports and features editor for a weekly New Jersey newspaper, where I hosted another blog. Busy, busy, busy.
I did a profile piece on the award-winning cartoonist Arnold Roth and he was nice enough to "immortalize" me.
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
Change for change’s sake? Pass.
June 4, 2015
Found this on Facebook this morning via Marc Ernay, sports director at 1010 WINS: In the words of my good friend, Howard Walawitz: What kind of market study did the knobs at MLB.com do to determine that this was cutting edge, that this is what it takes to retain the interest of younger fans? If […]
Tagged as: baseball box scores, MLB.com
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