Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The author of Me & The Spitter The Candid Confessions of Baseball’s Greatest Spitball Artist (or How I Got Away With It) (with Bob Sudyk), turns 72 today. I was at the Hall of Fame once, attending the annual Cooperstown Symposium (which I highly recommend) and word came down that Perry was in the building. […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Sept. 10. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, by Bill Madden 2 The Game from Where I Stand: A Ballplayer’s Inside View, by Doug Glanville 3 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, […]
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To two Hall of Famers. Bill Mazeroski, whose home run in the 1960 World Series remains one of the game’s most dramatic moments, turns 74. Twin Killing: The Bill Mazeroski Story, by John T. Bird Napolean Lajoie, born this date in 1874. He published Napoleon Lajoie’s Official Base Ball Guide in 1906. Surprisingly, there seems […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Sept. 2. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime by Jason Turbow and Michael Duca 2 The Natural, by Bernard Malamud 3 […]
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Several “ballplayers with books” mark a birthday today including: Ron Guidry, 60. He published Guidry, his autobio with Peter Golenbock in 1985 and was the subject of Maury Allen’s kids book, Ron Guidry, Louisiana Lightning in 1979. And the recently-retired Lou Pinella, 67, Gudry’s Yankee teammate, has a couple of books himself, including Sweet Lou: Lou […]
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Aug. 27. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran, by Dirk Hayhurst 2 The Game from Where I Stand: A Ballplayer’s Inside View, by Doug Glanville […]
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Cal Ripken, Jr., 50. Ripken is big on instructionals for younger players, as well as life lessons learned from the game. The Only Way I Know Baseball’s Iron Man: Cal Ripken JR. a Tribute The Longest Season Tim Salmon, 42, also celebrated yesterday. Always an Angel: Playing the Game With Fire and Faith And Harry […]
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Celebrating today are Hall of Famers Carl Yastrzemski (71), Paul Molitor (54), and Ned Hanlon. “Yaz” has several titles associated with his name, including Yastrzemski (Icons of Major League Baseball); Yaz: Baseball, the Wall, and Me; and Batting (1972, with Al Hirshberg). He’s also an integral piece of any book written about the 1967 “Impossible […]
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To Graig Nettles, who turned 66 yesterday. He published Balls, with Peter Golenbock, in 1985. Also born on Aug. 20: Al Lopez, one of the classic baseball lifers. Wes Singletary wrote Lopez’s bio, Al Lopez: The Life of Baseball’s El Senor, in 1999.
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go to Bobby Richardson, who turns 75 today, and Ron Darling, who hits the half-century mark. The Bobby Richardson Story The Complete Game: Reflections on Baseball and the Art of Pitching
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Roberto Clemente, born this date in 1934. Clemente!, by Kal Wagenheim Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero, by David Maraniss And Buck Weaver, born this date in 1890. The Ginger Kid: The Buck Weaver Story, by Irving M. Stein.
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The man who hit “the shot heard ’round the world” died yesterday at the age of 86. Here’s the Richard Goldstein obituary in The New York Times. There have been several books about Thomson’s heroics. His home run is a staple of baseball lore in both fact and fictional versions. The Giants Win the Pennant! […]
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The Bird would have turned 56 today. Taking advantage of his sudden popularity in 1976, when he was 19-9 and led the American League in ERA (2.34) and complete games (24), Fidrych published his autobio No Big Deal, co-written with Tom Clark, the following year. Fidrych died last year, the victim of a machine accident.
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, Aug. 6. Title Rank General Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 1 Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, by Bill Madden 2 Chicago Cubs Cookbook: All-star Recipes from Your Favorite Players 3 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing […]
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The now-questionable future Hall of Famer turns 48 today. Books that were released early in Clemens’ career were pretty much all lauditory, including The Rocket: Baseball Legend Roger Clemens, Facing Clemens: Hitters on Confronting Baseball’s Most Intimidating Pitcher, and, of course, his “own” story, Rocket Man. But those that came after his retirement take a […]
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Mmm, now them’s eats. Cookbooks with a baseball theme isn’t a new concept. Often they’re used as either promotions or fund-raisers, collected by the players’ significant others. Admittedly, some of the items included are basic, common-sense type items; with the exception of Rusty Staub and perhaps a few others, we’re not talking Julia Child here. […]
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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
Bits and pieces
September 17, 2010
Spurred on by the hubbub around the 40th anniversary of Ball Four, Delia Cabe, who hosts the Creative Type blog at Boston.com, had this piece about the best baseball books, not just from her POV, but from those of local celebrities and others. And as the Baseball Reliquary program heralding that anniversary beckons, look for […]
Tagged as: Ball Four, Negro league baseball, Rube Foster
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