Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
From Memories of Summer: When Baseball Was an Art, and Writing About It a Game, the famed baseball writer offers his favorite dozen reads, including: Nice Guys Finish Last by Leo Durocher with Ed Linn (Simon and Schuster, 1975). (Co-winner) Bang the Drum Slowly by Mark Harris (Alfred A. Knopf, 1956). The Glory of Their […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
From time to time, various writers, editors, publications, etc., will offer their list of “best” or “essential” baseball titles. So from time to time I’ll pass them on, FYI, with or without comment. First up, from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, two members of the Brewers front office and a local college professor weigh in on […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Apropos to yesterday’s post on The Babe Ruth Story, these are the only baseball books to make the top spot on The New York Times Best-Seller list, along with the dates of their “coronation”: The Boys of Summer, by Roger Kahn, May 28, 1972 (a total of 24 weeks on the list) Summer of ’49, […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
They don’t make ’em like this anymore. At least not lately. The Whole Baseball Catalogue, edited by John Thorn and Bob Carroll (A Fireside Book, published by Simon and Schuester, 1990) has an excellent chapter on “Going by the Book: Baseball Between the Covers.” “You can have a complete library for approximately what it costs […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
From the Charleston Post and Courier, a review of HOME RUN: The Definitive History of Baseball’s Ultimate Weapon, by David Vincent (Potomac Books). David Vincent hits it out of the park with “Home Run.” But he must be charged with an error. The error being: only two pages of the book deal with the steroid […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
August 18 marked the 40th anniversary of the near-fatal beaning of Boston Red Sox star Tony Congiliaro. Author David Cataneo portrays Tony C. as a hometown product. Handsome, talented, and tremendously popular the slugger amassed 100 home runs at a very young age and was touted by some as the next big thing. But a […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
This list includes more than 125 reviews. Some are the books are duplicated by different reviewers.
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
This is a sad day for Carmen and me. Phil was a gem, one of the greatest people I ever knew – a dear friend and great teammate. He was a heck of a player, too. When I first came up to the Yankees, he was like a big, actually small, brother to me. He’s […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
With the passing of Phil “The Scooter” Rizzuto today, I thought it appropriate to “reprint” a precious entry on his “poetry-inspired” book, O Holy Cow. —– A program on the Feb. 10, 2007 broadcast of NPR’s Only a Game had an interesting topic, Shakepeare as Sport. It reminded me of a review I did on […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
As a stand-alone from the previous entry about baseball fiction, I found an extensive list of science fiction/baseball stories, as compiled by Steven Silver. Many of these have appeared in various SF pulp anthologies, rather than as full out novels. I don’t know if I’d agree with each entry; for example, I wonder if some […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Several guides to baseball fiction have been thoughtfully created by a number of readers and writers. Note that the same titles are bound to appear on the various “rosters.” Tim Morris, a professor at the University of Texas at Arlington, developed this Guide to Baseball Fiction, which includes novels, short stories, juvenile fiction, plays, and […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Merriam-Webster Online recently ran this item about Franklin P. Adams’ poetic homage to the double play combination of Tinker to Evers to Chance in Baseball’s Sad Lexicon. Text and an audio version are provided. (So is it pronounced Eh-vers or Ee-vers?). Books on the Cubs stars include: Tinker, Evers, and Chance: A Triple Biography, by […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
This review appeared on the Sports Literature Association Web site in August, 2004. The Last Best League: One Summer, One Season, One Dream, by Jim Collins. Da Capo, 2004. 288pp. $24.00 (cloth), ISBN 0738209015. Reviewed by Ron Kaplan The ballplayers on the Chatham As of the Cape Cod League are on the cusp. All of […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Henry Charles “Shag” Crawford, an NL umpire from 1956-75, died on July 11. He was 90. Crawford, whose brother, Joey, was an NBA official, called more than 3,000 games, worked in three World Series three times, two NL championship series, and three All-Star games. He became an iconic figure in photographs of San Francisco Giants’ […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Ralph Kiner, a fixture in the Mets broadcast booth since their debut in 1962, was honored on July 14 with a “night.” A mix of baseball celebrities were on hand, including former Mets players (Bud Harrelson, Ed Kranepool, Rusty Staub, Jerry Koosman, Ed Charles, and Tom Seaver, who did a fairly shaky job in his […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Birdie: Confessions of a Baseball Nomad by Birdie Tebbetts and James Morrison. (Triumph Books, 2002.) By his own description, George “Birdie” Tebbetts was a “Joe”–that is, he wasn’t the type of player who could hit 40 home runs or bat .300 or win any awards: “Joes are the guys who win you the pennant.” Tebbetts […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
An Associated Press story in the Washington Olympian about a new book and exhibit highlighting The Glory Days: New York City Baseball, 1947-1957, edited by John Thorn. Note that this should not be confused with Harvey Frommer’s New York City Baseball: The Last Golden Age 1947-1957, published originally by Macmillan in 1980, and re-released by […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
<p>The recent death of St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock brings to mind other tragic incidents of ballplayers dying before their time.<br />Books about such players who died during the baseball season include <em><span class=”bigger”>Ed Delehanty in the Emerald<a onclick=”window.open(this.href, ‘_blank’, ‘width=240,height=240,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0’); return false” href=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/00dela.jpg”><img width=”125″ height=”125″ border=”0″ src=”http://baseballbookshelf.mlblogs.com/my_weblog/images/00dela.jpg” title=”00dela” alt=”00dela” style=”margin: 0px 5px 5px […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
<p>According to an Associated press story, Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda "was arrested on suspicion of felony possession of a controlled substance, along with possession of a hypodermic needle or syringe and possession of marijuana…." </p> <p>This makes a natural segue to the following critique I did for the <em>MultiCultural Review</em>: </p> <p><em>The Orlando Cepeda […]
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
I was listening to the Mets-Rockies game as I was driving home from work last night. Orlando Hernandez was pitching for New York and Howie Rose commented on how economically he was working, getting the ball where he wanted it. A few days before Oliver Perez threw more than 25 strikes in a row. I […]
{ 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
