{ Comments on this entry are closed }
From the category archives:
Original audio content
The Bookshelf Podcast: Will Leitch, Part Three
July 30, 2010
The Bookshelf Podcast: Will Leitch, Part Two
July 30, 2010
Tagged as: Podcast, Will Leitch
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The Bookshelf Podcast: At long last Leitch
July 30, 2010
The first few times I encountered Will Leitch’s work, I was less than impressed. I’m old-school enough to not want to know that my favorite players (not that I have any at this point) are hanging out at bars, doing drugs, treating women badly, etc., which is what Deadspin — which he founded — seemed […]
Tagged as: audio interview, Will Lietch
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
The Bookshelf Podcast: Doug Glanville
July 8, 2010
A bit overdue, but here’s my conversation with Doug Glanville, author of The Game From Where I Stand: A Ballplayer’s Inside View. During the course of the chat, Glanville shares his thoughts on the joys and difficulties of putting the book together, what he hopes to accomplish with it, and the possibility of more writing […]
Tagged as: Doug Glanville
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Bookshelf podcasts now available on iTunes
June 25, 2010
Yowza! Please stop by iTunes, try a couple on for size and take moment to leave a comment/review. Mucho appreciado.
Tagged as: Bookshelf Podcast
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
And now for something completely different: Part 1
June 13, 2010
Welcome to Ron Kaplan’s Baseball Bookshelf, the podcast! Bear with us; this is a work in progress. We’ll get it right as time goes by. In the first installment, we chat with Bill Madden, veteran NY Daily News sportswriter and columnist, about his NY Times‘ bestseller, Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball. You can read […]
Tagged as: Bill Madden, George Steinbrenner, New York Yankees
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Now hear this: Jason Turbow
May 23, 2010
Alex Rodriguez runs across the pitchers mound, p.o.-ing Oakland A’s pitcher Dallas Braden. A Phillies coach is accused of using binoculars to steal signs. You can’t buy this kind of publicity, but Jason Turbow, author of The Baseball Codes, will ceratinly take it, with thanks. It’s helped garner a few more talk show appearances, including […]
Tagged as: baseball rules, Jason Turbow
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Now hear this: Dan Epstein
May 23, 2010
The author of Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging ’70s spent a few groovy moments talking shop with the Bookshelf (and I don’t take shop from just anybody). Hear it here: Part one: [audio:http://www.ronkaplansbaseballbookshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/DanEpstein1.mp3|titles=DanEpstein1] Part two: [audio:http://www.ronkaplansbaseballbookshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/DanEpstein2.mp3|titles=DanEpstein2]
Tagged as: baseball in the 1970s, Dan Epstein
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
Now hear this: Robert Schnakenburg
May 9, 2010
The author of The Underground Baseball Encyclopedia spent a few moments with the Bookshelf to discuss some of his favorite pop-culturish baseball people, places, and things. Hear it here: [audio:http://www.ronkaplansbaseballbookshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/SchnakenburgDone.mp3|titles=SchnakenburgDone]
Tagged as: baseball reference
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
* Now hear this: Flo Thomasian Snyder
April 30, 2010
This charming young lady came out with Lady in the Locker Room: Madcap Memoirs of the Early LA Dodgers last year. It’s one of the best self-published books I’ve come across in a long time. Part family photo album — and as the first person put on the team payroll after they relocated from Brooklyn […]
Tagged as: Los Angeles Dodgers
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
* Now hear this: Danny Peary
April 18, 2010 · 1 comment
When I spoke with Danny Peary (that’s pronounced “PERRY,” as in Gaylord) recently about his new biography, Roger Maris: Baseball’s Reluctant Hero, I expressed surprise over the timing of his book, co-written with Tom Clavin. Then he made me feel ashamed I didn’t remember that 2010 is the 50th anniversary of Maris’ joining the Yankees. […]
Tagged as: Danny Peary, Roger Maris
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
* Now hear this: Dave Jamieson
April 18, 2010
Maybe I’m just more sensitive to it, but there seem to be an awful lot of books this year catering to the boomers among is. There are plenty of biographies from higher-end publishers on all-time favorites such as Mays, Mantle, Aaron, Maris, Rizzuto, Kaline, and Musial, not to mention those that come from vanity presses […]
Tagged as: Baseball Cards, Dave Jamieson
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
* RK ‘Hyphenate’ Interview: Logan and Noah Miller
April 13, 2010
I don’t know how else to describe these twin brothers. They’re independent filmmakers, actors, and authors of Either You’re In or You’re In the Way: Two Brothers, Twelve Months, and One Filmmaking Hell-Ride to Keep a Promise to Their Father, which chronicles their efforts to make their cinematic tribute, Touching Home. The Millers have a […]
Tagged as: baseball movie, Logan and Noah Miller, Touching Home
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
* Now hear this: Sean Manning
April 1, 2010 · 1 comment
Paraphrasing a great line from a TV show from long ago (I know forget which one, might have been M*A*S*H), i I were stranded on a dessert island and could only have one book, it would be the dictionary, because it has all the other books in it. That’s kind of the way I feel […]
Tagged as: essays, Sean Manning, Writing about baseball
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
* Now hear this: James S. Hirsch
February 25, 2010
Hirsch, author of the critically-acclaimed (and not just by me) bio of Willie Mays, talks a good game. He was very generous with his time this week in discussing his work and process (as the extended length of this interview indicates), going so far as to read a portion from his chapter, “The Catch,” which […]
Tagged as: James Hirsch, Willie Mays
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
* Now hear this: Steven Goldman
February 23, 2010
Rutgers alum Steven Goldman is co-editor of the very popular Baseball Prospectus series and website. Barely on the bookshelves, this perennial favorite is already the top sports best-seller on Amazon.com and no. 15 in the top 100 overall. I must admit, I have never been one for such publications, siding with the veteran baseball writer […]
Tagged as: baseball analysis, Baseball Prospectus, statistics, Steve Goldman
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
* Now hear this: Marty Appel
January 1, 2010
Marty Appel, former director of public relations for the New York Yankees during the tumultuous 1970s, has, to my mind, one of the dream jobs. These days he runs his own PR company and has his finger in many pies. As an author, his recent biography, Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain, […]
Tagged as: Marty Appel, New York Yankees, Thurmon Munson
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
* Now hear this: Fritz Peterson
December 26, 2009
Like an old stand up comedian, former Yankees pitcher Fritz Peterson will tell you it’s good to be here..It’s good to be anywhere. Peterson, who might be as famous for the fact that he and Yankee teammate Mike Kekich swapped families (yes, families. Houses and pets, too) as much as his skill on the hill, […]
Tagged as: Fritz Peterson
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
* Now hear this: Frank Ceresi
November 13, 2009 · 3 comments
Of all the sub-genres of baseball books, my favorite is are the coffee table editions. Usually published as “gift books,” they are among the most well-produced, handsome, and eclectic titles available each year. This year’s “leader” has to be Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress (Harper Collins). It combines the best of all […]
Tagged as: Baseball Americana, Frank Ceresi, Library of Congress
{ Comments on this entry are closed }
is available on Amazon.com,
* New titles from Bloomsbury
December 2, 2009
Their official spring-summer 2010 catalog isn’t online yet, but Bloomsbury is printing one new title and a 2009 title with a new afterword. The new title is Charlie Finley: The Life of Baseball’s Super Showman, a joint effort by G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius, slated for a July release. From the catalog: Before […]
Tagged as: Baseball Hall of Fame, Bloomsbury, Charlie Finley, Zev Chafets
{ Comments on this entry are closed }