Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
As I continue to do research for my own project, I get a kick when I find some old material that confirms I’m on the right track with some of my selections. Hey, it’s nice to find validation rom time to time, right? So today’s blast from the past is this brief appearance by the […]
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While doing research for my project, I came across this list, published in 2002, of the 100 top sports books of all time as chosen by the editors of Sports Illustrated. Of those 100, “only” 32 were about baseball. The nerve. Anyway, here’s the SI piece, trimmed to just baseball titles, with commentary from the […]
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but the difference in weight and shape can mess up your ceremonial first pitch, as we see here for former Major Leaguer and current author Doug Glanville.
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Combining two themes here to bring you some recent podcasts. * Craig Robinson, author of the new Flip Flop Fly Ball: An Infographic Baseball Adventure (See all Humor Books), was on the July 19 edition of Slate’s Hang Up and Listen. There are several excellent questions about Robinson’s though processes as he comes up with […]
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Harvey Araton published this piece on “Nails” in today’s New York Times. One of the failed projects the ex-ballplayer was working on was The Player’s Club, a magazine designed specifically for recently retired athletes. Suffice it to say that it never really got off the ground. I’m almost willing to bet that Dykstra has AADD. […]
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From the Baseball-Reference.com Bullpen: San Francisco’s Gaylord Perry connects for his first Major League homer, to beat the Dodgers, 7 – 3. The previous year, Giants’ manager Alvin Dark had remarked that “They’ll put a man on the moon before he hits a home run.” Perry’s homer comes about 20 minutes after the club house […]
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By Christy Mathewson, 1912 A “pinch” is a tight spot, when one is expected to suck it up and give it that extra 10 percent; Mathewson had to do that a time or two in an era when starting pitchers were expected to go the distance. Hard to believe that Mathewson, one of the original […]
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The Hall of Fame manager died today at the age of 82. UPDATE: Richard Goldstein’s obituary for Williams in today’s NY Times. Williams won back-to-back World Championships with the Oakland As in 1972-73. He also led the Boston Red Sox to their “Impossible Dream” pennant in 1967 in his first year as a manager at […]
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Two Men, One Call, and a Game for Baseball History by Armando Galarraga and Jim Joyce, with Daniel Paisner. Atlantic Monthly Press, 2011 One of the highlights of the 2010 Major League season was something that didn’t happen. Armando Galarraga, a pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, did not get his perfect game — a no-hit, […]
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Welcome to a new feature celebrating some of the great moments in the game. On this date in 1963, Jimmy Piersall, then a member of the Mets, hit his 100th home run and marked the occasion by running the bases backwards. You’d think his manager, Casey Stengel, would appreciate the creativity, but apparently he did […]
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Werber, who died in 2009 at the age of 100, was the last link to the 1927 NY Yankees, having spent a week on their bench while a freshman attending Duke. He played for five teams over 11 seasons, leading the Al in runs once and stolen bases three times. The Society for American Baseball […]
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The swift Tiger/Expo/White Sox outfielder turns 63 today. The speedy Tiger presented an interesting story of getting that “one in a million” chance while in prison to try out for the Detroit team, which he turned into a book with Jim Hawkins with One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story. The two collaborated on […]
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Hall of Famer Wade Boggs turns 53 today. Books on Boggs includes: Boggs!, by Boggs The Techniques of Modern Hitting, by Boggs Wade Boggs: Baseball’s Star Hitter (Taking Part) What, no chicken cookbook? Also celebrating today, Brett Butler, who turns 54. He published Field of Hope: An Inspiring Autobiography of a Lifetime of Overcoming Odds, […]
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A Story of the First and Only Season in the Israel Baseball League, by Aaron Pribble. University of Nebraska Press, 2011. 280 pages, $24.95 For one brief shining moment, it was known as… Well, depending on who you ask, the Israel Baseball League was either a miracle, a disgrace, an opportunity, or a pleasant diversion. […]
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Marc Tracy of Tablet.com contributed reviews for the NY Times Sunday book supplement on Shawn Green’s The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 MPH. Upshot: “Those who do not share Green’s earnestness — or fondness for “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” “Siddhartha” and other namedropped works of dormitory Buddhism — may nonetheless […]
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Steve “Psycho” Lyons turns 51 today (so does Barry Lyons, who is no relation as far as I know). Lyons — a “colorful character” (or “flake.” depending on your point of view) batted .252 over nine season for the Red Sox, White Sox, Braves, and Expos. Perhaps his most famous moment on the field was […]
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Clyde King was born this date in 1924. He published A King’s Legacy: The Clyde King Story in 1999, which isn’t bad considering his playing career lasted just seven seasons and five as a manager (but only one full season). Also born this date, Hall of Famer Zack Wheat (1888). I don’t understand how there’s […]
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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
Bit and pieces
August 1, 2011
The good news: More than half way to the goal of 501 books. The bad news: it takes me away from the blog. Oh well, hang around. It will be worth it in the end. In the meantime, here are a few items for your consideration: Out of Left Field, Rebecca Alpert’s history of Jewish […]
Tagged as: Joe DiMaggio, Lou Perini, Mark Attanasio, Negro league baseball, Rebecca Alpert
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