With St. Patrick’s Day just ahead, what better time to discuss Charlie Rosen’s new book,The Emerald Diamond: How the Irish Transformed America’s Greatest Pastime? Rosen previous sports work — over a dozen titles, both fiction and non-fiction — have been almost exclusively about basketball. The lone exception: his Bullpen Diaries: Mariano Rivera, Bronx Dreams, Pinstripe […]
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Charley Rosen,
Emerald Diamond,
New York Yankees,
Saint Patrick's Day
Back in the day (i.e., when I was a kid), taking pictures was a pretty big deal. Cameras used real film (kids, ask your parents), either in roles for SLR cameras that a) cost money, and b) had to be developed, which cost more money. If you had an “instamatic” camera, then you had to […]
Tagged as:
Andy Strasberg,
baseball fans
Recently, the Bookshelf spoke with Glenn Stout about the centennial of Fenway Park (an upcoming episode will feature Curt Smith discussing the role of broadcasters in bring the games to the Fenway faithful). This week, in recognition of the New York Mets’ 50th anniversary, we chatted with Mathew Silverman, who specializes in titles about the […]
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Hofstra University,
Matthew Silverman,
New York Mets
George Vecsey has worn many hats during his long career with The New York Times. Most recent fans might not be aware he was a general reporter who also wrote about politics and religion before turning to the sports pages full time in 1980. Two years later, he was called on to fill the void […]
Tagged as:
George Vecsey,
Stan Musial
Last week I posted an interview with Kostya Kennedy, author of 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports Well, the tributes continue with this week’s guest, Glenn Stout, a veteran writer whose latest book, Fenway 1912: The Birth of a Ballpark, a Championship Season, and Fenway’s Remarkable First Year, earned him the […]
Tagged as:
Best American Sports Writing,
Boston Red Sox,
Fenway Park,
Glenn Stout,
SABR,
Seymour Award,
Seymour Medal
Kostya Kennedy was recently named winner of the Casey Award, handed out by Spitball Magazine for their take on the best baseball book of the year. Kennedy, a senior editor at Sports Illustrated, received the coveted prize for 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports. He will pick up the award at […]
Tagged as:
Casey Award,
Joe DiMaggio,
Kostya Kennedy,
Sports Illustrated
Because you can keep your podcast-playing device on a bookshelf. Just in time for the annual Hall of Fame announcements, the august institution is jumping into the interactive Internet age with a new podcast. From their press release: Thanks to the power of the internet and podcasts, fans can now stay connected to Cooperstown and […]
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Baseball Hall of Fame
If you’re on Facebook, check out the Baseball Book Club group: We here at the Baseball Book Club know it’s hard to find time to read books, so we want to offer encouragement. The idea is simple. Members of the club will select a title to focus on as the Book of the Month and […]
Tagged as:
Jane Leavy,
Reading Groups
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 […]
Tagged as:
Alan Schwarz,
Bill Veeck,
David Halberstam,
Jim Brosnan,
New York Yankees,
NPR,
St. Louis Cardinals,
World Series
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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baseball art,
Craig Robinson,
inforgraphics,
National Public Radio,
Shawn Green,
statistics
Here’s my feature on Green and his new book, The Way of Baseball: Finding Stillness at 95 mph (See all Personal Transformation Books), which appears in the print edition of this week’s NJ Jewish News. More on the writing process: Green had planned on writing a book even while he was playing. “I’ve always been […]
Tagged as:
Eastern philosophy,
Shawn Green
Regular visitors know I rarely consider juvenile literature, but once in awhile an “important” book comes along that deserves attention. Previously it was Kadir Nelson’s We Are The Ship, an introduction to young readers about the Negro Leagues. This time it’s Richard Michelson’s Lipman Pike: America’s First Home Run King, a picture book about the […]
Tagged as:
Kadir Nelson,
Lip Pike,
Lipman Pike,
Richard Michelson
The most popular post on this blog was one that resulted from listening to my favorite podcast, NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, hosted by the erudite Peter Sagal, a local hero ’round these parts (who just celebrated a birthday, I might add). That particular entry involved former Major Leaguer Moose Skowron, the guest for […]
Tagged as:
Cal Ripken Jr.,
Moose Skowron,
NPR,
Peter Sagal,
Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
The new RKBB podcast features an interview with author Joseph Wallace, author of Diamond Ruby: A Novel. This is Wallace’s first foray into fiction., but not baseball. His previous work includes World Series: An Opinionated Chronicle, World Series: An Opinionated Chronicle, and The Baseball Anthology: 125 Years of Stories, Poems, Articles, Photographs, Drawings, Interviews, Cartoons, […]
Tagged as:
baseball fiction,
Diamond Ruby,
Joseph Wallace
I’d been hoping to post this a lot sooner, but due to a number of technical glitches, including a new computer and some lost software, yada yada yada… Anyway, submitted for your entertainment is an interview, in two parts, with Jane Leavy, author of the bestselling biography, The Last Boy, Mickey Mantle and the End […]
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Jane Leavy
Jane Leavy played to a full house in October at the Yogi Berra Museum and learning Center in Little Falls. Photos courtesy Andrew Mordzynski. Part 2 http://www.ronkaplansbaseballbookshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/RKBBLeavy21.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Tagged as:
Jane Leavy,
Mickey Mantle
To Hall of Famer Rod Carew, who turns 65 today. Carew, by Carew with Ira Berkow Rod Carew’s Art and Science of Hitting Also marking the occasion, Mark McGwire, who perhaps could have been a Hall of Famer, turns 47. There were two “waves” of books about Big Mac. The first came in 1998 when […]
Tagged as:
Jimmy Reese,
Mark McGwire,
Rod Carew
Hang Up and Listen, Slate’s sports podcast, with Josh Levin, Stefan Fatsis, and Mike Pesca, has had two excellent programs lately with lots of baseball relevence. The first — “The Can-Miss Prospect Edition,” aired Aug. 30 and considered Stephen Strasburg’s elbow injury and Albert Pujols’ and Tony La Russa’s appearance at Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” […]
Tagged as:
Hang Up and Listen
Since the nature of the blog is to print the most recent entry first, I’m presenting the three-part interview with Jim Bouton in reverse order. http://www.ronkaplansbaseballbookshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/JimBoutonPart2.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Tagged as:
Ball Four,
Jim Bouton
Since the nature of the blog is to present the most recent item first, I’m presenting the three-part interview in reverse order. http://www.ronkaplansbaseballbookshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/JimBoutonPart3.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Tagged as:
Ball Four,
Jim Bouton
is available on Amazon.com,
