Ever since Moneyball came out in 2003, most books analyzing the national pastime dealt with cold hard numbers. Putting a team together, it seems, is a lesson in math. But according to veteran journalist and author Joan Ryan, it’s a science. Chemistry, to be precise. (Full disclosure: I was never very good in that particular […]
Tagged as:
Barry Bonds,
Joan Ryan,
Jonny Gomes,
San Francisco Giants
Going old school here as we return to an audio-only Conversations. A couple of years ago, I was engaged to work on the memoirs of a gentleman from the Middle East. He was in my town on an extended trip, staying at an Air BnB run by friends of ours. Just about every day after […]
Tagged as:
Bartolo Colon,
Michael Stahl
Not going to go into a whole long intro. Seems redundant since it’s already in the video. But here’s the review I posted a while back about The Batter’s Box: A Novel of Baseball, War, and Love, by our guest, Andy Kutler.
Tagged as:
baseball in war time,
Bob Feller,
Washington Senators
A column contributed by Ryan Tyler When it comes to the greatest baseball photos, our attention is often focused on what’s in the image. We tend to scrutinize every detail, like who’s pitching, who’s batting, who’s running after the ball, the emotions of the players, the audience, and so forth. But when you look at […]
Tagged as:
baseball photography,
Brad Mangin,
Charles M. Conlon,
Hy Peskin,
Joe DiMaggio
I think these things are coming along nicely, don’t you? Every time, I learn how do so something new. Fun. Most recently, I got to continue this experiment with Keith Law, author of The Inside Game: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves. One of the things I appreciate about […]
Tagged as:
baseball analysis,
baseball philosophy,
Keith Law
Trying something a bit new in this age of coronavirus. Thanks — if that’s the appropriate word — to the current situation, we have a lot of “necessity is the mother of invention” going on. That’s how the Pandemic Baseball Book Club was born. The program is the brainchild of Jason Turbow, author of They […]
Tagged as:
Jason Turbow,
Pandemic Baseball Book Club
When I was a kid, I looked forward to another “opening day,” besides the one where the umpires yelled “Play ball!” for the game of the season. For me, it was almost more important when the first boxes of Topps cards arrived at my local candy store. I was once so excited to buy an […]
Tagged as:
Baseball Cards,
Brad Balukjian
I don’t usually advertise “the competition,” but in this time of crisis we all have to pull together. And since I usually don’t talk much about baseball fiction I figured, “why not let them do the work for me?” So submitted for your interest and enjoyment, here’s an episode of Effectively Wild, the podcast component […]
Tagged as:
baseball fiction
Everything is trivial. Blanket statement, but ultimately true, if you want to get “in the whole universe…” philosophical about it. In the words of Trooper… We’re here for a good time Not a long time (not a long time) So have a good time… And for baseball fans, part of that good time is the […]
Tagged as:
Jason Katzman,
trivia
Without further ado… http://www.ronkaplansbaseballbookshelf.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Bookshelf-Conversation-Rob-Neyer-Part-Two.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS
Tagged as:
Rob Neyer
When I saw that Rob Neyer was coming out Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game back in 2018, a new book after many years of inactivity in that regard, I looked forward to absorbing it and finally getting a chance to sit down — virtually, at least — and talk with the man […]
Tagged as:
Houston Astros,
Oakland As,
Rob Neyer
When last we spoke with Paul Dickson, it was about his excellent biography, Leo Durocher: Baseball’s Prodigal Son. This time it’s not about a new book, per se, but an old one that got a second life. Dickson, who recently turned 80, has re-released The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign-Stealing Have Influenced […]
Tagged as:
baseball reference,
Paul Dickson,
scorekeeping
Welcome back to a new “season” of Bookshelf Conversations. Now that the summer is over, I hope to be doing these on a regular basis. Leading off, we begin with Seth Kramer, “hyphenate” for the documentary, Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel, about the almost-Cinderella story that was the Israeli National Team in the 2017 […]
Tagged as:
Heading Home,
Israel National Team,
Seth Kramer,
World Basbeall Classic
If they ever put this out in a miniature form, tell me where I can get one; it’s going straight on the bookshelf. As per the Los Angeles Times, “Legendary pitcher Sandy Koufax will get a statue at Dodger Stadium.” Wouldn’t be surprised if this shows up in the next edition of Josh Pahigian’s 101 […]
Tagged as:
Jos Pahagian,
Sandy Koufax
In this digital age, deciding to bring forth an actual print publication takes some cajones. Baseball magazines have come and gone. Back when I was growing up, there were a slew of them. Gone are such classics as The Elysian Fields Quarterly: The Baseball Review. And does anyone out there remember Dugout: Baseball Beyond the Boxscore or […]
Tagged as:
Austin Stahl,
Baseball magazines,
Bookshelf Conversation
Haven’t done one of these in a while… I’ve long said that The Lords of the Realm was one of the underrated baseball books of all time. Apparently Ben Lindbergh (The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players and The Only Rule Is It Has to Work: Our Wild […]
Continuing on our theme of celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the “Miracle in Flushing,” we catch up with Wayne Coffey, author of They Said It Couldn’t Be Done: The ’69 Mets, New York City, and tew Most Astounding Season in Baseball History. The last time we spoke with Coffey, it was for his work on […]
Tagged as:
Gary Cohen,
New York Mets,
Wayne Coffey,
World Series
It’s becoming almost a bittersweet habit talking with Erik Sherman. On the one hand, it’s great reliving past glories of my favorite team. On the other, it’s sad to see the heroes of my youth aging and even dying. It reminds me of my own mortality and who the hell wants that? Last time it was Kings of Queens: […]
Tagged as:
Art Shamsky,
Erik Sherman,
Maury Allen,
New York Mets,
Tom Seaver,
World Series
As I said in my recent roundup review of New York-centric baseball books: A lot of New Yorkers think the world revolves around their city. When it comes to baseball books, that’s probably true. More words have been written about their teams than all others combined, and fans can usually count on a number of […]
Tagged as:
Chris Donnelly,
New York Mets,
New York Yankees
Let’s see if I remember how to do this… One of the joys I derive from this blog is the opportunity to speak to authors, artists, filmmakers, musicians, etc. about a common interest. When I was working at the paper, I had more time and resources to do these conversations. Now it’s more a catch-as-catch-can […]
Tagged as:
baseball history,
baseball photography,
Kostya Kennedy,
Nostalgia
is available on Amazon.com,
