Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
A version of this review originally appeared on Purebaseball.com in 2001. Summer is firmly entrenched. So is your favorite team … in last place. The time for spring training optimism is over. Face it, it’s the cellar for sure. Now what? Time to tum off the radio, shut the TV and head for the great […]
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Japanese Baseball and Other Stories, by W.P. Kinsella (Thistledown Press, 2000) Baseball Fantastic, edited by W. P. Kinsella (Quarry Press, 2001) It’s been some time since W.P. Kinsella has come out with new baseball fiction. The author of such memorable novels as Shoeless Joe, Box Socials and The Iowa Baseball Confederacy and shorter works, The […]
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The Revolutionary Reign of Bud Selig, by Andrew Zimbalist (John Wiley and Sons, 2007) Allan H. “Bud” Selig has nominally been in charge of the national pastime longer than any commissioner since Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Needless to say, the game has expanded beyond what the sixteen original owners could ever have imagined. Such success […]
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The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime, by Teri Thompson, Nathaniel Vinton, Michael O’Keeffe, and Christian Red. Knopf, 2009. In case you haven’t been paying attention, the topic du an in baseball lit is steroids/PED. No less than four major titles consider the science and those who use performance […]
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Darryl Strawberry and Josh Hamilton. Brothers from different mothers. Both had all the talent in the world. Both were number one draft picks (Strawberry in 1980, Hamilton in 1999) and were expected to do great things.Both became born-again Christians when their lives turned toward the dark side. And both have autobiographies in which they openly […]
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Sorry, give me a minute here. The Mets just lost their game with the Yankees when Luis Castillo dropped a two-out POP UP that allowed two runs to score. TWO HANDS, dammit!! Anyway, my review of several books that encompass the Yankees and Mets during interleague weekend appear on the latest posting of Bookreporter.com. Titles […]
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Cover: The Mets moved into a new home this year and are rightly proud of it. Citi Field and the logo dominate (the facade also appears at the bottom of every page), with a smattering of almost-microscopic thumbnail pics of some of the Mets personnel. Not very inspiring. C A detailed description of the new […]
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When you consider that theTampa Bay Rays have only been around since 1998, it’s pretty impressive that they can publish a media guide that’s almost as big (488 pages) as that of the Dodgers (509) and even bigger than the Pirates’ (372), two teams that have been around for more than 100 years. Cover: The […]
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Memories & Memorabilia from the House that Ruth Built, by T.S. O’Connell (Krause Publications) Leave it to other books to dwell on records and anecdotes, Legendary Yankee Stadium is, in fact, a collectors, dream, assembling scores of collectibles depicting some of the most beloved players in the long, storied history of the franchise. O’Connell, the […]
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by Jim Lehrer (Random House) Veteran newsman Jim Lehrer considers loss in his newest novel, the story of a young baseball player called upon to serve his country during World War II. Like many young men of the era, Johnny Wrigley had to put his life on hold. A promising young athlete, he is sent […]
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with John Strausbaugh (HarperCollins). What is it with Harper Collins? Have I not been paying attention, or has this become the go-to publisher for titles dealing with New York baseball players and their problems of one kind or another? I may be wrong, but I believe Darryl Strawberry’s autobiography was on the docket before Selena […]
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The May/June issue of ForeWord Magazine, a publication that specializes in small and university presses, carries my feature on nine 2009 baseball titles, including: Under the March Sun: The Story of Spring Training High-Flying Birds: The 1942 St. Louis Cardinal Babe Ruth: Remembering the Bambino in Stories, Photos & Memorabilia Yankee Colors: The Glory Years […]
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The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez, by Selena Roberts (Harper Collins) There’s a telling reference in Selena Robert’s new expose on Alex Rodriguez: [Rodriguez] pursued his investments with the same conflicted soul. He projected a Mister Rogers benevolence, but he was more like Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life. Reading A-Rod, I got the […]
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Time for my annual spring round up, via Bookreporter.com. This year’s batch includes: As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the World of Umpires, by Bruce Weber Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O’Malley, Baseball’s Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles, by Michael D’Antonio Faith and Fear in […]
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From TheHardBallTimes, this review of Bill Reynolds’’78: The Boston Red Sox, a Historic Game, and a Divided City. Upshot: Despite many faults, HBT reviewer Chris Jaffe concludes, “I enjoyed this book far more than I expected to because of its considerable strengths. Though it couldn’t quite fuse its elements, Reynolds didn’t try to force fusion […]
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In the trivia department, Chicago White Sox teammates Jermaine Dye and Paul Konerko hit back-to-back homers for the 300th round-tripper of their careers. Hitting No. 300 in the same game would have been impressive enough, but back to back? Brings to mind Griffeys Sr. and Jr. pulling the same stunt on Sept.4, 1990. Too bad […]
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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
* But seriously, folks…
August 4, 2009 · 4 comments
Had a good time at the SABR convention in DC. It was nice too meet so many folks who are just as nuts (if not more so) than me. Being the bookworm that I am, it was especially nice hanging out with the writers, many of whom were peddling their products in the vendors’ room. […]
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