Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Big Names, Big Liars, and the Battle to Save Baseball by Jose Canseco When his first book — JUICED: Wild Times, Rampant ’Roids, Smash Hits, and How Baseball Got Big — was published in 2005, Jose Canseco received the same enmity as Jim Bouton a generation before. Bouton, a pitcher for the New York Yankees, […]
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The Truth, The Lies, and Everything Else, Fireside, 2008. [vodpod id=ExternalVideo.527231&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26] from youtube.com I have been meaning to review this one for awhile but a comment submitted by a Bookshelf reader about Fay Vincent’s We Would Have Played for Nothing prodded me to get the lead out. “BaseballinDC” wrote: Re the Vincent book. These are […]
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Pirates vs. Yankees, October 13, 1960, by Jim Reisler (Carroll & Graf) I thought I had addressed this book when it came out, but evidently I was think about Reisler’s previous book, A Great Day in Cooperstown: The Miraculous and Unlikely Beginning of the Baseball Hall of Fame. To me, “Best” is on a par […]
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Baseball’s Grand (and not-so-grand) Finales, by Bill Chuck and Jim Kaplan (Acta Sports, 2008). Interesting in concept, but falling short on execution, the authors no doubt wanted to convey the feelings of exhilaration (for the winners) and agony (for the losers). Chuck and Kaplan (no relation) lead off with a chapter on pennant races and, […]
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The “spring edition” of my semi-annual Bookreporter.com baseball review roundup takes an “anti-Vindicated” spin, concentrating on books that look at the good behind the game, including: But didn’t We Have Fun? An Informal History of Baseball’s Pioneer Era, 1843-1870 My Bat Boy Days: Lessons I Learned from the Boys of Summer 101 Baseball Places to […]
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The 19th-century answer to George Steinbrenner. From Nine. This is a PDf version of the original. Sorry for the inconvenience, but you probably have to scroll down a bit. van-der-ahe-review1
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Recently came across this piece I did for ForeWord Magazine in 2004. Titles include The Baseball Necrology: The Post-Baseball Lives and Deaths of over 7,600 Major League Players and Others Busting ‘Em and Other Big League Stories The Baseball Filmography: 1915 through 2001 Reel Baseball: Essays and Interviews on the National Pastime, Hollywood and American […]
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It’s not often you scoop The New York Times. Back in November of ’07, I wrote this review on Mike Vacarro’s 1941: The Greatest Year in Sports in which I wrote, “Of course, there’s always a problem, especially in the world of sports, of declaring anything ‘the greatest.’ But it does make for some interesting reflection […]
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The Mets have had a relatively short history, not even 50 years yet, and much of their lore is based on failure rather than success. Except for a handful, the players for the first few years of the team’s existence were nothing to write home about. So when authors like Matthew Silverman toss out names […]
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The Story of Take Me Out to the Ball Game by Andy Strasberg, Bob Thompson, and Tim Wiles. Hal Leonard, 2008. This year marks the centennial of what baseball fans believe to be the true “national anthem” and this trio of authors have done the ditty proud. Baseball’s Greatest Hit is an “everything you always […]
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Acta Sports, 2008 When Bill James came out with his Baseball Abstracts in the early 1980s, I thought I had discovered forbidden fruit. For this first time, here were cogent numbers accompanied by scintillating commentary, the best of both world’s for a fan. Each team’s major players got their due, as James offered his “scouting […]
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Whenever a book — especially a sports book — includes the words “best” (or “worst”), “ranking”, or “forever,” you know the author is looking to start an argument. Take John Roengren, for example. His new title on the 1973 season carries the “forever” brand. Granted 1973 was an eventful season. The Mets, still mourning the […]
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The Art of the Trade in Major League Baseball by Fran Zimniuch. Taylor Trade Publishing, 2008. Strictly speaking, Zimniuch’s new book should be “The Art of the Deal” since he considers not just the actual swapping of players, but other manners of transition as well, including, for the most part, free agency. The book starts […]
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Peter Uberroth replaces Bowie Kuhn as baseball’s commissioner, the sixth since the office was instituted following the Black Sox Scandal. What follows is a review I wrote for the SABR Bibliography Committee newsletter in 1999 following the release of Jerome Holtzman’s The Commissioners. * * * Holtzman, one of baseball’s premier sportswriters of our time, […]
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Hitters on Confronting Baseball’s Most Intimidating Pitcher By Jonathan Mayo. The Lyons press, 2008. Mayo, a senior writer for MLB.com, had his book ready to go before the Mitchell Report was released last month. One can only imagine what he thought about the trickle-down effect caused by the revelation that Clemens was about to replace […]
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by David Green. 2008, Stewart, Tabori & Chang. ST&C have published a series of these books for several teams already, including the Yankees and Red Sox. The binding/dust jacket is reminiscent of an old photo album and that’s exactly the feeling the reader will get. In fact, like that old keepsake, these little books are […]
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Your Brain on Cubs: Inside the Heads of Players and Fans Edited by Dan Gordon. Dana Press, 2008 You have to feel for Cubs fans. More so than Red Sox fans, who even before two championships in three years seemed to have a sense of entitlement, despite the team’s misfortunes and poor performances. Cubs rooters, […]
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Baseball America started the trend years ago, concentrating it editorial content on the minor leagues and college players. This publication began last year and includes reports on the top 300 in the systems (That seems like a lot, but when you figure it’s the top ten per team, it’s not so amazing. Still I’d hate […]
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As an unabashed Mets fan I’ll read anything about the team. Of course, this non-discriminatory policy can lead to some time-wasting clunkers. On the other hand, there are some time-wasters that can be lots of fun (you’re reading this, after all). Mets by the Numbers: A Complete Team History of the Amazin’ Mets by Uniform […]
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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
* I have been remiss
April 21, 2008
these last few days, the aftereffects of a dislocated finger suffered during a softball game with my new team, which I can also use as an excuse for my poor typing of late. (Thanks to those who have written out of concern.) This does, however, open the door for a couple of related reviews and […]
Tagged as: disabilities, injuries, Senior baseball
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