Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Spitball magazine is running several reviews on its website, including: High Heat Rum Point Fifty-Nine in ’84 Roger Maris: Baseball;’s Reluctant Hero
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Bill Gallo, the veteran sports cartoonist for the New York Daily News, published this review/personal remembrance of Mays as per the Hircsh bio. I used to collect his work — along with another DN cartoonist name of Bill(?) Stark — in one of my many scrapbooks. In 1969, as the Mets were marching towards the […]
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The Sunday Times Book Review leads off with a full page about James Hirsch’s bio (which leads some to ask, why is it necessary to review the same book twice, given the limited review space). The review, by long time New York writer Pete Hamill, is quite glowing in its praise, although he doesn’t actually […]
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The New York Times is the latest to run a review of James S. Hirsch’s new biography. The upshot: The result is an authoritative if sometimes listless book, one that’s less “Say Hey” than so-so. Like a long out to center field that scores a runner, however, it’s a book that gets the job done. […]
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How Baseball Sold U.S. Foreign Policy and Promoted the American Way Abroad, by Robert Elias. (The New Press) As per SFGate.com (Elias teaches law and politics at the University of San Francisco). Upshot: Elias has written both fiction and nonfiction about baseball and his love for the game shines through. But he also doesn’t hold […]
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Old Hoss Radbourn, the Brutal World of Early Baseball, and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever Had, by Edward Achorn (Harper Collins) This review comes from the Basil & Spice blog. The book tells of a time in the game when men were men, for better or worse (usually worse). Upshot: “The author’s love for […]
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The Seattle Times gets props for being the first major publication to publish a review on the long-awaited book on the Hall of Famer, the first part of the baseball “trinity” in New York in the 1950s, as immortalized by Terry Cashman’s tune, “Willie, Mickey, and the Duke.” Upshot: “enormously entertaining and wide-ranging biography.” Thanks […]
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Madcap Memoirs of the Early LA Dodgers, by Flo Thomasian Snyder (Desert Publications). This comes via TheCalifornian.com. Upshot: The collection of photos alone is worth the price of admission for this behind-the-scenes look at the L.A. Dodger organization. Fans who bleed Dodger blue will love this book, and even those who follow the San Francisco […]
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A History and Analysis of Performance in the Major Leagues, 1876-2008, by Chris Jaffe (McFarland). A review of the book appears on Amazin’ Avenue (“an unofficial New York Mets blog”). Upshot: It all makes for a very interesting read, especially considering how tragically ignored managers are in most baseball literature and analysis. If the Mets […]
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From the Baseball GB site, this review. Upshot: These articles would appeal to any baseball fan; however HBT has made its name by going deeper into topics and offering something to the baseball fan that wants to read about, and possibly be inspired to contribute to, the advanced statistical analysis of the game. and While […]
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Former ballplayers and managers. Commissioners and broadcasters. Groundskeepers and concessionaires. Seems like everyone knows what’s wrong with baseball and how to make it better. Case in point from StudyofSports.com about the new book Hi Anybody!: “Legendary [Kansas City] Royals’ broadcaster Denny Matthews oozes with baseball lore and love. The subtitle describes perfectly the contents of […]
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BleedCubbieBlue, a — what else — Cubs blog, posted this review of Bruce Weber’s book. Upshot: “Bruce Weber, you wrote one heckuva book.”
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How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series – and America’s Heart, by John Heidenry. An odd inclusion (posted Jan. 2) for something so august as The Huffington Post (does this mean there’s hope for my work appearing there?), especially since the book came […]
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Semi-shameless self promotion: this assessment was written by James Bailey and yours truly. Titles include: Heart of the Game: Life, Death and Mercy in Minor League America As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend Catcher: How the Man behind the Plate […]
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From the Mets-centric blog, Amazin’ Avenue. The writer includes some in-depth analyses of a few specific essays. Upshot: If you have a little bit of Festivus cash lying around and aren’t quite sure what to spend it on, there are far worse investments than The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2010. I guarantee if you sit […]
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Baseball GB (“British perspectives on baseball”) published this review of the classic by Robert Coover. Upshot: If you love baseball and novels, a baseball novel should be the perfect way to combine the two passions; however, there’s always a fear with any sport-based work of fiction that the qualities that make up a great read […]
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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
* The Bouton-Canseco connection
January 28, 2010
Newsday’s Mark Herrmann tries to make a literary one between the author of the seminal Ball Four with Juiced and Vindicated. I agree with his observation that both former ballplayers (actually Bouton came out with his book while he was still in the Majors) were considered ” pariah[s] among baseball people for having taken aim […]
Tagged as: Jim Bouton, Jose Canseco, Newsday
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