Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
From HowtoWatchSports.com. Upshot: The story, non-fiction, is about Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane and how he outsmarted the rest of Major League Baseball to build a competitive team on a tiny salary budget. It talks about Beane’s failures as a player in the big leagues, and his rise to glory as a GM. Along […]
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From journalists/sports guy Paul Oberjuerger, this considered assessment of the new Walter O’Malley/Brooklyn Dodgers book by Michael D’Antonio. Upshot: What makes this book important? The author had access to “tens of thousands of items” from the O’Malley family archive. And, naturally, that O’Malley-centric material tends to paint Walter O’Malley in a kinder light. If only […]
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From Macho Row, a Phillies-centric outfit, this review on Jayson Stark’s recap of the 2008 season.
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from the aptly-named New-Books-Review.com, this collection of reviews on Bruce Weber’s gem.
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Richard J. Tofel, author of A Legend in the Making: The New York Yankees in 1939, published his choices for the five best baseball business books in the July 31 Wall Street Journal. The list includes, in bis order: As They See ‘Em, by Bruce Weber Past Time, by Jules Tygiel Moneyball, by Michael Lewis […]
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This two-page overview of three Yankees titles — The Yankees Years, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci; A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez, by Selena Roberts; and American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime, by Thompson, Vinton, O’Keeffe and Red — appears in this weeks New […]
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This review comes from Sawxheads, a Red Sox-centric blog. And guess what? It’s a glowing review! But the part that caught my my was this: In the interview with WEEI, Pedroia’s words were very encouraging. He spoke about writing this book for every generation, and it speaks volumes to all the little leaguers wearing #15 jerseys. “I […]
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Thanks to our friend Greg Spira for his list of links to baseball book reviews, interviews, and features. One of the hot titles this year is As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires, by Bruce Weber of The New York Times. In addition to two (!) reviews in his own […]
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From TrueblueLA (“Where The Dodger Dogs Are Always Grilled”), this review of the new Strawberry autobio.
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From the Irish Times, this review of Tye’s new book. Upshot: [F]ormer Boston Globe reporter Larry Tye has done a fine job of separating fact from fiction in Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend , published by Random House. Combing through back issues of black-audience newspapers of the day and the memoirs […]
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The Christian Science Monitor published this review of Larry Tye’s well-received biography of the Negro League legend. Upshot: It’s about time somebody wrote a good biography of Satchel Paige, the great baseball pitcher, personality, showman, and entrepreneur. In Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, journalist Larry Tye has done just that. Likewise, […]
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The American Spectator published this review of Curt Smith’s new book, emblematic of an increasing sentiment. Upshot: Unfortunately, Smith gives us a wealth of good information in a pedestrian writing style, clipped and choppy and occasionally incoherent. He sometimes changes subject in the middle of a paragraph. There are quotes where it’s hard to tell […]
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by Brent Mayne. I put the question mark in there because I’m not sure what to make of this irreverent piece by the colorful Jimmy Scott who reminds me more and more of a Martin Short character. What separates The Art of Catching from any other book, like A Tale of Two Cities or The […]
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The Providence Journal posted this review of yet another account of the Dodgers’ (and Giants’) move to California. Upshot: To the dwindling circle of Brooklyn Dodger fans, Walter O’Malley will forever remain a despised #@%&*. If they can bring themselves to read it, Murphy’s book will reinforce their notion.
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Larry Tye’s new bio of the great Negro League pitcher gets the treatment from the Stockton (CA) Record.
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By Allen Barra, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Upshot: “Cooperstown Confidential” is bold, intelligent, gutsy. [Author Zev] Chafets is strongest on what is soon to be the next controversy of the Hall — steroids. and … if you don’t like Roger Clemens — and there are so many who don’t that one questions why the authors […]
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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
* "What Ball Four means to me."
August 26, 2009
Well not me, specifically, but to this guy, Seth Magalaner, the “sports literature examiner” at examiner.com, one of the hyper-local websites. Magalaner has also written on some other baseball books, including Jeff Pearlman’s The Rocket that Fell to Earth and Allan Barra’s Berra bio (say that five times fast).
Tagged as: Ball Four, baseball biographies, Jim Bouton
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