Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The New York Times’ Janet Maslin published this review of Larry Tye’s new biography of the great Paige. Upshot: “All the African-American luminaries had climbed to the top of their fields, but none did it with Satchel’s over-the-top style and charm,” Mr. Tye claims. “And none of the others had been seen up close by […]
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Now that the event is going on, hereare a couple of reviews about the new book profiling the College World Series from the San Antonio Express-News website and the Greenville, NC, Daily Reflector.
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Book Club Classics includes The Yankee Years among its suggestions for top men’s reads for the summer. The Yankee Years By Joe Torre What it is: Joe Torre’s tale of his years as manager of the Yankees. Why you should read it: Sure, Torre already wrote an autobiography and a self-help book, but this is […]
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Allen Barra, author of the new biography on Yogi Berra, gives his considered opinion on two other titles that deal with the Hall of Fame: Zev Chafets’ assessment of the problem of the Hall of Fame, and the quartet of NY Daily News writers on a pitcher who would have been a lock to earn […]
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The Ventura County Star posted this review on Curt Smith’s new Vin Scully biography. Upshot: Some people say “God is in the details.” Others say “the devil is in the details.” With Smith’s writing both are present. Those of us who look forward to poring over every facet of Scully’s life won’t be disappointed; Smith […]
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From my rival, BaseballBookReview. Upshot: Overall, The Spitball Knuckleball Book by Tom E. Mahl is a welcomed addition into the library of baseball books that exist, and will certainly make both a wonderful read for fans with an interest in the game’s history, as well a wonderful resource for those who want to dig deeper […]
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from TomatoNation.com, this piece which incldues something new (American Icon: The Fall of Roger Clemens and the Rise of Steroids in America’s Pastime, by Jeff Perlman), something old (The Last Nine Innings: Inside the Real Game Fans Never See, by Charles Euchner) and something older (Seasons In Hell: With Billy Martin, Whitey Herzog and “The […]
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As reviewed in The Los Angeles Times. Upshot: …[T]hose seeking deeper insights into the redheaded announcer will be disappointed. Scully, now 81, is a humble man and has long said he does not want a biography written about him. He did not cooperate with Smith, and the result is an engaging yet uneven book. The […]
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Sorry to mix baseball titles, but the Henry Wiggen blog finally reviews Mark Harris’ Bang the Drum Slowly. Upshot: If “The Southpaw” is the baseball version of the Great American Novel, “Bang the Drum Slowly” is the classic American story. In an aside, the writer notes that Robert DeNiro, who played the dying catcher, Bruce […]
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Bloomberg.com includes two baseball titles in this piece on sports books: S.L. Price’s Heart of the Game about Mike Coolbaugh’s on-field death, and Miracle Ball by Brian Biegel, which looks at the search for “the shot heard ’round the world.”
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Jonathan Eig, author of Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinon’s First Season and Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, does the honors for Michael Shapiro’s new book on the exit of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the ultimate entrance of the New York Mets.
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For those of you who don’t know who he is (and I must admit I didn’t either), the late Dr. Scully was the first to apply labor economics to sports, said former colleague Philip K. Porter, now professor of economics at the University of South Florida. Sports economists refer to his groundbreaking work as “the […]
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Keith Olberman writes the “Baseball Nerd” under the MLB.blogs banner. In this entry, he takes Curt Smith to task for an error in Pull Up a Chair, his new biography of legendary Dodgers announcer Vin Scully. Olberman, who makes his living being contrary, used to be a baseball book reviewer in a former life. “[O]ne […]
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From The New York Times, another look at Paul Dickson and his new Baseball Dictionary (May 23). A review of Michael Shapiro’s Bottom of the Ninth from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (May 24). Phiily.com on the new A-Rod book (May 24). Author appearance: Amy Whorf McGuiggan will discuss her new book, Take Me Out to The […]
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AskMen.com, Canadian version, recently posted this entry on summer reading, including Moneyball Juiced Baseball Prospectus 2009 The Catcher Was a Spy: The Msyterious Life of Moe Berg Ball Four (at number 5? You kiddin’ me?) Bang the Drum Slowly Perfect I’m Not (I’d like to meet the marleting genius who decided that changing the title […]
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The Sons of Steve Garvey Blog posted this review of Steve Traver’s new book, one of his many projects this year. Upshot: …Dodger fans might already be quite familiar with most of the tales Travers recounts, and he often doesn’t go into the depth necessary to capture the drama of a moment or emotion of […]
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From the K.C. Star, which gave the film 3.5 out of 5 stars. Upshot: …the movie achieves a rare sense of realism. Plus, since it refuses to follow a formula, we have no idea where the story is headed. It is rare when a film takes us in a direction we might not have been […]
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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
* Speaking of heroes…
May 31, 2009
Owen Canfield, a former full-time columnist and sports editor of The Hartford Courant, focuses his now-monthly columnon books about ballplayers whose accomplishments go beyond the ball park. The first is Ira Berkow’s The Corporal Was a Pitcher, the Courage of Lou Brissie. The second is a book on five CDs, Clemente, the Passion and Grace […]
Tagged as: Lou Brissie, Roberto Clemente
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