Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
From the AP via SI.com: Rookie right-hander Stephen Strasburg has been placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Washington Nationals because of inflammation in his pitching shoulder. Thursday’s move is retroactive to July 22, a day after he made his last appearance. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft was scratched […]
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“Strausburg listed as day to day.” Well, that didn’t take very long, did it? More here, via The Washington Post.
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So here’s a list of unusual injuries sustained by players this season, courtesy of SI.com’s Hot Clicks blog: — Feb. 12: Brad Bergesen, Orioles: Strained his shoulder filming a TV commercial for the team. — May 29: Kendry Morales, Angels: Broke his leg celebrating a walk-off home run at home plate. — June 30: Luke […]
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Been on the road the last couple of days, so I missed this. They say things happen in threes, so let this be the end of it. Ralph Houk, Yanks Manager, Dies at 90
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Always happy for the chance to mix baseball and philosophy, as per The NY Times Sunday Magazine’s “Ethicist” column. I coach a youth all-star baseball team. After tryouts, our league director chose the 13 best players for our team, leaving about six kids unselected. Among those is a boy whose father recently died of cancer. […]
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There are a lot of these on a similar theme. This is one of the better ones.
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Brian Lehrer featured segments on both Yankee legends on recent shows. Bob Sheppard George Steinbrenner
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As could be expected here in the tri-state area, George Steinbrenner‘s death received front-page attention in all the print media. The New York Times ran this obituary by Richard Goldstein, which continued as a full page after the jump. In addition, there were stories by Tyler Kepner; Harvey Araton; Steinbrenner was more than a baseball […]
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The legendary Yankees “Boss” died of an apparent heart attack. Steinbrenner, who turned 80 on July 4, had been in failing health for the past few years. His death comes just days after Bob Sheppard, another long-time Yankees fixture. No doubt his death with spur renewed interest for books such as Bill Madden’s recent and […]
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The Voice of God, akak the long-time public address announcer for the New York Yankees and football Giants, passed away today at the age of 99. As he has done with so many other sports figures, Richard Goldstein wrote the obituary for The New York Times. As far as I know, there haven’t been any […]
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As I’ve stated in the past, I’m not a big fan of books that employ words like “best” and “greatest.” Add to that “Most,” as in Overrated: The 50 Most Overhyped Things in History, by Mark Juddery, who adjudges baseball as “the most overrated sport.” Of course, he also considers Star Trek the most overrated […]
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Some people would think it an honor to have a t-shirt giveaway devoted to them. Not Dallas Braden. The Yankees began a three-game series against the A’s last night; Braden was not scheduled to start any of the Games for Oakland. Is it me, or does it seem like Braden is getting a reputation as […]
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J.C. Bradbury, author of The Baseball Economist: The Real Game Exposed and the upcoming Hot Stove Economics: Understanding Baseball’s Second Season — to be published in October by Springer — wrote about Edwin Jackson’s 149-pitch no-hitter. I had a little to say about that too on my other blog, in context with the anniversary of […]
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When Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record in 1974, Ernie Harwell and Bill Slayback collaborated on “Move over Babe, Here Comes Henry,” a musical tribute. Wonder if some tunesmith will do the same now that Jamie Moyer has “bested” Robin Roberts on the all-time home runs allowed list? Like the pundits say, […]
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Yesterday, actually (close enough for jazz), that Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho changed how the movie industry dealt with sex and violence, for better or worse. There are several interesting analyses, including David Thomson’s The Moment of Psycho: How Alfred Hitchcock Taught America to Love Murder, which I’m reading at the moment, as well as this from […]
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The Brooklyn Cyclones evidently still like Ike Davis, who played for the Mets’ Single-A affiliate in 2008, hitting .256 with 15 doubles, 17 RBIs and 17 runs scored in 58 games. So what higher tribute than to honor him with his own bobble head? Oh, but not just any bobble head: The game will be […]
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The first of several attempts to try to get current with information about baseball books, etc. Edward Achorn, author of the new Hoss Radbourn bio, wrote about his experience at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books held earlier this month. Mark Kurlansky, author of Eastern Stars, was a guest on Southern California Public Radio. […]
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Jane Jarvis, the stellar Mets organist during their early years at Shea Stadium, passed away in January, but she has not been forgotten. Several of her friends and fans gathered for a musical tribute. From Richard Sandomir in today’s New York Times: … [I]t was fitting that at her memorial service Monday, the giant organ […]
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Today’s Wall Street Journal ran this extensive article about the differences (and similarities) between Met and Yankee fans. I took a brief on-line interactive survey, which rendered me — incorrectly — a fan of the Bronx bombers. (Only 14 people took the poll, which indicates that WSJ readers have better things to do with their […]
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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 gauntlet, returned
July 8, 2010 · 1 comment
Earlier today I challenged Mark Juddery to back up the claim in his new book that baseball is the most overrated sport. Tonight, he offers his answer, via email, presented without editorial comment: Here are a few words written just for the Baseball Bookshelf site. (Well OK, it’s basically a reworked version of the book […]
Tagged as: Baseball News
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