Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Because you can put the smaller pieces of debris on a bookshelf: There have been a lot of derogatory remarks about Shea Stadium over the years — too old, too boring, too much walking, too few concessionaires, too smelly rest rooms, etc. But it was the ballpark of my youth, and as with any family, […]
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PBS recently announced that it will air The Tenth Inning, the new Ken Burns documentary on baseball, in the spring of 2010. The special will coincide with a re-broadcast of the original nine-part documentary, which debuted in 1994 and was seen by more than 48 million viewers. The Tenth Inning follows baseball’s trajectory from 1993 […]
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In a time when the print industry is succumbing to economic turmoils, you wonder if, in lieu of raises, Sports Illustrated isn’t offering to promote its writers’ books as a form of compensation. First it was Tom Verducci with The Yankee Years, excerpted on SI.com. He also used his on-line column to discuss the project. […]
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Until I get the Roberts’ book, I’m not going to spend a lot of time deconstructing the Rodriguez debacle. But since I enjoy finding baseball-related items from non-baseball sources, here are two pieces from The New York Times: “As Data Collecting Grows, Privacy Erodes,” Noam Cohen’s “Link-by-Link” column in Monday’s Business section. “The way Mr. […]
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“In the early ’90s, the federal government came into pro wrestling and tried to put (WWE Chairman) Vince McMahon in prison for steroid use of wrestlers,” Ventura told NBC’s affiliate in Denver. “My question is: They’ve now determined 104 baseball players failed their steroid test in 2003 — 104. They indicted Vince McMahon, why aren’t […]
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A story from the British media (who love their gossip) puts Brad Pitt in the role of Billy Beane in the screen adaptation of Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game. Pitt would star as the A’s whiz kid who, through the magic of CGI, morphs from a conventional general manager to one who […]
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According to an Associated Press story, …publication of Selena Roberts’ A-Rod: The Many Lives of Alex Rodriguez has been moved up from May 19 to April 14 as scrutiny builds on the New York Yankees slugger after he acknowledged using banned substances from 2001-2003 while playing for the Texas Rangers. The item also notes that […]
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In an item on The New Yorker website, Ben McGrath reminds us that Jose Canseco, the author of Juiced and Vindicated reported on A-Rod’s juice use years ago, but no one wanted to believe him. Does that make Canseco a Cassandra? In other book news of special interest to New York fans: Don’t look for […]
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How many of us were aware that Selena Roberts of Sports Illustrated has a book on A-Rod published by Harper Collins due to be released in May? Here’s my cynicism coming through again: All the to-do about Torre’s book, written with Tom Verducci, another well-respected SI writer, comes out when there’s a lull in the […]
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Yeah, I think it’s depressing news on top of what’s been a flurry of depressing items, when it comes to Major League Baseball. And if you’re a fan of Major League Baseball, I think it — it tarnishes an entire era, to some degree. And it’s unfortunate, because I think there are a lot of […]
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Paul Dickson, author of Baseball: The President’s Game (and most recently the third edition of his Baseball Dictionary), is featured in this Newsday article about Barack Obama and the long history of CoCs and the national pastime.
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According to an AP story by Ronald Blum, Alex Rodriguez has admitted taking banned substances in 2003 and is very sorry. At least it was quick. You know it’s a big deal when the Huffington Post takes notice of a sports story, both in seriousness and in jest.
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So what do you think: will the reports of A-Rod on steroids help the sale of Joe Torre’s book? Not that it needs much in the way of a push, according to this piece in the New York Daily News. A suspicious person would wonder about the timing of the announcement. After all, it’s been […]
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Or, “here’s another fine mess.” On a recent episode of PTI, Kornheiser and Wilbon were talking about the latest Barry Bonds situation (i.e., a judge saying evidence against him might be disallowed because of improper procedure) and wondering what that might mean for the slugger’s Hall of Fame chances. Of all of his contemporaries — […]
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New York newspapers devoted a lot of space to the return of Torre as he visits the Big Apple for his book tour. The New York Times published this article on fan reaction during his Barnes and Noble stop in Manhattan. The story, written by Joshua Robinson, offers the following thoughts by the author as […]
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Sounds like the title of one of his many TV shows. Anyways, the elfin sportscaster will be leaving HBO to plight his trough with the new MLB Network. According to the press release from MNLN, Costas “will host special original programming with an emphasis on the game’s history and its most significant figures and topics, […]
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The American Library Association recently named Kadir Nelson winner of the Coretta Scott King Award for best author for We Are the Ship, the story of Negro leagues baseball from its beginnings in the 1920s through its decline after Jackie Robinson crossed over to the majors in 1947. “Using an ‘Everyman’ player as his narrator, […]
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In trying to protect themselves against future “attacks” with their ” non-disparagement clause,” the Yankees have instead made themselves a laughing stock at best and a source of outrage at worst. Look for the ACLU to get involved at any moment. And PETA; they’re always looking for some publicity. Among the numerous commentaries on the […]
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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
* RK Review (and then some): Odd Man Out
March 3, 2009
A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit, by Matt McCarthy (Viking) When I first read Odd Man Out, I thought it was the best book of its kind I had seen in many years. Too many “flavor of the month,” riding the high from a World Series win at best or a […]
Tagged as: baseball memoirs, Matt McCarthy, Rob Neyer
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