Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The long-time sportswriter and the first author to focus on a single-game analysis passed away Sunday at the ripe old age of 99. I had interviewed Arnold Hano back in 2012 to discuss A Day in the Bleachers, a classic about the 1954 World Series between the New York Giants and Cleveland Indians. It would […]
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The New York Times Book Review section celebrates its 125th anniversary this year. As could be expected, they gathered some of the most influential books over the decades, including classics such as The Bell Jar, Ulysses, Roots, The Road, and How to Win Friends and Influence People. With the millions of books that have been […]
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No, not Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. But the “Shot heard ’round the world,” the game that regularly brings up “The Giants win the pennant” call. The game that forever link the names Thomson and Branca a generation before Wilson and Buckner. I was reminded of the platinum anniversary by a piece in […]
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Are you kidding me? I only heard about this today, even though Sutton, a 300-game winner and Hall of Famer, passed away Monday at the age of 75. Here’s his obituary from the Los Angeles Times by Bill Shaikin. As Richard Sandomir’s notes in his obit in The New York Times, this makes nine Hall […]
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Will this year ever end? We lost yet another baseball great: Phil Niekro, the ageless knuckleballer, died December 26 at the age of 81. Here’s the obituary from The New York Times by Richard Goldstein, as well as an appreciation by Tyler Kepner. And here’s one from the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Niekro had a record […]
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According to a translation site, the header above (pronounced “fushigina hōkō e korogaru”) is the Japanese equivalent of “down the rabbit hole,” which is where I fell after finding a story about Shinji Mizushima, “author of the popular Japanese ‘Dokaben‘ baseball manga series, [who] decided to end his career as a manga artist Tuesday, his […]
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Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]
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The Pandemic Baseball Book Club has just announced a giveaway contest with il premio di tutti i premi. (That’s “the prize of all prizes” for you non-Italian speakers out there. Yes, I’m pretentious.) Just posted on Facebook today so I thought I would share it. The lucky winner of “The Pandemic Baseball Book Club Grand […]
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Still unsure of what lies ahead for the 2020 season. All it takes is for one team to explode with cases of Covid-19. God forbid it ever comes to this. So on that happy note, humbly submitted for your amusement.
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Missed over the holiday weekend: the passing of the talented Mr. Wheeler, a writer who assisted on the autobiographies of superstars like Hank Aaron, Bob Gibson, and Mike Piazza, as well as his own thought-provoking work. Here’s The New York Times‘ obituary, contributed by Richard Sandomir. I had the pleasure of talking with Wheeler for […]
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Words cannot express the sadness at the passing of the comedy legend (and long-time Dodgers fan). We shall not see his kind again.
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From the San Jose Mercury News on the day after the anniversary of the event… “Oops! ‘Jeopardy’ contestant thinks Babe Ruth broke baseball’s color line.” “Jeopardy” is in the middle of its annual “College Tournament” and we’re getting the feeling that some of these kids need to be hitting their history books a little bit […]
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One of my favorite character actors (Silverado, being my go-to villain role of his), Brian Dennehy has died at the age of 81. Baseball connections: Dennehy played the put-upon manager, John Schiffner, in the so-so Summer Catch (2001). He was also the voice of Babe Ruth in the animated kids’ movie, Everyone’s Hero (2006). And “Pop” […]
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Trying something a bit new in this age of coronavirus. Thanks — if that’s the appropriate word — to the current situation, we have a lot of “necessity is the mother of invention” going on. That’s how the Pandemic Baseball Book Club was born. The program is the brainchild of Jason Turbow, author of They […]
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A photo from 1918, during the Spanish Flu pandemic. More on baseball and the corona virus: Baseball has survived pandemics before, and for desperate fans, that counts (Washington Post) How Babe Ruth and baseball confronted another major pandemic (Pinstripe Alley) Required reading: September 1918: War, Plague, and the World Series, by Skip Desjardin
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Antonelli, one of the first “bonus babies,” died Feb. 28 at the age of 89. Here’s the obit of the former NY and San Francisco ace via Richard Goldstein in The New York Times. The pitcher published Johnny Antonelli: A Baseball Memoir with Scott Pitoniak in 2012.
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The author of The Boys of Summer and almost 20 other books died yesterday at the age of 92. Here’s his obituary from The New York Times by Bruce Weber. You know he will be the topic of numerous tributes from sport and literary outlets in the days to come. Here are just a couple: […]
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Fight to the Finish: How the Washington Nationals Rallied to Become 2019 World Series Champions, by the Washington Post Consider these the instant replays of the newspaper business: the local team wins the Fall Classic and within days the major daily slaps together archival stories and photos and, bingo, instant memories. It’s kind of hard […]
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There are some people for whom you know how the first line of their obituary will read. Don Larsen is one those. The only man to throw a perfect game in a World Series died yesterday at the age of 90. (Four cents!) Richard Goldstein in The New York Times: Don Larsen, an otherwise ordinary […]
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Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]
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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
