Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
In light of Joe Torre’s new book, the Yankees are considering a non-disparagement clause in their employee contracts. According to a Newsday article by Wallace Mathews, “The Yankees are said to feel betrayed by Torre’s book, which has been interpreted as critical of some players, most notably Alex Rodriguez, and inaccurate in its recounting of […]
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Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated‘s senior baseball writer, was already the subject of an interview about The Yankee Years by his employer, but here’s another. Does the fact that SI is interviewing one of its own with one of its own (in this most recent case Alex Belth is credited, although there’s no reproter named for […]
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I’m surprised it’s taken this long for players who have written books to come out against Joe Torre. David Wells — no stranger to controversy himself — evidently called his former manager a “punk” for breaking “the code” and dishing dirt. The story, reported here by the New York Daily News, offers Wells’ thoughts: “When […]
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I went looking online to see if I could find an audio rendition of Updike’s essay, “Hub fans bid Kid adieu.” I know it was recorded during a Symphony Special performance of stories and poems about the national pastime (the recording was released in 2006), but wouldn’t you know it: the two portions of the […]
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A feeling of discomfort brought on by the use of the word “betrayal” by many sports pundits has Joe Torre on the defensive. In this piece from yesterday’s NYTimes.com, the former Yankee manager seeks to right the wrong impressions that the publisher’s marketing department probably looooves. You can practically see them rubbing their hands with […]
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Now begins the backpedaling. Torre and Cashman are still pals, says this article by Jack Curry in today’s NY Times. And Richard Sandomir contributes this thoughtful column on the style the author’s used (third person): “a hybrid in the sphere of celebrity autobiographies, in which a star hires a writer to render his or her […]
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Pardon the Interruption led of it’s Jan. 22 show with a report on Jay McGwire’s ratting out his brother Mark with his own tell-all book. Fortunately, that leads off the show, so you don’t have to watch the entire excerpt.
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(Man, I wish I had a named that rhymed cooly with something.) Can’t believe WINS radio led off some of its segments with the “controversy” of the new book. One person interviewed sagely opined that the whole media blitz was just a way to sell more copies, to which the reporter added something along the […]
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According to Michael S. Schmidt’s article in today’s Sunday Times, “Contradictions in Book Seem to Benefit Clemens.” Basically it’s Radomski vs. Brain McNamee in claims about who knew what when. One paragraph sums up the whole situation, “In a perjury case a prosecutor’s worst nightmare is for a witness to make public statements that contradicts […]
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The oldest ex-major leaguer passed away yeasterday at the age of 100. Here’s the AP obituary, but I expect Richard Goldstein of The New York Times to come up with something soon. Veteran writer Ray Robinson wrote this tribute when Werber ht the century mark last June 20. And read this appreciation from Steve Politi […]
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There’s no better way than to give an undeserving, self-serving book publicity than to disparage it in the press. That’s what Sen. George Mitchell is doing, giving the former batboy/drug supplier some added buzz (I’m somewhat embarrassed I can even recall his name without looking it up). That’s how Jose Canseco got a whole bunch […]
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Kirk Radomski, one of the leading figures in the Mitchell hearings on PED and baseball, will publish a book on his role in the whole mess. Bases Loaded (Hudson Street Press, an imprint of Penguin Books) is due to hit the stores next week. According to an article in yesterday’s New York Times: The 256-page […]
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I can just picture it now: Mother: Sonny, what did you do with that old shoe box? Son: What old shoe box? Mother: The one with the old baseball cards in in. Sonny: Oh, that? I threw that out? Mother: You what?? How could you do that? That was my stuff! Sonny: Now, Mom, don’t […]
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A story in today’s New York Times reveals the uniform patches that the Mets and Yankees will wear for the inaugural season at their new stadiums. Regardless of your feelings about the teams themselves, the Yankees patch is quite classy, a mix of old and new as one would expect from an organization that prides […]
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The literary gadabout Lenny Dykstra is in a bit of a pickle, it seems. In the New York Post‘s Media Ink column, Keith J, Kelley writes about the difficulties between the former pop culture icon/car wash mogul/ financial guru and his literary agent, who’s taken him to court to receive back monies. Dykstra was supposed […]
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The two newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Henderson is already the subject / “author” of a couple of books, but I bet it won’t be long before we have a Rice title in book stores everywhere.
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If the Yankees spend $180 million on a player but no one comes to the stadium to watch him — if people can’t afford the price of admission — does his play count? This piece in today’s New York Times takes a look back at what it was like for the national pastime during the […]
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At least that’s what it seems like when teams have press conferences to show off their new acquisitions, such as the one today for the Yankees’ Mark Teixeira. With all due respect, what can these guys possibly have to say that warrants such attention? I just keep coming up the same old rote answers. (Warning: […]
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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
* Sportswriter on Torre book: So what?
January 30, 2009
Well said, sir. In another piece about the Torre book, Jay Price of the Staten Island Advance notes what a long, slow off-season it’s been for the sports desks: Most of the revelations turned out to be as shocking as finding out Rush Limbaugh’s not planning any sleepovers at the Obama White House. What’s that […]
Tagged as: Joe Torre, New York Yankees
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