Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
The Arizona Diamondbacks’ pitcher got involved in a literacy program in his hometown. Qualls, a Narbonne High graduate who is spending the off-season in Redondo Beach, helped pass out free books as part of a school spirit day focused on encouraging students to start reading.
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“…Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has asked its editors to stop buying books.” Look for other publishers to follow suit. And we all know where baseball/sports books fall on the foot chain.
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Cubs’ skipper Lou Pienlla and Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon were named managers of the year for 2008. Pinella published Sweet Lou, written with Maury Allen in 1986. He’s got a new one coming out next year from St. Martin’s/Thomas Dunne. So can it be long before Maddon has one, too? Managers whose teams […]
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From Triumph Books. I guess Three Nights in August doesn’t qualify as an actual biography: Two-time World Series champion Tony La Russa has been one of the most important figures in baseball for the past 30 years, but he has never been the subject of a biography before. Tony La Russa: Man on a Mission […]
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I was surprised to see this notice in the Publishers Weekly e-mail, until I saw the context: There probably has never been a better baseball book than Roger Kahn’s The Boys of Summer, which was a paean to the Brooklyn Dodgers of the 1950s. With Roe’s death there are only a few left, Carl Erskine, […]
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According to a report in today’s Publishers Weekly e-mail: Mike Piazza, a 12-time All Star for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets, has signed a deal to write his autobiography for Simon & Schuster. V-p and senior editor Bob Bender acquired world rights from David Black, CEO of Black Inc., and Dan […]
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So just who did create the ubiquitous MLB logo? Jerry Dior, as per The Wall Street Journal? Or James Sherman, as in this ESPN piece? Seems like a no-brainer after this exchange between Sherman and ESPN’s Paul Lucas, who writes the always-entertaining and observant Uniwatch blog. Then I asked an innocuous question that changed everything: […]
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Jane Austen wrote about baseball 40 years before it was ‘invented’ A headline in the London Telegraph. Jane Austen wrote about baseball 40 years before its official invention, according to a new book. But evidence of the game’s British origins was erased from history by the American sports magnate Albert Spalding, according to the book’s […]
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from the Urbana, IL, News-Gazette.
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Baseball is a Funny Game was one of the first books written by a former player that I recall reading. Joe Garagiola’s self-deprecating humor came out at a time when he was very much in the spotlight, between his announcing, Today Show gig, and game show hosting. He fell out of prominence in recent years, […]
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The eulogies keep pouring in about this marvelous writer and raconteur. This one, from Maggie Hendricks of NBC Chicago, specifically speaks to Terkel as a baseball fan. This one from NPR.org isn’t baseball-centric, but he deserves the recognition.
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According to this item from Publisher’s Weekly by Jim Milliot: Sports Publishing, which filed for Chatper 11 in late October, has released the names of its largest unsecured creditors. Along with the usual suspects of printers, manufacturers and various financial institutions, Sports Publishing owes Olympic champ Michael Phelps $57,578.08. The company released Michael Phelps: Beneath […]
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Studs Terkel died yesterday at the age of 96. He never wrote a baseball book (as far as I’m aware), but Stud Terkel was always a favorite of mine, long before he appeared as sportswriter Huey Fullerton in John Sayle’s Eight Men Out. His acting style might not have been Oscar material, but he contributed […]
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(…Because you can keep those little pocket schedules on your bookshelf.) I am still waiting for some sports pundit to start off about the possibility of having three inning baseball games. It worked out pretty well for the Phillies and the fans. Started at 8:30, over before 10:30. Might even bring the young fans back […]
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Your new baseball world champs. Look for a new title (at least) will be added to the existing Phillies’ bibliography in the months to come.
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With these tough economic times, I wonder if there’s been a run of card collectors trying to unload their little pieces of cardboard. For those of you interested, here’s a piece describing the appraisal process and another on the determination of “book value.”
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An interesting trio team up in this Times op-ed piece comparing the tools used to analyze baseball and the American health system. Oakland As GM Billy Beane, Newt Gingrich, and John Kerry — the new Tinkers to Evers to Chance? Or O’Brien to Ryan to Goldberg, perhaps? Interesting excerpt: “…a doctor today can get more […]
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From NPR, this item about those stupid bets politicians make on their teams at World Series time.
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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
* Hats off to Tampa or "You wascally wabbit"
October 31, 2008
I know it was really cold and nasty weather in Philly during the World Series. I can accept the storm coats and balaclavas the players have taken to wearing on the frigid east coast fall nights. I could put up with the “pajama pants” and baggy jerseys that seem to be the rage these days […]
Tagged as: baseball caps, Tampa Bay Rays
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