Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
First of all, congratulations to Linda P. of Lindenhurst, IL, winner of last week’s book, Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of ’76, by Dan Epstein. Thank you all for your comments. This week’s offering is the brand-spankin’ new Down to the Last Pitch: How the 1991 Minnesota Twins and Atlanta […]
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The top-ten baseball books as per Amazon.com. Caveat 1: Print editions only (at least for now); I’m old fashioned that way. Caveat 2: Since the rankings are updated every hour, these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by the time you read it. But it’ll be close enough for government work. Caveat 3: […]
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Because I have such an affinity for Montreal, the ancestral home of my mother’s side of the family, I enjoy anything that has to do with the Expos. I don’t care what anyone says, I loved Jarry Park, which, not unlike Ebbets Field was to some Brooklyn Dodger fans, was walking distance from my aunt’s […]
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All of these came in this week from my “alma mater,” the University of Nebraska Press. So many books, so little time.
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Last we I received a copy of New York Yankees Home Runs: A Comprehensive Factbook, 1903-2012, published by McFarland. At first glance, it looked daunting: page after page tables and lists about one single item: the four-bagger. But on further consideration, I realized this was an impressive undertaking. After all, the Yankees are one of […]
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This it the time of year when the baseball media offer their considered opinions on their favorite prospects. Sometimes they’re spot on, other times, not so much. So I thought, why not apply this to the upcoming “rookie crop” of baseball books? That is, titles that are making their debuts in 2014 — no reprints/reissues […]
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According to the old expression, if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything. But if that were the case, you pretty much don’t have the Internet. You certainly don’t have critics. But having acquired C.Y. Ruth’s Mets: The Complete History of the New York Mets, I feel I have to warn the […]
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by Brook Zelcer and Jelena Aleksich. Self-published, $17. (thelittlebookofyankeesevil.com) A little book gets a little review. Zelcer, a New Jersey school teacher, compiles a list of almost 50 crimes and misdemeanors perpetrated by the hated (by some) franchise, either as an organization (when it “steals the design for the famous interlocking NY logo from a […]
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Used to be you actually had to be a member of the media to get one of these. Made it seem a bit special. Now anyone with a few bucks can purchase them. The Orioles, in celebration of their 60th anniversary in Baltimore, have gone an additional step: You can view all of their media […]
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The Wall Street Journal published this piece on The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams (pay wall). And although Bruce Weber wrote this review for the Dec. 5 edition of The New York Times, another one appeared in the Sunday Times book section. Sorry, maybe it’s sour grapes, but with all the books out […]
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Another in an attempt to look over the over-looked news in baseball books. I’ve only just begun listening to the unabridged audio book of Bill Bryson’s newest, One Summer: America, 1927, but if Richard “Pete” Peterson says it’s “a good read for Cards, Cubs fans,” that’s good enough for me. Kevin Baker, who worked with […]
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Yes, if you subscribe for an eight-week subscription to the digital version of the paper, you can receive a copy of For Boston: From Worst to First, the Improbable Dream Season of the 2013 Red Sox . After the introductory period, the price bumps up to $3.99/week. You cancel at any time but you have […]
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This Yankees video trifecta is just too funny. John Sterling’s horrendous home run calls, ridiculous “pop” music background, and questionable editing. And this is a Yankees product! A shande, as my people say. Anyway, enjoy. (Thanks to the folks at Baseball Nation for the story link.)
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In The Baseball Uncyclopedia: A Highly Opinionated, Myth-Busting Guide to the Great American Game, authors Michael Kun and Howard Bloom write about the state of baseball literature.According to their calculations, there are: Books about the Yankees. Books about the Red Sox. Books about the Yankees and the Redd Sox. Books about players who played for […]
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It used to be that you had to wait until spring to enjoy books about the previous season. Now, thanks in part to real-time statistical studies and improved publishing capabilities, it’s just a matter of how fast fast the writer/outlet can get their material to the printer. Case in point: the The Bill James Handbook, […]
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MLB.com’s Paul hagen posted this review of the new You Gotta Have Heart: A History of Washington Baseball from 1859 to the 2012 National League East Champions, by Frederic Frommer, son of the peripatetic baseball author Harvey Frommer.
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The four-time all star and veteran of 17 Major League seasons passed away yesterday at the age of 92. Here’s the New York Times‘ obit, written by Richard Goldstein, whose resume includes publishing Superstars and Screwballs: 100 Years of Brooklyn Baseball. Pafko had the distinction of appearing in the Chicago Cubs’ last appearance in a […]
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Haven’t done one of these in awhile. * The Washington Times posted this one on Willard Mullin’s Golden Age of Baseball: Drawings 1934-1972, edited by Hal Bock and Michael Powers. * WTOP in Washington DC ran this story and audio interview on Fred Frommer’s You Gotta Have Heart: A History of Washington Baseball from 1859 […]
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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
More fun opening day items
April 2, 2014
Nate Silver recently began his 538.com site under the aegis of ESPN. One would hope that he and his minions will produce a lot of smart sports (i.e., baseball) stuff. Obviously a site dedicated to projections and predictions has a lot of math to it. Ugh.But you have to take the “bad” with the good. […]
Tagged as: 538.com, baseball predictions, baseball statistics, Joe Posnanski, Jonah Keri, Kansas City Royals, Mets, Nate Silver
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