Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
(And no, we’re not talking about Superman here.) Congratulations to Teddie A. of Lutherville, MD, winner of last week’s book, Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of ’76, by Dan Epstein. This week’s offering is Jonah Keri’s Up, Up, and Away: The Kid, the Hawk, Rock, Vladi, Pedro, le Grand Orange, […]
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On this date in 2012, Bryce Harper made his debut for the Washington Nationals. Phenom: The Making of Bryce Harper The Last Natural: Bryce Harper’s Big Gamble in Sin City and the Greatest Amateur Season Ever Beltway Boys: Stephen Strasburg, Bryce Harper, and the Rise of the Nationals So let’s see that’s three books in […]
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Politics aside, I’ve often wondering why such smart people such as Doris Kearns Goodwin, Thomas Oliphant, and George Will (among others), have such an affinity for baseball. here, Will — author of A Nice Little Place on the North Side: Wrigley Field at One Hundred — tries to explain why the game is such a […]
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First of all, congratulations to John M. of Hillsborough, NJ, winner of last week’s book, Down to the Last Pitch: How the 1991 Minnesota Twins and Atlanta Braves Gave Us the Best World Series of All Time, by Tim Wendel. Thank you all for your comments. This week’s offering is the brand-spankin’ new copy of […]
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The Passover holidays have played havoc with my schedule, so there’s a lot to catch up on. First off, can you remember those Bicentennial Minutes that CBS used to broadcast in the months leading up to the big celebration? Well, Dan Epstein, author of the new Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial […]
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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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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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