Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
From the category archives:
Some of you may know my “rules” about acquiring the caps that line the walls of my office: I (or people who gift me) at least have to be in the state where the teams plays. I don’t necessarily have to be in the stadium or even city, but I can’t just go to a […]
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What kills me about this “Players Weekend” business is the fact that MLB probably paid beaucoup bucks to some enterprising lads or lasses to come up with these? And I’m not the only one who thinks so. Nope. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the fun part, generated mostly by the players being […]
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And how we love to hate some of those shirts (and pants). Todd Radom, a graphic designer specializing in branding for professional sports franchises, has compiled an entertaining collection and deconstruction of some of the greatest, worst, and most unusual baseball attire in his recent release, Winning Ugly: A Visual History of the Most Bizarre Baseball Uniforms […]
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Headnote: I’ve decided to bow to the times and include separate lists for e-books and audio books. Be aware that while many titles also appear in print versions, pretty much anyone can produce an e-book these days, so I’m not going to comment at all about the quality. As far as the audio goes, I’m […]
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I wonder what our president-elect things about politically-questionable team mascots, characters, and logos? Where do you think he comes down on the Cleveland Indians’ famous Chief Wahoo? The timing is a bit off; the time to bring this up was during the season. But it reminded me and those of my fellow boomers might also […]
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Just finished thumbing through A History of Baseball in 100 Objects, the latest baseball release by Josh Leventhal, author of several other well-produced baseball titles. The objects included herein represent the game since before its “formal” recognized inception in the mid 1800s (and please don’t write about the exact DOB of the game). But the […]
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I understand that MLB wants to honor the members of our armed forces and I’m all for it, even if the cynical side of me thinks this is just about piece of merchandise to market. (I believe the profits from those sales should go to military support organizations.) But in all honesty, I think they’re […]
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And it’s even literary, technically.
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Call me old-fashioned, call me a baseball dinosaur, call me irresponsible (kids, ask your parents), but I think this is just wrong Of all the teams, you expect the Yankees, who boast about their proud tradition and heritage as the “uber-franchise,” to stay the sartorial course. And several fans apparently agree with me. My complaint […]
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I don’t do a lot of collecting anymore, but I do like baseball caps. I keep several on top of my bookshelf and many hang along an overhang I have in my basement office. The only rule I have is I can’t buy them online; I have to be at least in the city where […]
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Not that I attended the school, mind you, but I did go there a couple of times while visiting Boston. I wish the guys on my baseball team at Brooklyn College made the long trips this inventive and interesting. But then, that’s why these guys are in Harvard and not BC.
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Apropos to yesterday’s Bits and Pieces entry about rankings of caps and logos, here’s one from the Getting Blanked blog about the best-selling jerseys. Personally I never quite understood wearing someone else’s name on your person, although the whole psychological study of BIRG (basking in reflected glory) is fascinating. (When I played softball at Marine […]
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A little off-topic, but what is it with the folks in D.C? First they misspell the baseball team (multiple times), and now it’s the NBA Wizards?
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The top baseball books, according to Amazon.com as of Friday, July 16. Title Rank General Steinbrenner: The Last Lion of Baseball, by Bill Madden 1 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis 2 The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America’s Pastime, by Scott Turbow […]
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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
Rooting for clothes?
April 23, 2026 · 0 comments
Why do fans root for a specific team? Is it a generational thing? “My grandfather and father were Yankee fans, so that’s who I root for.” “My dad was a Yankees fan, so I root for the Mets, just to piss him off.” So if a team decides to change its look, would that make […]
Tagged as: Uniforms
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