Ron Kaplan’s Baseball Bookshelf — If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here — Page 55

Baseball Best Sellers, June 7, 2019

Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

Tagged as: ballparks, baseball analysis, Cal Ripken Jr., Chicago Cubs, David Cone, Houston Astros, New York Yankees, Pete Rose, Philadelphia Phillies, Rob Neyere, sabermetrics, Ted Williams

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Hall of Fame hosts Summer Author Series

Author appearance

I had the privilege of participating in one of these a couple of years ago. Fun! Here’s this year’s lineup. June 5, Shea Stadium Remembered: The Mets, Jets, and Beatlemania, by Matt Silverman June 12, When the Braves Ruled the Diamond, by Dan Schlossberg- June 26, They Said It Couldn’t Be Done: The ’69 Mets, New […]

Tagged as: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

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Baseball Best Sellers, May 31, 2019

Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

Tagged as: Boston Red Sox, Cal Ripken Jr., Chicago Cubs Philadelphia Phillies, David Cone, Houston Astros, Moneyball, MVP, New York Yankees, Oakland As, Pete Rose, Pitching, Ted Williams, World Series

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Lest We Forget: Bill Buckner

I said it for years: When Bill Buckner died, the first line in his obituary would be about the error he made in Game Six. And sure enough, via The New York Times obituary by Daniel E. Slotnick, “Bill Buckner, All-Star Shadowed by World Series Error, Dies at 69.” Other media outlets used similar headlines […]

Tagged as: Bill Buckner

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Lest we forget: Rob Edelman

Baseball in movies

I didn’t want to post these yesterday, given that Memorial Day should have a lock on “lest we forget,” at least on May 31st. I was saddened by the news that Rob Edelman, 70, passed away last week. He combined two of my favorite things — the national pastime and cinema — in one of […]

Tagged as: baseball movies, Rob Edelman

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The Bookshelf Conversation: Austin Stahl

In this digital age, deciding to bring forth an actual print publication takes some cajones. Baseball magazines have come and gone. Back when I was growing up, there were a slew of them. Gone are such classics as The Elysian Fields Quarterly: The Baseball Review. And does anyone out there remember Dugout: Baseball Beyond the Boxscore or […]

Tagged as: Austin Stahl, Baseball magazines, Bookshelf Conversation

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Baseball Best Sellers, May 17, 2019

Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

Tagged as: baseball stadiums, Cal Ripken Jr., Chicago Cubs, David Cone, Houston Astros, Michael Lewis, New York Yankees, Oakland As, Philadelphia Phillies, Pitching, Ted Williams, Yogi Berra

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Bruce Willis, don’t quit your day job.

“Die Hard” Phillies fan? He wasn’t much better at BP, either.

Tagged as: Bruce Willis, Philadelphia Phillies

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Review roundup, May 15, 2019

Just received my copy of Ballpark: Baseball in the American City, by Paul Goldberger and am greatly looking forward to it. Only this morning I was listening to Justin McGuire’s Baseball by the Book podcast in which he notes with Mark Kingwell, author of the 2017 release Fail Better: Why Baseball Matters that the national […]

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Lest we forget: Doris Day

Baseball movies

The legendary actor/singer passed away yesterday at the age of 97. Baseball connections? She played Aimee Alexander, wife to the Hall of Fame pitcher, Grover Cleveland (played by Ronald Reagan), in the 1951 biopic, The Winning Team. Then there was this classic scene in the 1962 classic, That Touch of Mink… Here’s a behind-the-scenes clip […]

Tagged as: baseball movies, Doris Day, Grover Cleveland Alexander, Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees, Roger Marris, Yogi Berra

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Baseball Best-Sellers, May 10, 2019

Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

Tagged as: baseball statistics, Chicago Cubs, David Cone, Houston Astros, Michael Lewis, Moneyball, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Pitching, Ted Williams, Yogi Berra

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Card deflation?

Building a bit on what I wrote in the previous entry… Looking at the box of 2019 Topps Heritage cards (TH2019), a couple of ideas hit me as I compared it with its muse — the 1970 set — and I parsed it out to make sure. There were 720 cards in the 1970 set […]

Tagged as: Baseball Cards

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Bits and Pieces, May 7, 2019

Haven’t done one of these in a while… I’ve long said that The Lords of the Realm was one of the underrated baseball books of all time. Apparently Ben Lindbergh (The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players and The Only Rule Is It Has to Work: Our Wild […]

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You’re only young once, but you can be immature forever

Every year, I buy a pack or two of Topps baseball cards, just to see what they’re up to. At the risk of sounding like a GOML (“Get off my lawn”) grump, I firmly believe the cards were “better” when I was a kid. Sure, the photography and production methods have improved, the colors are […]

Tagged as: Topps baseball cards

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Where, oh where, have my NPR baseball interviews gone?

Now that my commute to work takes barely 15 minutes, I don’t have much time to listen to podcasts (my previous gig was almost 45 minutes away; plenty of time to get through a whole program). But even if I did, it seems there is a decided lack of interviews with baseball book authors these […]

Tagged as: National Public Radio, NPR

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Baseball Best-Sellers, May 3, 2019

Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

Tagged as: Baseball Cards, baseball strartegy, Ernie Banks, Houston Astros, Michael Lewis, Moneyball, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland As, Pete Rose, Ron Darling, Ted Williams

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The Bookshelf Conversation: Wayne Coffey (They Said It Couldn’t Be Done)

Continuing on our theme of celebrating the Fiftieth Anniversary of the “Miracle in Flushing,” we catch up with Wayne Coffey, author of They Said It Couldn’t Be Done: The ’69 Mets, New York City, and tew Most Astounding Season in Baseball History. The last time we spoke with Coffey, it was for his work on […]

Tagged as: Gary Cohen, New York Mets, Wayne Coffey, World Series

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Baseball Best-Sellers, April 26, 2019

Headnote: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one […]

Tagged as: baseball strartegy, Chicago Cubs, Ernie Banks, Harry Caray, Houston Astros, Michael Lewis, Moneyball, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Oakland As, Pete Rose, Ron Darling, Ted Williams

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When the hell did I get so old?

Baseball poetry

According to this AP story, there is “not a single active player left from the 20th century.” And in case you didn’t get that the first time, the writer emphasizes, “Not one.” So unless someone like Bartolo Colon or Andrian Beltre decide to make a comeback… To be honest, I followed the game better when […]

Tagged as: Bardball, baseball poetry

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The Bookshelf Conversation: Erik Sherman

It’s becoming almost a bittersweet habit talking with Erik Sherman. On the one hand, it’s great reliving past glories of my favorite team. On the other, it’s sad to see the heroes of my youth aging and even dying. It reminds me of my own mortality and who the hell wants that? Last time it was Kings of Queens: […]

Tagged as: Art Shamsky, Erik Sherman, Maury Allen, New York Mets, Tom Seaver, World Series

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