Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
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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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Posted on Facebook by John Rosengren, author of Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes: Babe Ruth’s birthday today. Born 1895. Hank Greenberg thought Babe was the greatest ballplayer ever. In early 1947 he visited Ruth at his Riverside apartment while the Babe was recovering from throat cancer surgery and on a doctor-prescribed beer diet to […]
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(Speaking of “nations,” in looking for an appropriate clip for this piece, I sought out the theme for the news segment of Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, a precursor to Saturday Night Live‘s “Weekend Update.” I was reminded what a big deal RML-I was in its time. Some of the guests included such high-profilers as John […]
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I just love those radio commercials that implore listeners to either call within the next few minutes to take advantage of an extra special promotion (even though the spots run all day), or to be caller number xx. Like they won’t take your money if you’re late. Actually, I always thought of these things as […]
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Note: This entry is a combination of the official press release sent by the Hall of Fame and my comments/edits. With the release of Legendary Entertainment’s landmark film 42 this spring, the worlds of movies and baseball came together for fans across the globe. The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum will recognize the […]
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Nuckolball posted a review of Robert Creamer’s classic bio, Babe: The Legend Comes to Life. These are kind of like mini-reviews, so I’m including Baseball Nation’s piece on “Your favorite baseball books,” which includes, among others, Philip Roth’s The Great American Novel, The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball […]
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James Bailey posted this one about Mike Piazza’s Long Shot. Upshot: “I was neutral on him when I began and emerged with a somewhat negative impression. That’s probably not what he was looking for. Your mileage will likely vary depending on how closely you followed his career.” Bill Jordan over at Baseball Reflections did this […]
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Literary birthday greetings: 1895 – Babe Ruth, outfielder; All-Star, Hall of Famer (d. 1948) Previous Babe Ruth birthday entry. Lest we forget: 2007 – Lew Burdette, pitcher; All-Star (b. 1926) Lew Burdette of the Braves, by Gene Schoor, Putnam, 1960. Also on this date: 1934: New York sportswriter and broadcaster Ford Frick is named the […]
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Dec. 22 marked the 70 anniversary of an advertisement than ran in The New York Times and several other newspapers calling on men and women of German ancestry to join in a campaign denouncing the Nazi regime. The advertisement, which was sponsored by the World Jewish Congress, began At this season in which we celebrate […]
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♦ From the Tulsa World, this on on Robert Fitts’ Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan. Upshot: “It is very well-researched and a balanced account, but it occasionally threatens to sag under the weight of such details. Readers need not be fans of baseball to appreciate the sport […]
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Years ago I wrote a piece for E, The Environmental Magazine about how some Major League teams were getting on the “green” wagon, recycling, cutting back on water usage, etc. I kept hoping to return to the topic, but this piece by Elliott Negin, Director of News & Commentary, Union of Concerned Scientists, on the […]
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You can’t really put it on a bookshelf, but if there’s a real estate brochure… The suburban Boston home where Babe Ruth lived after he had been traded to the New York Yankees is for sale. Asking price: $1.65 million. According to the story on ESPN.com, the estate, known as Home Plate Farm in Sudbury, […]
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James Bailey posted this review of Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, & Assassination During the 1934 Tour of Japan on the Baseball America website. Upshot: “This is a well-researched, fascinatingly told tale of two super powers whose shared passion for baseball wasn’t enough to maintain the peace, though it did help to restore it in […]
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About six months ago I pulled a lower abdominal muscle. It’s in a spot where there’s no way to rest it; just about every move engages that region. A couple of trips to the doctor ruled out anything more nefarious, but I was told “it just takes time,” not the words an impatient person like […]
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Many networks pull ratings stunts by pairing two of their popular shows together (NBC’s Law and Order with Homicide: Life on the Streets, for example). So I feel it’s kosher to offer this piece by author Allan Barra on The Atlantic‘s website on why Wilt the Stilt was the Big Bambino of his sport. It […]
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born this date in 1895. Robert K. Fitts, author of Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball and Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game (Writing Baseball), releases a new book that features Ruth as a central character in Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japandue […]
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Jane Leavy, author of biographies on Mickey Mantle and Sandy Koufax, published this piece about Julia Ruth Stevens — Babe Ruth’s daughter — on the Grantland website.
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Babe Ruth passed away on this date in 1948. Words by Ogden Nash, painting by Graig Kreindler. ‘R’ is for ‘Ruth.’ To tell you the truth, There’s just no more to be said, Just ‘R’ is for ‘Ruth.’
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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
