Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
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As per this story in The New York Times. One recent discovery, from a cellar in Illinois, might be unlike any other, showing Ruth in his prime and shot from close range, sitting atop a pony while wearing a child’s cowboy hat and muttering into a home movie camera, as a boyish Lou Gehrig, who […]
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The Wali of Wallop, the Rajah of Rap, the Caliph of Clout, the Wazir of Wham, the Colossus of Clout, Maharajah of Mash, the Behemoth of Bust, the King of Crash, the Colossus Of Clout, the King Of Swing, the Terrible Titan, the Kid of Crash, the Jovial Giant and, of course, the home run […]
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As the days dwindle down to a precious few, here’s an attempt at a major catch-up: I met Rob Fitts at the SABR convention in Washington, DC, last year. His specialty is Japanese baseball. Here’s his site on baseball cards. The NY Times‘ Alan Schwarz covered the convention’s always-entertaining trivia contest. You know the theoretical […]
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There are a couple of books out this year that deal with athletes — Roger Maris and Hank Aaron– who were vilified by the press and the public for the audacity in approaching the home run numbers put up by Hall of Famer Babe Ruth, albeit for different reasons. Maris, who broke the single season […]
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I think a fantasy for every collector is to come across a rare item totally by accident: a garage sale in which the seller wants to get rid of some bit of memorabilia that used to belong to a dead uncle. A book long-forgotten in an attic corner. Or a cannister of grainy black-and-white film […]
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Wife and daughter are at the Sawx-Tigers game at the moment, so I thought it appropriate to haul these three reviews out of mothballs. All appeared in A Red Sox Journal, published by The Buffalo Head Society in the late 1990s. * * * Murder at Fenway Park, by Troy Soos. Kensington Publishing: NY. 1994 […]
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From Bookchase, this review of Peter Golenbock’s roundly-panned fictional account of Mickey Mantle. As a bonus, here’s a piece on a book that features a section on Babe Ruth, who makes several appearances in The Given Day but it is in the book’s prologue that Lehane renders him most memorable. That section of the book, […]
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And they don’t come much bigger than John Goodman. “Babe Ruth (sic) is one of those things I wish I could go back and do over. It’s like being in that dream where you’re in the subway with no clothes on.” Talking about his portrayal of the Yankee legend in The Babe (1992) in the […]
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Dear Joe, Welcome to LA. Tommy Lasorda is thrilled about your arrival. Now you have someone to talk to in Italian. Too bad he canceled the parade for you, but when he found out he couldn’t be in the lead car… well, we all knew you’d understand. Hey, at least you don’t have to wash […]
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Thirteen years in the making. In 1995, I delivered my first “scholarly paper.” It was at Hoftsra University’s centennial celebration of Babe Ruth’s birth and it was a hoot. I spent three days there, listening to all sorts of presentations, visiting exhibits and finally — nervously — making my own. My topic was “The Books […]
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Every now and again we have someone who brings up the question: Did Babe Ruth actually “call” his home run in the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs? Many say no, some, like this gentleman, swear he did. Who’s to say? Grainy film of the event make it difficult to tell with absolute certainty. […]
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In celebration of its 75th anniversary, Esquire magazine is running a series of — and on — “Page 75.” In the September issue we have a chance to recap several baseball stories that have run in the publication over the years including: “The Silent Season of a Hero,” by Gal Talese (July 1966) “What Do […]
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Seems the Yankees and their fans are somewhat upset about MLB’s “Call Your Shot” promotion, in which a fan winning an online contest will choose a spot here he believes Red Sox slugger David Ortiz can park one. “Sacrilege,” they cry, to befoul the final season at the hallowed Yankee Stadium with such heresy. The […]
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to Hank Aaron, who turns 74 on Feb. 5. Aaron is considered by many to be the rightful ruler of the home run throne. During the period during and after Hammerin’ Hank surpassed Babe Ruth’s mark of 714 set, several books describing the man and the feat were published including: I Had a Hammer, written […]
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Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, By Robert Creamer, narrated by Tom Parker (Unabridged) Listen here: The Big Bam: The Life and Times of Babe , by Leigh Montiville, narrated by Scott Brick (Unabridged) Listen here: These two biographies, written about 30 years apart, have one thing in common besides their subject matter: Both are […]
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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
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
November 29, 2010 · 2 comments
As it pertains to J-E-T-E-R. I really hate this kind of stuff. Both the Yankees Derek Jeter seem to be bordering on the unreasonable as they dicker over a new contract. The Yankees’ corner claim that it’s all business, that Jeter isn’t getting any younger, that he shouldn’t be unduly rewarded for past performance, and […]
Tagged as: Babe Ruth, Derek Jeter, Lou Gehrig
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