Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here.
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The National Pastime Museum website offers a collection of essays on My Favorite Baseball Books. The list includes many of the best-known titles as assessed by writers, critics, and other baseball savants. Among them: Bang the Drum Slowly, by Joe Schuster, author of The Might Have Been: A Novel The Natural, by Ryan Swanson, author […]
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The “Just a Bit Outside” blog on the Fox Sports site would have us believe that Joe Black, the one-year wonder for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1952, is the baseball equivalent of Harper Lee, whose only published work — to date — was a classic. From the entry: What we’re looking for here is a […]
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by Martha Jo Black and Chuck Schoffner. Academy Chicago, 2015. Rather than the blustery “best” or “greatest” that book titles seem to relish, this new biography of what basically amounted to a one-year wonder, is most appropriate. Joe Black, who burst on the scene in 1952 by winning 15 games and saving 15 more to […]
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Just like the movies, this is the baseball book awards season. On Monday, I wrote about Kostya Kennedy’s biography Pete Rose: An American Dilemma, winning Spitball Magazine’s Casey award. Now the other shoe has dropped. Mover and Shaker: Walter O’Malley, the Dodgers, & Baseball’s Westward Expansion, by past SABR President Andy McCue was selected as […]
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The next Moneyball? * A few “inside baseball (business)” pieces coming up: In Pursuit of Pennants: Baseball Operations from Deadball to Moneyball by long-time SABR members Mark Armour and Daniel Leviit. John Pessah adds to this sub-genre with The Game: Inside the Secret World of Major League Baseball’s Power Brokers. Lonnie Wheeler’s Intangiball: The Subtle […]
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Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. On with the show… Here are the top ten baseball books as […]
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Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. On with the show… Here are the top ten baseball books as […]
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Note: Just like Chuck Lorre’s “vanity cards” at the end of The Big Bang Theory, you should read these list stories to their conclusion; the end is always changing, even though the theme is basically the same, finishing up with a self-promotional message. On with the show… Here are the top ten baseball books as […]
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The author of this Huffington Post piece makes a compelling argument. Most latter-day fans of Kahn know him from his nostalgic look at The Boys of Summer, which — hard to believe — was published more than 40 years ago. But he was also a beat writer for those Brooklyn Dodgers, as well as a […]
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Looking over the overlooked in baseball book news: Tidewater Tides manager Ron Johnson gets a nice profile based on his inclusion in John Feinstein’s Where Nobody Knows Your Name, by John Feinstein. Speaking of which, the Roanoke Times posted this review of the book. Speaking of reviews, Philly.com posted this one on Jackie and Campy, […]
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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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Speaking of the Dodgers, the legend (wait for it) ary broadcaster was himself the subject of this interview on All Things Considered. Scully began working for the Dodgers in 1950, but he wasn’t calling that historic 1951 playoff game with the NY Giants where Pafko was left hanging. From “Vin Scully Remembers His Greatest Calls,” […]
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The four-time all star and veteran of 17 Major League seasons passed away yesterday at the age of 92. Here’s the New York Times‘ obit, written by Richard Goldstein, whose resume includes publishing Superstars and Screwballs: 100 Years of Brooklyn Baseball. Pafko had the distinction of appearing in the Chicago Cubs’ last appearance in a […]
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One author that frequently comes up in comments about who I neglected in 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die is John Tunis, who published a series of books for younger reader about fictitious players for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The list includes: The Kid from Tomkinsville, 1940 Keystone Kids, 1943 World Series, 1944 […]
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One of the reasons I’ve enjoyed being a member of the Society for American Baseball Research is the cool publications that come with the territory. Well, they’ve only gotten better in recent years. In addition to annual Baseball Research Journal and The National Pastime, SABR has taken to paying tribute to some great ball clubs […]
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is available on Amazon.com,
In my most recent "day job," I was the sports and features editor for a weekly New Jersey newspaper, where I hosted another blog. Busy, busy, busy.
I did a profile piece on the award-winning cartoonist Arnold Roth and he was nice enough to "immortalize" me.
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
Opinions vary
March 2, 2016
Graham Womack published this ranked list of the 25 greatest baseball books on The Sporting News site. When I wrote 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die, I made a decision not to put them in an order other than alphabetical to avoid having to defend my choices. Such a method invites arguments […]
Tagged as: Babe Ruth, Baseball Cards, Baseball Hall of Fame, baseball history, baseball statistics, Bill James, Branch Rickey, Brooklyn Dodgers, Bucl O'Neil, David Halberstam, Jackie Robinson, Jo DiMaggio, John Thorn, Mickey Mantle, Negro Leagues, New YorkYankees, Roger Angell, Roger Kahn, Sportswriters
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