“Bookshelf Conversations” – Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf: Recent Episodes
Ron Kaplan
Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not. A reminder: 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 […]
Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not. A reminder: 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 […]
I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, but I don’t get poetry. I mean there are just so many ways to poeticize and there doesn’t seem to be any definitive right way. I can’t define it, but I know what I like. I guess I go for stuff from people like Bill Littlefield and […]
Mike Shannon and I go way back. One of the first book reviews I ever had published was with Spitball Magazine, where he serves as editor-in-chief. He is also one of the only Bookshelf Conversation guests I have ever broken bread with. A few years back, I had the opportunity to attend a CASEY Awards ceremony […]
I always enjoy chatting with creative types about their various baseball projects, but this was was even more fun because I got to relive last year’s trip to Japan. After reading Robert Fitts’ latest — In the Japanese Ballpark: Behind the Scenes of Nippon Professional Baseball — it reminded me of the excitement of being over […]
When I was a kid, the legends of the game included the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and other players from the game in the post-Black Sox era (i.e., during and after the Roaring Twenties). But needles to say there were superstars before then, many of whom today’s fans have never heard. (As an […]
A reminder: 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 posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
When I was about 10 years old, I got into a heap of trouble because I spent some of the change from an errand on a copy of The Sporting News and Baseball Digest. Total cost: $1. In retrospect, I understand the difficult financial situation my family was in at the time, but at that age, I […]
A reminder: 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 posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
Posting a bit earlier than usual today because we’re heading “down the shore” for a 5K run for organ donor awareness, sponsored by the New Jersey Sharing Network. My wife received a kidney from a friend in her book group, so we do this every year. If you feel like donating to this very worthy […]
Just about 30 years ago, I bought Baseball’s Golden Age: The Photographs of Charles M. Conlon. Even if you’re not a connoisseur of the early 20th century game, I’m willing to be you’ve sen photos taken by Conlon. Many of the close-ups are haunting. To me, the players always seemed much older than the 20- […]
I don’t have a whole lot of hobbies, so when I see a book that combines any of them on my periodic “Coming down the pike” stories, I get extra pumped. Baseball: The Movie covers two of them. Now that I no longer have Turner Classic Movies, since they went to a subscription platform, I […]
As I keep mentioning, regular readers of The Bookshelf know of my disdain for superlatives and similar declarations, such as “Greatest,” “Worst,” “Complete,” in titles. But there are a few cases in which they seem totally appropriate. In the case of Andy McCoullough’s new (and first) book, Clayton Kershaw just might be The Last of […]
A reminder: 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 posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
I always felt a bit jealous of beat writers like Andy Martino. They get to go to every game, sit in (mostly) the best seats, have great access, etc. Of course, that’s an idealistic view. Travel can be brutal, players can be jerks (as can writers and their editors), competition can be fierce. Look at […]
A reminder: 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 posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
A reminder: 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 posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
Take two. Don’t know what happened, but the original post from earlier this week disappeared like a Doc Gooden curveball. Not even a draft of it, so I’m trying to recreate it as faithfully as possible. It seems to many outside the area that New Yorkers have an inflated image of themselves (at least those […]
East Side, West Side, New Yorkers have an overlarge image of themselves (at least in Manhattan). Everything has to be the best: Bigger, faster, most glitzy. Perhaps that’s why a lot of people outside the Big Apple dislike them so much. But there’s no denying the National Pastime has its roots deep into there, as […]
A reminder: 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 posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“). In addition, occasionally […]
A couple of weeks ago I visited a local shop that purportedly sold comics and baseball cards. Alas, I learned that was not the case. The owner told me there was no real business for cards over the past several years. I would say that that’s a shame but the reality is there have been […]
It should come as no surprise that this year’s CASEY Award, presented by Spitball Magazine, goes to Joe Posnanski for his latest masterpiece, Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments. It almost seems unfair that such great work should come from the same writer in such quick succession. From the press release from […]
The things one finds wandering down the rabbit hole. I was doing some research and just happened to come across the new film, Fielding Dreams: A Celebration of Baseball Scouts. It’s a fascinating look at an under-reported part of the game. The first thing I thought of was the scene in Moneyball in which Billy […]
Back from vay-cay. Reading an interesting book, The Gas and Flame Men: Baseball and the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I, by Jim Leeke. Also finished a novel — a rarity for me — The Fireballer, by Mark Stevens, on the basis of its inclusion as a finalist for Spitball Magazine‘s CASEY Award. Started […]
It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since I last posted a Conversation with Joe Posnanski. Perhaps that’s because the book that was the impetus for that one — The Baseball 100 — has been a constant on the weekly Baseball-Best Sellers list. In addition, his new book — and the subject of this […]
A League of Their Own premiered more than 30 years ago. Ahead of my Bookshelf Conversation with Erin Carlson, author of No Crying in Baseball: The Inside Story of A League of Their Own — Big Stars, Dugout Drama, and a Home Run for Hollywood, I found several stories about the film that takes a […]
As I mention in the Conversation, there’s much more attention paid to the draft from a fan point of view in recent years. Go back a decade, and I can’t remember the whole proceedings being covered by the media from start to finish. Now, it’s almost “appointment television.” I must admit, I don’t follow the […]
For those who think they know baseball, consider this quote from Tommy Lee Jones’ character in the movie Men in Black: “A thousand years ago, everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, they knew the Earth was flat. Fifteen minutes ago, you knew we humans were alone on […]
As I sadly acknowledge in the video, history should be a lot older than me. Fifty years takes up a major portion of my life which means I’m old. Anyway… John Rosengren, author of The Greatest Summer in Baseball History: How the ’73 Season Changed Us Forever, had to explain the use of “forever,” one […]
A reminder: 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 posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
I have been contributing to Bookreporter.com for nigh on to 25 years. They’ve always been quite generous when it comes to my spouting off, mostly on baseball literature, giving me the space for several feature-length pieces. Here’s my latest “roundup review” which includes: THE 1998 YANKEES: The Inside Story of the Greatest Baseball Team Ever […]
If I couldn’t have a career as a major league player, I think I like to have Marty Appel‘s resume (perhaps after Roger Angell). Appel began as the kid who answered Mickey Mantle’s fan mail (and wouldn’t you like to get a peek at some of those?). He eventually became the Yankees’ PR director under […]
♦ Hope everyone is doing well out there can that they got their taxes done in time. Now for some pleasant diversion. ♦ I’m surprised something like this didn’t come from Triumph Publishers: The St. Louis Cardinals: Everything You Need to Know. It seems right up their alley and could be purposed for every team. […]
Whenever I think about the work in Lee Lowenfish’s new book, Baseball’s Endangered Species: Inside the Craft of Scouting by Those Who Lived It, I am always reminded of the scene from Moneyball where old battles with new: In my conversation with Lowenfish, I referenced my own images of scouts from movies like The Stratton […]
A reminder: 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 posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”) In addition, occasionally […]
To paraphrase from a Thomas Boswell classic, “Time Begins on Opening Day.” In Michael Ortman‘s case, multiply that times 50. One of the things I wanted to ask the author of Opening Day: 50-for-50: One Fan, One Game, A Half-Century of Baseball Stories was how his approach to the game has changed over time. Like […]
Heard on NPR’s Morning Edition show, March 6: “Evan Drellich’s new book sheds light on the Houston Astros cheating scandal.” I usually don’t mix baseball with politics with baseball (unless it’s in a good way), but this is important enough to me that I don’t care if I ruffle a few feathers by […]
Man, it’s been a long time since I’ve had a catch. I stopped playing competitive softball almost five years ago. Then COVID (I actually bought a Pitchback for the yard and used it maybe a couple of times). Then the accident (the resulting arm injuries make it painful to throw). So I was a bit […]
Named after the All-Star third baseman, Graig Nettles, Kreindler creates some truly incredible baseball art. What is just as impressive is the amount of research that goes into the pieces, which are mostly of players in the days before color photography. From his website: “His goal is to portray the national pastime in an era […]
“If you’re a baseball fan, you’ll know the name Curt Smith.” That’s how David J. Halberstam leads off this nice piece, “Curt Smith continues his love for baseball on radio and television; He’ll never forget the 60s and 70s,” for SportsBroadcastJournal.com. I’ve had the pleasure of reading many of Smith’s books as well as chatting […]
While I was chatting with Jon Leonoudakis about his latest documentary, Ball Four Turns 40, I remembered that one of my earliest interviews was with Jim Bouton. This was in the pre-Covid, Pre-Zoom days when I was doing everything on a digital tape recorder wither over the phone or in person (and the fidelity or […]
Author appearance: Tyler Kepner will discuss “Baseball, Faith, and the Chase for World Series Glory” at Christ Church in Greenwich, CT, on Friday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. The event will be both in-person and livestream. For details, visit christchurchgreenwich.org. Bull Durham creator Ron Shelton was recently honored at the Coronado Island Film Festival In […]
Tom Hoffarth and I are kindred spirits. For more than a decade, the former sports columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News produced, among many other things, the great feature “30 books in 30 days”; here’s just one entry on it from the Bookshelf. As you can see, these were more than just book reviews, […]
Our old friend, Curt Smith, weighs in on the top contenders for the 2023 Frick Award, bestowed by the Baseball Hall of Fame to a broadcaster for “major contributions to baseball,” in Sports Business Journal. Of course, I’m biased and am hoping that the Mets’ Gary Cohen gets the honor, but I’m sure the other […]
As I mention in the Conversation, when I went to Yankee Fantasy Camp in 2009, I found out the coach of my team would be Ron Shelton. How cool was that? But when I asked him about Bull Durham, he told me he wasn’t that Ron Shelton. I hope my disappointment wasn’t too evident. Readers of […]
I’ve said it time and again here: I am not a huge fan of posting about baseball fiction. I just feel unqualified to opine on the details since I lack the educational background to parse about it with any degree of confidence or even intelligence. That said, when I learned about the topic of The […]
It wasn’t until I decided to ask Ira Berkow on to discuss his latest book, Baseball’s Best Ever: A Half Century of Covering Hall of Famers, that I remembered that he wrote the foreword to The Jewish Olympics: The History of the Maccabiah Games (which violates one of my own rules for titles: it should […]
Kudos to Paul Aron and the decision to name his newest project The Lineup: Ten Books That Changed Baseball. No superlatives, no grandiose claims, but a much more modest approach. And, indeed, these are books that not only changed the sport, but in some cases — as Aron explains both within the pages and our conversation […]
♦ No surprise: Moneyball is included in this USA Today article on the “the four best business books by sports professionals” (although does Michael Lewis really qualify as such?). ♦ With all the hoopdeedoo about Aaron Judge breaking the “true” home run record, I doubt there is anyone more qualified to write about Roger Maris […]
Meant to post this earlier in the week, but life, you know? I am a casual conventioneer. By that I mean I don’t feel the need to fill my dance card and attend every session possible, even if I hang out in the lobby for an hour rather than go to something which don’t interest […]
A reminder: 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 posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]
So after the year I’ve had, I decided to bite the bullet and venture down to SABR 50, the annual convention that should have been held in 2020 but, well, you know… I have to say, it wasn’t without a bit of trepidation. Driving was out of the question so Amtrak it was. I love […]
There is little that I can offer that would be as eloquent as what others have said and written about the legendary broadcaster who passed away Tuesday at the age of 94. From what I know, Scully was a modest person and a real mensch. He declined to tell his own story and was almost […]
When my daughter decided she wanted to go into photography as a career, I was worried. Since everyone who has a smartphone is a photographer now, how are you going to make any money off that? But not everyone who has the ability to use a camera phone has the talent to make their shots […]
He blinded me with science! Never a strong suit of mine in school, and normally I would stay away from any book that would remind me of that failing, but Will Carroll‘s latest book does have baseball in the title so… Carroll has long been the go-to guy for all things injury-related (his Twitter handle […]
Somewhere in the attic, among all the boxes of baseball material, are a stack of scorecards and programs I’ve used over the years. The first one was from a Mets-Pirates game in 1966. It has the unsophisticated scrawls you’d expect from a nine-year-old who hadn’t yet learned the “right way” to record what was going […]
A reminder: 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 posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]
I am always excited to see a new book come out on Jewish baseball. It was a main part of my job as sports editor of the New Jersey Jewish News to seek out anything to refute the canard that “members of the tribe” are bookish and unathletic. So imagine my delight when I learned of […]
Hard to believe it’s been 75 years since Jackie Robinson’s debut. I sometimes think about the veterans of World War II and how old they have to be to have served back in the early 1940s; Robinson would have been 102 this year. Where does the time go? There have probably been more books written […]
Congratulations to Joe Posnanski, whose latest release, The Baseball 100, was recently selected by Spitball Magazine for the 39th annual Casey Award, emblematic of best baseball book of the year. In a press release, Spitball described The Baseball 100 as “a ranking of the best players in baseball history with brilliant essays devoted to each […]
The long-time sportswriter and the first author to focus on a single-game analysis passed away Sunday at the ripe old age of 99. I had interviewed Arnold Hano back in 2012 to discuss A Day in the Bleachers, a classic about the 1954 World Series between the New York Giants and Cleveland Indians. It would […]
And now for something completely different. When my wife and I were on vacation in London a few years ago, we stopped in at the world famous Harrod’s department store. While she went off to look for gifts and I ended up in the menswear section where I came across… This was a strange yet […]
A reminder: 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 posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes. In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast […]
New: An asterisk serves to let you know that the author is a member of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club. I enthusiastically recommend you visit the site, sign up for their newsletter, and buy some merch. A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by […]
There’s a first time for everything. For example, this is the first time we’ve had a poet on for a Conversation. It’s the same reasoning I have for not doing much fiction on the blog: I just don’t feel qualified to address the genre. My experience with poetry is limited to doggerel like “Casey at […]
Headnote: One of the thing I like about the Pandemic Baseball Book Club is that it’s a kind of “one stop shopping.” Instead of posting about various authors, projects, and events, all I’m doing here is cutting and pasting their weekly newsletter. Do take a moment to read the author Q&A. I find them particularly interesting as […]
I had hoped by now the whole nasty Covid business would be behind us. I was wrong. If there’s anything good that’s come out of this for baseball readers, it’s the Pandemic Baseball Book Club. The PBBC has given a platform to authors who missed out on the opportunities a normal year would have offered […]
New: An asterisk serves to let you know that the author is a member of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club. I enthusiastically recommend you visit the site, sign up for their newsletter, and buy some merch. A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by […]
Headnote: One of the thing I like about the Pandemic Baseball Book Club is that it’s a kind of “one stop shopping.” Instead of posting about various authors, projects, and events, all I’m doing here is cutting and pasting their weekly newsletter. Do take a moment to read the author Q&A. I find them particularly interesting as […]