Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf
Here are a few gems from recent Sports Collectors Daily alerts:
“Bobby Murcer: A Yankee Life in 7 Cards“{ 0 comments }
Baseball: The Movie includes a chapter on what I call “baseball-adjacent” films. That is, movies that include baseball but don’t necessarily have the national pastime as the main subject. These include, according to author Noah Gittell, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; City Slickers; Twilight; Good Will Hunting; and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, among a few others.
So I thought it might be fun to dive down a rabbit hole for similar themes on TV shows. This list is by no means complete; I only have so much time before something else captures my attention (oh, look, a squirrel).
Please note: these are TV series that featured Major League players in an episode. None of them are actually about baseball, so no Pitch, Eastbound and Down, Brockmire, Bay City Blues, Ball Four, The Bad News Bears (yes, they tried to make a TV series out of it), or A League of Their Own (either the short-lived CBS series that aired shortly after the movie or the one that appeared on Amazon Prime), etc. Also no documentaries, such as The Captain or Charlie Hustle and the Matter of Pete Rose.
Not surprisingly, several shows — filmed in Hollywood — took advantage of the proximity of the Dodgers to have them as guest “stars.” Some of them are very clunky, as f the writers wanted to include the national pastime, but didn’t know much about the sport. And as for ther acting by the ballplayers? Well, let’s just say, don’t give up your day (and night) jobs.
Dennis the Menace / Sandy Koufax
The Brady Bunch / Don Drysdale
Mr. Ed / Koufax, Leo Durocher, Willie Davis, Johnny Roseboro, and Moose Skowron
Dragnet / Roseboro
The Munsters / Durocher
Gilligan’s Island / Jim Lefebvre and Al Ferrara
The Donna Reed Show /Willie Mays
Homicide: Life on the Street and The Wire (members of the Baltimore Orioles)
Seinfeld (members of the New York Yankees and Keith Hernandez)
The X-Files, “The Unnatural”
Quantum Leap, “Play Ball”
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, “Take Me Out to the Holodeck,” among other episodes that include baseball references
M*A*S*H (Kilinger is often clad in a cap for the Toledo Mud Hens, although it looks more like a latter-day Texas Rangers hat. Ken Levine, author of It’s Gone!… No, Wait a Minute . .: Talking My Way into the Big Leagues at 40, served as a writer for several episodes.
Here’s a Wikipedia page on actual baseball-themed shows, including documentaries.
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The Wall Street Journal reviewed Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown. Look for my piece on the book on Bookreporter.com later this week. LocalNewsPasadena ran this profile of Brown.
Wish I could be there for this one: Michael Schur and Joe Posnanski, authors of Big Fan: Two Friends, 82,490 Miles, and the Wild, Wonderful Sports We Love will appear at The Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, MA, on Tuesday, May 19, the day the book officially drops.
WBUR posted this about the recent National Baseball Poetry Festival. Here’s my own Bookshelf Conversation with the Festival’s founder, Steven Biondolillo.
Lest We Forget: James Andrew Riley III, an expert on the history of baseball’s Negro Leagues and a former SABR Board President, died at the age of 86 on April 21. From the SABR website: “His landmark reference volume, The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues, has been recognized as one of the most comprehensive works chronicling the segregated era of Black baseball. The book won a Macmillan-SABR Research Award, an honor Riley had previously received in 1990 for his work (with the late John Holway and Dick Clark) compiling Negro Leagues statistics for the eighth edition of Macmillan’s The Baseball Encyclopedia.” More from SABR here.
Lest We Forget: Another former member of the Braves, Buzz Capra, passed away May 11 at the age of 78. Capra led the NL in ERA in 1974, when he had his best year with a 16-8 record and an All-Star appearance. He began his career with the Mets in 1971. Overall, Capra had a record of 31-37 over seven seasons, out of the Majors by the age of 30. Here’s his obit from the NY Post.
Lest We Forget: Baseball “lifer” Bob Skinner, who enjoyed a 12-year playing career (1954-66) split between the Pirates, Reds, and Cardinals, died May 4 at the age of 94. He was a three-time All-Star and a member of World Series winners in 1960 and 1964, winding up with 103 home runs, 531 RBI, and a .277 bating average in 1,381 games. Skinner also served as manager of the Phillies for parts of two seasons (1968-69) for a combined record of 92-123. He later won the only game he managed for the San Diego Padres in 1977. Here a story on him from ESPN.com via the Associated Press.
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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 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 the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category in which it should not be listed (in my opinion). For example, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect has appeared on Amazon’s BBS list. “Why” is a good question. There might be a smattering of the national pastime in it, but not enough to make it a baseball book per se (again, IMO).
Finally, adults only here. That is, no books for younger readers (i.e., 12 and under). Also no “adult” adult books (romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme although goodness knows there are a bunch of those out there).
So, with all that said…
The links under the authors’ names will take you to the Bookshelf Conversations I had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner, almost always in the print version.
PRINT
KINDLE
AUDIO BOOKS
Not much has changed over the past week. No new titles in a while.
Just finished listening to Kings and Pawns and was shocked by the revelations that — according to Howard Bryant, whose Rickey Henderson bio is also in the top ten audio titles — Branch Rickey was much less the saint than we have been led to believe in this story. Also the dealings of Robeson and Robinson with the House UnAmerican Activities Committee (HUAC) is quite reminiscent of what we see these days, with all the animosity and hard feelings between witnesses and committee members.
Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,662,381, in books overall; last time, 2,299,452. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 501,172; last time, 3,484,272. I wonder if Robert Hirsch’s new book, Playing Ball While Jewish: Silence and Prejudice in Major League Baseball, which debuts on the charts this week, has anything to do with that? (FYI, it would have ranked #12.)
Shameless self-promotion: if you’re looking for some good baseball reading during this down time, why not pick up a copy of 501? It’s like the dictionary; it has the other books in it, which reminds me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite shows.
BUT…
Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.
The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.
A reminder: There’s an Excel “checklist” of the books list in 501. If you’re interested in keeping track of how many you have read or own, drop me a line.
If you have read either of my books, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing an Amazon review; it’s never too late.
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A relatively recent throwback.
Last week I asked the question…
What is this?
Joe DiMaggio
Campanella
Brooklyn’s got a winning team
Mickey Mantle
California baseball
No one got the right answer which is:
These baseball references are in the lyrics to Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” (You might even want to include “Marilyn Monroe,” since she was married to DiMaggio for a brief time.
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“New Book … Brings St. Louis Baseball History Back to Life.” Said book is titled 50 Forgotten Cardinals and “uncovers the stories of players whose contributions to the St. Louis Cardinals have faded from mainstream memory—but remain essential to the rich fabric of the team’s history,” according to a press release. It seems to only be available in Kindle form.
From MLB.com, this video: “Dusty Baker discusses his new book, Crossroads, with Brian Kenny.
I love it when authors use baseball cards to tell their stories. This one is Whiz Kids to Today: Baseball Card History of the Fightin Phils, by Arthur Greenburg.
This article from Sports Illustrated — “The 10 Worst Contracts in Baseball Right Now” — could easily be turned into a book, covering that topic through the free agency decades.
It didn’t take long for someone to try to capitalize on the recent passing of legendary Yankees announcer John Sterling: IT IS HIGH, IT IS FAR, IT IS GONE! John Sterling, the Yankees and An Era Like No Other.
If you are a subscriber to Defector.com, “You Are Hereby Invited To Join The Universal Baseball Association” (or a least an online discussion) as part of the “Defector Reads a Book” series. As the novel was originally published 1968, I wonder about the “audience” for the book: Are they closer to my age, perhaps re-reading the classic? Or are they younger folk who might have a whole different take on the book’s themes? Back then, the idea of fantasy baseball was pretty much limited to “table top” simulations such as Strat-O-Matic, a way different experience from today’s players.
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Two legends in Atlanta Braves history have passed away within days of each other.
Ted Turner, the irascible former owner of the team from 1976-2007, died May 6 at the age of 87. In addition to owning the team, Turner founded CNN and started the superstation TBS. (A personal note: when I was in grad school at Brooklyn College for TV/Radio arts, CNN was just starting to hire people. I could have gotten in on the ground floor, but at the time that meant moving to Atlanta which I was not in a position to do. I could have been Wolf Kaplan!)
Turner was a big player in the free agent market; he had pitcher Andy Messersmith wear a uniform that read “Channel” with the numeral 17 to “advertise his TV station but that was quashed by the president of the NL. Turner also tried to manage the team. He lasted one game, stepping in for Dave Bristol who had to that point — May 11, 1977 — had “led” the Braves to a record of 8-21, which included a 16-game losing streak. But because MLB rules prohibit anyone who owns stock in the team from serving as a field manager, Turner’s career ended with the 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Here’s his obituary from The New York Times.
Bobby Cox, who led the team to NL dominance for more than a decade, died today (May 9) at the age of 84. Here’s his obit from The Athletic.
The Braves struggled mightily until he assumed the managerial reins in 1991, taking the Braves from worst to first, losing to the Minnesota Twins in what is considered one of the most exciting World Series. Under Cox’s guidance, the Braves appeared in the post-season every year (except for the strike year of 1994) until 2006. After four years out of the running, the Braves returned to the playoffs one more time before Cox stepped down following the 2010 campaign.
It was actually Cox’s second go-around with the Braves: he piloted the team from 1978-81 with little success before moving on to the Toronto Blue Jays from 1982-85, leading them to a first-place finished in his final term. The Jays lost to the KC Royals in the ALCS that year.
He finished his career with a record of 2,504-2,001, fourth on the all-time list behind Connie Mack, Tony LaRussa, and John McGraw. Cox was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Expansion Era committee in 2014. He had played briefly for the NY Yankees in 1968-69, batting .225 in 220 games.
Turner published his memoir, Call Me Ted, written with Bill Burke in 2009. Lang Whitaker released In the Time of Bobby Cox: The Atlanta Braves, Their Manager, My Couch, Two Decades, and Me in 2011.
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What is this?
Joe DiMaggio
Campanella
Brooklyn’s got a winning team
Mickey Mantle
California baseball
First one to get it right wins an autographed copy of 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die.
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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 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 the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category in which it should not be listed (in my opinion). For example, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect has appeared on Amazon’s BBS list. “Why” is a good question. There might be a smattering of the national pastime in it, but not enough to make it a baseball book per se (again, IMO).
Finally, adults only here. That is, no books for younger readers (i.e., 12 and under). Also no “adult” adult books (romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme although goodness knows there are a bunch of those out there).
So, with all that said…
The links under the authors’ names will take you to the Bookshelf Conversations I had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner, almost always in the print version.
PRINT
KINDLE
AUDIO BOOKS
Enough of a representation of Kindle and audio books to list them, even if they’re not an even ten. There were a lot more audio books in Amazon’s Top 100 baseball titles than usual. Same could be said for Ball Four, which pops up frequently.
Metropolitans and Bosses of the Bronx were a part of this feature review which appeared on Bookreporter.com recently.
Looking at the Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers, I am reminded of how quickly such topics can change. Dozens of new skippers have come and gone since this came out in 1997.
Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,299,452, in books overall; last time, 1,713,187. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,484,272; last time, 3,170,197.
Shameless self-promotion: if you’re looking for some good baseball reading during this down time, why not pick up a copy of 501? It’s like the dictionary; it has the other books in it, which reminds me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite shows.
BUT…
Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.
The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.
A reminder: There’s an Excel “checklist” of the books list in 501. If you’re interested in keeping track of how many you have read or own, drop me a line.
If you have read either of my books, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing an Amazon review; it’s never too late.
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A day late. Oopsie.
If I had been on time, it would have marked the tenth anniversary of “one of the greatest moments in the history of baseball,” according to Mets announcer Gary Cohen.
Colon published his memoirs, Big Sexy: In His Own Words, in 2020, two years after he retired at the age of 45.
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It looks like Tigers ace Tarik Skubal will be out for a significant portion of the season.
This kind of renders the pre-season prognostications moot and is especially true when considering print publications.
Skubal, along with the Pirates’ Paul Skenes, was the subject of a feature article in Athlon (“Pair of Aces: Tarik Skubal and Paul Skenes Are Dominating Their Respective Leagues”). The magazine picked the Tigers to finish first in the AL Central.
Sports Illustrated’s baseball preview issue also picked the Tigers for first.
In “Baseball’s Best: Value in Numbers,” Lindy’s listed as tops among pitchers overall, as well as #1 in “off-speed pitch” and “command” (and second in “arsenal”). They picked the Tigers for second in the Central and one of the wild cards.
Baseball Digest pegged the team for third in their division, with no wild card berth.
As of this posting, Detroit is tied with Cleveland for first place with 18-18 records. Big whoop.
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The long-time voice of the New York Yankees died today (May 4) at the age of 87.
Sterling was famous for his home run calls — “It is high. It is far. It is…gone!” — along with pet names and phrases he employed such as, “All rise. Here comes the Judge.”
Here’s his obituary by Richard Sandomir in The New York Times. And another from NJ.com, along with this tribute. Since the announcement of his passing came just this morning, look for more commentary in the days to come.
I appreciate his place in Yankees narrative, but I always found his signature calls a bit schmaltzy. Maybe it’s the Mets fan in me. But I know most Yankee fans will long remember Sterling’s silver tones.
Given the number of books published by broadcasters, I was surprised that there has been nothing by or about John Sterling. I expect that will change in short order.
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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
Rooting for clothes?
CommentaryWhy do fans root for a specific team? Is it a generational thing? “My grandfather and father were Yankee fans, so that’s who I root for.” “My dad was a Yankees fan, so I root for the Mets, just to piss him off.” So if a team decides to change its look, would that make […]
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