Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf - Latest Comments

Re: Back at ya

Paul — Mon, 20 May 2013 11:55:46 -0000

I have Gary's book and love it, and I have Ron's book and love it as well. You guys keep up the great work.

Re: Back at ya

Ron_Kaplan — Sun, 19 May 2013 12:05:05 -0000

Sorry to have missed you there on the ninth, Gary. Hope to meet one of these days.

Re: Back at ya

Gary Cieradkowski — Sat, 18 May 2013 18:21:25 -0000

Thanks for showing my book, Ron! I happened to stop in at the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse (what a neat place and Jay is a heck of a guy) this afternoon and flipped through your book, I'm ordering a copy next week!

Re: An oldie and a goodie.

Paul — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:33:14 -0000

True, but I think good writing and good acting can be found 50 years ago as well as today. The original "Angels in the Outfield," for instance, is much better than the Disney remake. And I think "It Happens Every Spring" is a good baseball movie, even though it's 60 years old.

Re: An oldie and a goodie.

Ron_Kaplan — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:22:54 -0000

You say "Carl Hubbell," I say "Cal Hubbard"; let's call the whole thing off. You are, of course, correct. I don't think it's fair to compare movies from different eras. One has to take into consideration the mores of the times. The kinds of productions that was embraced in the post-WWII years is way different than those in more recent times, especially movies like Durham, which contains topics and language unimaginable in the pre-boomer years.

Re: An oldie and a goodie.

Paul — Mon, 06 May 2013 14:48:43 -0000

Ron - I think you mean Carl Hubbell, not Hubbard. Correct? Thanks for the tip. I watched it on youtube Friday evening. Glad I watched it there and didn't spend the $20 on the DVD on Amazon.com. It's okay, but not in the same league as "Bull Durham," "The Natural," "Field of Dreams." I would love to see "Long Gone" on DVD. I have a VHS copy of it, but that's an excellent baseball movie that deserves more attention.

Re: Bits and pieces

Ron_Kaplan — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:50:28 -0000

Oy. of all people to misspell with. Of course that should be "strange" and "hesitate."

Re: Bits and pieces

Ron_Kaplan — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 09:48:45 -0000

That does seem stranger. Without knowing the writer, I hsitate to call him/her "lazy" in search efforts...

Re: Bits and pieces

Mark Aubrey — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 15:04:27 -0000

Ron, I'm curious as to why The Lords of the Realm is considered "hard-to-find". Heinz Marketing has a link to the amazon page where one can purchase a used hardback copy for a penny (plus $3.99 shipping). I found it on abebooks for $3.63 delivered. Perhaps "hard-to-find" is code for "not-well-known".

Re: Here’s hoping 42 doesn’t wind up in Trouble

Ron_Kaplan — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:24:16 -0000

Hey, if you want to promote Blockbuster@Home, take out an ad. ;)

Re: Here’s hoping 42 doesn’t wind up in Trouble

Nosgoth1979 — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 15:21:05 -0000

Ouch, that’s not a good list to be on. One of my coworkers at DISH (who isn’t a baseball fan) recommended Trouble with the Curve to me. Now I kind of want to see it simply out of morbid curiosity. So I’m going to put it in my Blockbuster @Home queue, that way there’s no risk. DISH’s Blockbuster @Home is a great subscription rental service with a huge selection of movies and video games. And the best part is, since I pay the same every month, no matter how many movies and games I may go through, it’s factored into my budget and I don’t have to worry about my spending getting out of control.

Re: An oldie but a goodie: Ring Lardner

disqus_TF96QcRLlL — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:09:49 -0000

Thanks for featuring my little piece. Lardner deserves more recognition than he gets. Also glad to find out about your 501 BASEBALL BOOKS. Look forward to reading it

Re: Here’s hoping 42 doesn’t wind up in Trouble

Ron_Kaplan — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 19:54:37 -0000

I am pretty much in agreement, CJ, though there have been a couple of baseball stinkers, too.

Re: Here’s hoping 42 doesn’t wind up in Trouble

CJ Boerger — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 18:51:14 -0000

There was even a scene where he "heard" the batter swing. Now, I didn't think the acting was great, but they should at least get the facts right! Plus, a bad baseball movie is still better than an average other film.

Re: Lest we forget: Richard Ben Cramer

Dennis Anderson — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 18:02:02 -0000

Cramer, a friend of a friend, signed my copy of his Joe DiMaggio book. I
just looked at the inscription the other day after learning about his
death. Even this was well-written. I'll cherish it.

Re: Lest we forget: Richard Ben Cramer

Joe — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 16:34:32 -0000

This is sad -- Cramer really was a great reporter, whether he was writing about politics or baseball. His work always seemed careful, detailed and dense -- in the positive connotation of that word. When I got my first job as a magazine writer back in the '80s, my editor (who's now the executive director of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences) gave me a profile Kramer had published in Esquire about the then-major of Baltimore and said, "This is how people should write." I had a chance to meet him when he came to St. Louis a few years later when he was working on his big book about the presidential campaign in 1988, What it Takes. He was extremely gracious -- As I recall, he even picked up the check for lunch.

Re: Too much of a good thing?

Ron_Kaplan — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:24:04 -0000

Well, it's certainly cheaper to rerun material than to offer more of a variety. I pitched (pardon the phrase) a program to the MLB Network yesterday. We'll see where it goes, if anywhere.

Re: Too much of a good thing?

Marc Robinson — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 14:07:13 -0000

I loved it when they would show classic games. I recorded many of them and us them when I work out. Now they just repeat the same shows for hours on end.

Re: Too much of a good thing?

Ron_Kaplan — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 16:52:02 -0000

Agreed, Joe. I have never seen the U.S. Steel Hour production of "Bang the Drum Slowly" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt02... and would love to have someone bring it around. Also "The Mighty Casey," an episode of the original "Twilight Zone."

Re: Too much of a good thing?

Joe — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 16:46:05 -0000

I was a fan of Bay City Blues in its short run and would welcome a chance to see it again; I think your notions about programming for the off-season is a great idea -- and there are some wonderful older baseball films, like the original Angels in the Outfield and Damn Yankess and all of those biopics about ballplayers from the 40s and 50s . . .

Re: Too much of a good thing?

Paul — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 14:10:03 -0000

I love Clubhouse Confidential (particularly when folks like James and Chafetz appear), but I agree with the suggestions you make. A baseball books show would be a terrific addition, and surely they could run a weekly or even nightly baseball movie (with some baseball cartoons, like Bugs Bunny and the Gashouse Gorillas, to kick things off!).

Re: I read it on Reddit

Tim Newey — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:42:50 -0000

Perfectly put! I know exactly what you mean, you never know if you're missing out or wasting your time.

Re: Lest we forget: Roberto Clemente

Kevin Guilfoile — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 10:48:55 -0000

Ron, thanks so much for the kind words. If I could correct one thing, though. A DRIVE INTO THE GAP is not available only as an eBook. You can get the kind you hold in your hands (and it's quite beautifully made, too) for just $6.95 at adriveintothegap.com.

Re: No ‘minor’ feat

CJ Boerger — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 07:34:29 -0000

Ben actually did two earlier reviews on minor league baseball books that you may want to check out if you have time.

Re: 501 update: The end of the beginning

Ron_Kaplan — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 10:02:32 -0000

I am, Robert. The people at UNP have such interesting names: Acacia, Joeth...