“Bookshelf Conversations” – Ron Kaplan's Baseball Bookshelf

Going old school here as we return to an audio-only Conversations. A couple of years ago, I was engaged to work on the memoirs of a gentleman from the Middle East. He was in my town on an extended trip, staying at an Air BnB run by friends of ours. Just about every day after […]

As I often say, I don’t like to blend the current political situation with baseball. This blog is meant as an escape from the day-to-day problems of the world. But with this particular book, there’s no getting away from the connection between the Oval Office and the National Pastime. Of course, the subject has been […]

When last we spoke with Paul Dickson, it was about his excellent biography, Leo Durocher: Baseball’s Prodigal Son. This time it’s not about a new book, per se, but an old one that got a second life. Dickson, who recently turned 80, has re-released The Hidden Language of Baseball: How Signs and Sign-Stealing Have Influenced […]

Whenever I come across an obituary about a baseball player in The New York Times, I check the byline. More often than not these days, it’s been written by Richard Goldstein (Bruce Weber, a former Times staffer and author of As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires, about his experiences […]

Welcome back to a new “season” of Bookshelf Conversations. Now that the summer is over, I hope to be doing these on a regular basis. Leading off, we begin with Seth Kramer, “hyphenate” for the documentary, Heading Home: The Tale of Team Israel, about the almost-Cinderella story that was the Israeli National Team in the 2017 […]

At long last Leavy. First off, an apology. This was originally meant to be posted way back in December but something went kerfluie with the recording. You could hear my side of the conversation, along with the ticking of the clock on the wall and assorted noises from the various pets, but you couldn’t hear […]

Don’t get me wrong. I love all my guests. But once in a while I get to chat with someone outside the usual baseball literary mainstream. That was the case with Scott Simon, host of NPR’s Weekend Edition. Yes, Simon, a lifetime Cubs fan, had previously published two books on baseball among his oeuvre: Home […]

It seems only fitting that I should follow up last week’s chat with Paul Dickson, author of Leo Durocher: Baseball’s Prodigal Son, with Marty Appel, author of Casey Stengel: Baseball’s Greatest Character. Both books tell the stories of men who enjoyed a lifetime connection with the national pastime. Appel, a former PR director for the NY […]