Baseball Best-Sellers, Week of March 3, 2017

March 3, 2017

NOTE: I have been posting these things long enough now that a few have commented that the introductory section isn’t necessary anymore. But I’m leaving it in because, to paraphrase Joe DiMaggio when asked why he played so hard all the time, there may be people who’ve never read the best-seller entries before. So on with the show…

Caveat 1: Print editions only (at least for now); because I’m old school.

Caveat 2: Since the rankings are updated every hour, these lists might not longer be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them. But it’ll be close enough for government work.

Caveat 3: Sometimes they’ll try to pull one over on you and include a book within a category that doesn’t belong. I’m using my discretion to eliminate such titles from my list. For example, for some reason a recent listing included Tarnished Heels: How Unethical Actions and Deliberate Deceit at the University of North Carolina Ended the “The Carolina Way,” which, far as I can tell, is not at all about baseball, at least not in the main.

  1. Image result for baseball junkie aubrey huffBaseball Prospectus 2017
  2. Baseball America 2017 Prospect Handbook: Rankings and Reports of the Best Young Talent in Baseball
  3. Papi: My Story, by David Ortiz with Michael Holley *
  4. 2017 Baseball Forecaster: & Encyclopedia of Fanalytics, by Ron Shandler
  5. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
  6. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
  7. The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse, by Tom Verducci
  8. Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball, by Keith Law
  9. The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch that Changed My Life, by Rick Ankiel and Tom Brown (April 18)
  10. Baseball Junkie, by Aubrey Huff with Stephen Cassar *

* Making its debut on the Bookshelf Best-Seller List

Aubrey Huff has a tragic but inspiring tale to tell in his new memoir. But another book by David Ortiz? Actually I take that back; it’s hard to believe Big Papi: My Story of Big Dreams and Big Hits came out 10 years ago. Seems like only yesterday…

MORE lists: Amazon has started a couple of new ones, including “Hot New Releases” and “Most Wished For.” A look at the top three in each, which have remained the same since last week:

Hot New Releases

  1. Baseball Prospectus 2017
  2. Baseball America Prospect Guide
  3. Papi

Most Wished For

  1. The Cubs Way
  2. Smart Baseball
  3. Moneyball

NY Times monthly sports best-seller list: No baseball books in the March rolls.

Not on either the Amazon or Times‘ lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 492,385; last week: 468,697. Kind of expecting/hoping this will be the “new norm” as we head towards the beginning of the new season. My forthcoming Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War currently ranks 869,259, up from last week’s 1,298,415 and, in all humility, I expect that to improve in the weeks ahead as it garners a bit of media attention.

If you have read 501, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing a review for the Amazon page; it’s never too late. There haven’t been any in awhile. Doesn’t have to be long (or even complimentary, if you didn’t like it), but anything would be appreciated. And thanks to those who have.

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