Baseball Best-Sellers, February 2, 2018

A new year, a new look for the BBS list.

I’ve decided to bow to the times and include separate lists for e-books and audio books. Be aware that while many titles also appear in print versions, pretty much anyone can produce an e-book these days, so I’m not going to comment at all about the quality. As far as the audio goes, I’m a big fan of these, especially when the author is the reader, since who knows better how it should “sound” than the person who created it?

The other caveats remain the same, however: 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.

In addition, sometimes the list-makers will try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category to which it should not be listed. 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. I’m using my discretion to eliminate such titles here.

Finally, adults only here. That is, no books for younger readers (although no erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme either. And goodness knows there are a bunch of those).

So, with all that said…

PRINT

Baseball Prospectus 2018
Baseball America 2018 Prospect Handbook
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
The Fantasy Baseball Black Book 2018, by
Ron Shandler’s 2018 Baseball Forecaster: & Encyclopedia of Fanalytics
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse, by Tom Verducci
Baseball America 2018 Almanac
Ballplayer, by Chipper Jones with Carroll Rogers Walton
The Baseball Drill Book (The Drill Book Series)

E-BOOK

Moneyball
The Fantasy Baseball Black Book 2018
Baseball Prospectus 2018
2018 NFHS Baseball Rules Book
The Extra 2 %, by Jonah Keri
Saving Babe Ruth, by Tom Swyers
Ron Shandler’s 2018 Baseball Forecaster
The Bill James Handbook 2018
Smart Baseball, by Kewith Law
Ballplayer

AUDIOBOOKS (out of the top 100 sports best-sellers. The links will take you to the Amazon page where you can listen to a sample of the book)

Moneyball (Read by Scott Brick; the top baseball audiobook and #20 overall in sports)
The Cubs Way (Read by the author, 73 overall)
Papi: My Story (Read by Peter Larkin, 93 overall)
Smart Baseball (Read by Michael Chamberlain, 94 overall)

Now that we’re headed into the season, expect to see Williams’ TSOH on the list regularly, as well as the Dorfman books on mental preparation for the game and some other instructionals like the Drill Book.

Isn’t it funny how quickly titles about the Houston Astros have dropped off the list, while books about the Cubs still show up?

Once again, no baseball titles on the NY Times‘ list either for weekly or monthly. In last Sunday’s Book Review section, the Times published this interview with Robert Coover, author of The Universal Baseball Association, a staple in the list of favorite baseball novels.

Not on either the Amazon or Times‘ (duh) lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 1,523,540; last time:1,483,121. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 850,036 (last time: 422,538). By the way, this article from Sports Collectors Digest puts the Greenberg book at #10 on its list of best baseball books of 2017.

If you have read either of those books, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing an Amazon review; it’s never too late. (And thanks to those who have.) Doesn’t have to be long or even complimentary, if you didn’t like it. Although I would warn you to understand what it is you’re reading. My editor tells me I shouldn’t worry over bad reviews and normally I don’t. But one Greenberg reviewer complained because apparently he felt it wasn’t long enough and that it wasn’t a full biography. Sorry, but caveat emptor: The title clearly states this book covers just one season in his career. If you’re disappointed for that reason, then that’s on you.