Baseball Best-Sellers, February 16, 2018

February 16, 2018

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…

PRINTImage result for the mental game of baseball

  1. Baseball Prospectus 2018
  2. Baseball America 2018 Prospect Handbook
  3. Ron Shandler’s 2018 Baseball Forecaster: & Encyclopedia of Fanalytics
  4. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
  5. The Fantasy Baseball Black Book 2018, by Jode Pasapia
  6. The Baseball Drill Book (The Drill Book Series)
  7. The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance, by H.A. Dorfman
  8. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
  9. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter
  10. Baseball Prospectus Diamond Insights 2018

E-BOOK

  1. Baseball Prospectus 2018
  2. The Life You Imagine, by Derek Jeter with Jack Curry
  3. I Never Had It Made, by Jackie Robinson and Alfred Duckett
  4. The Fantasy Baseball Black Book 2018
  5. Moneyball
  6. 2018 NFHS Baseball Rules Book
  7. The Bill James Handbook
  8. 99 Fantasy Baseball Player Debates, by Chris Welsh
  9. Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, by Charles Leerhsen
  10. Billy Martin: Baseball’s Flawed Genius, by Bill Pennington

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)

  1. Moneyball (Read by Scott Brick, #22 overall in sports)
  2. The Cubs Way (Read by the author, 64 overall)
  3. The Big Chair: The Smooth Hops and Bad Bounces from the Inside World of the Acclaimed Los Angeles Dodgers General Manager, by Ned Colleti (Read by the author, 67 overall)
  4. Ballplayer, By Chipper Jones (Read by Mark Deakins, 91 overall)
  5. The Matheny Manifesto: A Young Manager’s Old-School Views on Success in Sports and Life, by Mike Methany (Read by Mark Deakins, 97 overall)

The late H.A. Dorfman’s book is a perennial favorite of parents and coaches, I’m guessing. and Diamond Insights is a new entry from the library of Baseball Prospectus. Looking forward to giving it a try. On the surface, and judging by its table of contents, it seems similar to the Bill James Fool’s Gold series.

Once again, no baseball titles on the NY Times‘ list either for weekly or monthly.

Not on either the Amazon or Times‘ (duh) lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They DieToday: 1,081,795; last time: 1,547,210. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 874,989 (last time: 1,067,092). 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.

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