Baseball Best-Sellers, November 25, 2022

November 25, 2022

A reminder: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish posting them). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes.

In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category to which it should not be listed (in my opinion). For example, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect has appeared on the BBS list. “Why” is a good question. There might be a smattering of the national pastime in it, but not enough to make it a baseball book per se (again, IMO).

Finally, adults only here. That is, no books for younger readers. Also no “adult” adult books (no romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme although goodness knows there are a bunch of those available).

So, with all that said…

The links under the authors’ names will take you to the Bookshelf Conversations I did with them. The asterisk denotes the author is a “member” of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club.

PRINT

  1. The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson, by Jeff Pearlman
  2. The Grandest Stage: A History of The World Series, by Tyler Kepner
  3. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene
  4. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
  5. The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski
  6. The Ultimate Boston Red Sox Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard BoSox Fans! , by Ray Walker
  7. The Ultimate Atlanta Braves Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Braves Fans!, by Ray Walker
  8. A Game of Extremes: 25 Exceptional Baseball Stories about What Happened on and off the Field, by Roy Lingster
  9. Ballparks: A Journey Through the Fields of the Past, Present, and Future, by Eric Enders
  10. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis

KINDLE BOOKS

  1. The Grandest Stage
  2. The Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter
  3. Moneyball
  4. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah *
  5. The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, by Ben Bradlee, Jr.
  6. The Sputnik Season: 1957, by Noel Hynd
  7. The Baseball 100
  8. Summer of ’49, by David Halberstam
  9. Warren Spahn: A Biography of the Legendary Lefty
  10. A Pitcher’s Story: Innings with David Cone, by Roger Angell

AUDIBLE

Note: Amazon has changed the way they list audiobooks. No longer under the general category of “biography and memoir,” they are now treated in their own baseball/softball category. Here’s the general link to the section where you will find further links to the individual titles, their reader/narrators, and samples. Note further that these are updated regularly and the top ten list below might no longer be the same.

    1. Moneyball (unabridged, narrated by Scott Brick)
    2. The Closer
    3. 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
    4. Astroball: The New Way to Win It All
    5. 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid
    6. The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch That Changed My Life
    7. A Season in the Sun: The Rise of Mickey Mantle
    8. The Pride of the Yankees: Lou Gehrig, Gary Cooper, and the Making of a Classic
    9. The Mental Game of Baseball
    10. A Season with Mom: Love, Loss, and the Ultimate Baseball Adventure

I wish the Bo Jackson book jacket portrayed him in a Royals uniform, but oh, well.

Pretty soon, Ray Walker will have a list of his own. In addition to the Yankees, Red Sox, and Braves titles in the top ten, his volume on the Cardinals came in 11th place, followed by versions for the Astros (13th), Cubs (15th), Phillies (18th), Mets (23rd), and Dodgers (24th), giving him nine of the top 25 best-selling baseball books. Almost seems unfair.

Speaking of book jackets, take note of the similarities between these two shots of Hall of Famers:

https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91cPENKR5HL._AC_UL900_SR900,600_.jpg?resize=276%2C184&ssl=1 https://i2.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/912FMgPf7zL._AC_UL900_SR900,600_.jpg?resize=275%2C183&ssl=1

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 1,585,814 overall in books; last time, 647,589. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 2,199,667; last time, 2,163,284. Still only $1.99 for the Kindle version.

Shameless self-promotion: if you’re looking for some good baseball reading during this down time, why not pick up a copy of 501? It’s like the abridged dictionary; it has most of the other books in it.

A reminder: There’s an Excel “checklist” of the books list in 501. If you’re interested in keeping track of how many you have read or own, drop me a line.

If you have read either of my books, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing an Amazon review; it’s never too late.

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