Ron Kaplan’s Baseball Bookshelf — If it fits on a bookshelf, it fits here

Something else Saturday

October 3, 2026 · 0 comments

Riffing on Throwback Thursday…

Saturday, October 3, is a triple anniversary.

Baseball knows it as the date Bobby Thomson delivered “the Shot Heard ‘Round the World.”

But it is also the birthday for two significant personalities: Hall of Fame outfielder Dave Winfield and blind sportswriter Ed Lucas.

What else do these have in common?

They all have books about their respective subjects. In two cases, more than one.

“The Shot Heard ‘Round the World”

The Echoing Green: The Untold Story of Bobby Thomson, Ralph Branca and the Shot Heard Round the World, by Joshua Prager
Pafko at the Wall: A Novella, by Don DeLillo
The Giants Win the Pennant! The Giants Win the Pennant!, by Bobby Thomson
A Moment in Time: An American Story of Baseball, Heartbreak, and Grace, by Ralph Branca with David Ritz
The Shot Heard ‘Round the World: The Novel, by Daniel Wyatt (Get the Kindle version, even if you have to by the device. It will still be cheaper than the $351.18 sticker price listed for a used book.)

Dave Winfield

Touching All the Bases: A Story of Power, Purpose, and Surviving the Bronx, by Winfield with Alan Maimon
Dropping the Ball: Baseball’s Troubles and How We Can and Must Solve Them, by Winfield with Michael Levin
Winfield: A Player’s Life, by Winfield with Tom Parker
Winning It All: Inning By Inning : A Gameplan for Business & Life from a Baseball Hall of Famer, by Winfield (available as a Kindle Unlimited)
Turn It Around: There’s No Room Here for Drugs, by Winfield with Eric Swenson (no Amazon link available)

Ed Lucas

Seeing Home: The Ed Lucas Story: A Blind Broadcaster’s Story of Overcoming Life’s Greatest Obstacles, by Ed Lucas and Chris Lucas

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Baseball Best-Seller, October 2, 2026

October 2, 2026 · 0 comments

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

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 (see my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks“).

In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category in 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 Amazon’s 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 (i.e., 12 and under). Also no “adult” adult books (romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme although goodness knows there are a bunch of those out there).

So, with all that said…

The links under the authors’ names will take you to the Bookshelf Conversations I had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner, almost always in the print version.

PRINT

It’s All About the Players, by Peter Gammons
Touching All the Bases: A Story of Power, Purpose, and Surviving the Bronx, by Dave Winfield with Alan Maimon
Hardball Retro’s Compendium of Baseball Tabletop Simulations, Derek Bain et al *
The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson, by Jeff Pearlman
Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter) Ω
The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton
The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance, by H. A. Dorfman
The Baseball 100, by Posnanski

KINDLE

Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy, by Jane Leavy
The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness, by Andy McCullough
Rogers Hornsby: A Biography, by Charles Alexander
Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong, by Baseball Prospectus
Bushville Wins!: The Wild Saga of the 1957 Milwaukee Braves and the Screwballs, Sluggers, and Beer Swiggers Who Canned the New York Yankees and Changed Baseball, by John Klima
The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Posnanski (Kindle Unlimited, see note)
Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself, by Michael Shapiro
The Boston Globe Story of the Red Sox: More Than a Century of Championships, Challenges, and Characters
The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers, by Michael Leahy Ω (Kindle Unlimited, see note)
The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter

AUDIO BOOKS

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (narrated by Scott Brick)
Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life, by Dusty Baker
The Boys of Summer, by Roger Kahn
Summer of ’49, by David Halberstam
Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, by Charles Leerhsen
The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Connor
Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original, by Howard Bryant
Unhittable: How Technology, Mavericks, and Innovators Engineered Baseball’s New Era of Pitching Dominance, by Rob Friedman
Ninety Percent Mental: An All-Star Player Turned Mental Skills Coach Reveals the Hidden Game of Baseball, by Bob Tewksbury and Scott Miller (narrated by the author)
The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports, by Jeff Passan (see note)

Baseball between the Numbers is 20 years old. Interesting how much we know is wrong has increased. I would have imagined this one would be rendered obsolete, given the amount of new metrics since then.

Last but not least: Three titles on the BBS list employing that word.

Note: These books are included as Kindle Unlimited titles. See the books’ pages for details.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 3,166,002 in books overall; last time, 3,069,447. For some bizarre reason, the Kindle version is almost $12 more than the print edition. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,524,673; last time, 3,455,852.

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 dictionary; it has the other books in it, which reminds me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite shows.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.

The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.

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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Bits and Pieces, October 2, 2026

October 2, 2026 · 0 comments

♦ From 27East.com, “Longtime baseball writer and commentator Ken Davidoff will discuss his career and his first book, the young adult title “101 Lessons From the Dugout,” on Sunday, October 11, from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Amagansett Free Library.”

♦ RedCarpetCrash posted this review of Peter Gammons’ new book, which I haven’t read because I didn’t want it to influence my own piece on Bookreporter.com, which you can read here.

♦ From the C-SPAN “Classroom” page, “Author Scott Reich discussed the significance of a 1917 baseball game at Fenway Park honoring Tim Murnane, a former player and influential baseball journalist. Reich explores Murnane’s impact on the sport, his writing, personality, and the public reaction to his death.”

♦ We should all be so lucky. From PinstripeNation, “Forgotten Mickey Mantle photo found at garage sale fetches eye-popping $20K in auction.”

♦ David Winfield’s Touching All the Bases made the San Diego Union-Tribune‘s list of top books for the fall season. I wonder what impact, if any, a deep run by the Padres in the post-season will have on sales?

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Throwback Thursday: MASH-up

October 1, 2026 · 0 comments

One of my “comfort” TV shows has been M*A*S*H*, which ran eight years long than the Korean War it was supposed to cover.

Season eight, episode 23, titled “War Co-Respondent” was written by Mike Farrell, who played B.J. Honeycutt, Hawkeye’s colleague and best friend.

There were a few episodes of the series that included baseball as a theme (Corporal Max Kilnger frequently wore the mufti of the Toledo Mudhens but I’m not sure how historically accurate it was; it seemed more in line with the Texas Rangers.)

I chose this example simply because it was on recently. BJ is chatting with Aggie O’Shea, a war correspondent traveling with a group of soldiers. They are sitting in the officers’ club having a drink as Aggie, played by Susan Saint James, tells him about her career, which covered several news beats.

I posted a lengthy piece back in 2020, which you can read here.

Tagged as: M*A*S*H

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Bookshelf Review: 50 Forgotten Cardinals

September 30, 2026 · 0 comments

50 Forgotten Cardinals: The Short Story of 50 Lesser Known and Sometimes Forgotten St. Louis Cardinals, by Will Saulsbery

Now normally I wouldn’t review a book like this. It’s self published with many questionable choices as to layout and presentation. But it made me think of Joe Shlabotnik.

Don’t bother looking him up on Baseball-Reference.com. He’s not there. He was Charlie Brown’s hero.

From Peanuts.fandom.com:

Shlabotnik was demoted to the minor leagues after hitting .004 over an entire season; his one hit was a bloop single with his team comfortably ahead. One time he promised to hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth; he popped out instead, but circled the bases anyway. His greatest achievements included making spectacular plays on routine fly balls and throwing out a runner who had fallen down between first and second.

After being sent down to Stumptown of the Green Grass League, Shlabotnik eventually retired as a player and agreed to manage the Waffletown Syrups. Sadly, Shlabotnik is fired after only one game, after calling for a squeeze play—with no one on base.

More than 2,000 players have worn the Cardinals’ colors since their debut in 1882 (as the St. Louis Browns). A few are either Hall-of-Famers or superstars who missed the Cooperstown cut. With so many in the team’s history, how did Saulsbery decide who to include?

As the author writes in “How we made the list…”

Qualifications for this list are what I would define as ‘loose.’ One, you had to play in at least one regular or post-season game with the team. Two, see number one.

So that obviously leaves a lot to choose from.

I am not a Cardinals’ fan so I can be forgiven in forgetting that Andres Galarraga, Gregg Jeffries, and Bobby Bonds were on the team at some point. I do remember Dick Allen and Reggie Smith and Bob Tewksbury. In fact, I would refute a lot of Salbury’s choices, but then I’m old and a baseball buff; I can understand the majority of folks under a certain age might not know Walker Cooper or Harvey Haddix or Harry Brecheen, et al.

Point is, this is not a book for everyone. But it could be if only to remind us that we all have a Joe Shlabotnik in our fandom, someone obscure to others but who have a special place in our hearts and who can bring a smile to our lips that just can’t be explained. I could see a version of this for every franchise. (Aside: Many years ago, the Mets included in their yearbook a fold-out poster of thumbnail head shots of all the players who appeared for them since 1962. It measured less than your standard 2′ x 3′ poster. I can only image how big something like that would be now.)

Note: As of this posting, the book is available as a “Kindle Unlimited,” so if you have one of those devices you can read it for free.

Tagged as: St. Louis Cardinals

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Not worth the paper it’s printed on?

September 28, 2026 · 0 comments

So the season has come to end. And now it’s time to see how accurate those pre-season magazines were in their predictions.

Granted, these are made with everything being equal. That is, they don’t take into account the inevitable injuries that might derail a team’s chances. On the other hand, some choices are pretty obvious. The Dodgers finished another 100-win season to grab hold of first place in the NL West, but it wasn’t the runaway some had thought. Likewise, it wasn’t a difficult reach to pick the Angels and Rockies to finish in their division’s basements. Again.

Here are the final standings:

AL East: Rays, Yankees (WC), Red Sox (WC), Orioles, Blue Jays

AL Central: Guardians, White Sox (WC), Twins, Tigers, Royals

AL West: Astros, Rangers, Mariners, Athletics, Angels (Note: Astros win by going 81-81)

NL East: Braves, Phillies (WC), Marlins, Nationals, Mets

NL Central: Brewers, Cubs (WC), Pirates, Cardinals, Reds

NL West: Dodgers, Padres (WC), Diamondbacks, Giants, Rockies

Now here’s how each magazine predicted the outcomes. Some even offered total wins while others did not:

Athlon:

AL East: Blue Jays, Yankees (WC), Red Sox (WC), Orioles, Rays

AL Central: Tigers, Royals, Guardians, Twins, White Sox

AL West: Mariners, Astros (WC), Rangers, Athletics, Angels

NL East: Phillies, Mets (WC), Braves, Marlins, Nationals

NL Central: Brewers, Cubs (WC), Reds, Pirates, Cardinals

NL West: Dodgers, Padres (WC), Giants, Diamondbacks, Rockies

Lindy’s (which touted “informed forecasts”):

AL East: Blue Jays, Orioles, (WC), Red Sox (WC), Yankees, Rays

AL Central: Royals, Tigers (WC), Guardians, Twins, White Sox

AL West: Mariners, Astros, Athletics, Rangers, Angels

NL East: Braves, Phillies (WC), Mets, Marlins, Nationals

NL Central: Brewers, Cubs (WC), Pirates, Reds, Cardinals

NL West: Dodgers, Padres (WC), Giants, Diamondbacks, Rockies

Sports Illustrated:

AL East: Blue Jays, Orioles, (WC), Red Sox (WC), Yankees (WC), Rays

AL Central: Tigers, Royals, (WC), Guardians, Twins, White Sox

AL West: Mariners, Rangers, Astros, Athletics, Angels

NL East: Mets, Phillies (WC), Braves, Marlins, Nationals

NL Central: Cubs, Brewers (WC), Reds, Pirates, Cardinals

NL West: Dodgers, Giants (WC), Padres, Diamondbacks, Rockies

Overall, despite all their “experts,” they all received failing grades. Athlon and Lindy’s each scored 33 percent while SI only got 23 percent correct. But again, who knew that some of the major stars who were expected to lead their teams to the predicted finishes would sustain injuries that limited their playing time? And when such incidents led to shortfalls by the trading deadlines, some teams just gave up on the current season and move to dump salaries or build for the future.

But I’ll probably still buy whatever magazines come out next spring, for old times’ sake.

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Baseball Best-Sellers, September 25, 2026

September 25, 2026 · 0 comments

Hard to believe the regular season is just about over. Sigh.

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

So, with all that said…

PRINT

It’s All About the Players, by Peter Gammons *
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
Touching All the Bases: A Story of Power, Purpose, and Surviving the Bronx, by Dave Winfield with Alan Maimon
The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance, by H. A. Dorfman
Give Me the Ball: A Baseball Journey Still Being Written, by Scott Emerson *
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter) Ω
72 Stories: From the Baseball Collection of Geddy Lee, by Lee (read by the author)

KINDLE

Honus Wagner: A Biography, by Dennis DeValeria and Jeanne Burke DeValeria
Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, by Robert Creamer
The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness, by Andy McCullough
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City, by Jonathan Mahler
The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter (narrated by the author)
Fifty Seasons: Stories of the Baseball Years That Echo, by Posnanski (Release date, Feb. 2, 2027)

AUDIO BOOKS

The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter) Ω
Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (read by the author)
The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
Wait Till Next Year: A Memoir, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Pearlman (read by the author)
Summer of ’49, by David Halberstam
The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance, by Dorfman
The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood, by Jane Leavy
The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Posnanski
Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien

Peter Gammons’ memoir debuts on this list. Look for my review on Bookreporter.com tonight.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 3,069,447 in books overall; last time, 3,002,436. For some bizarre reason, the Kindle version is almost $12 more than the print edition. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,455,852; last time, 3,418,901.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

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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Throwback Thursday, September 24, 2026

September 24, 2026 · 0 comments

I have a review of Peter Gammons’ new book coming out on Bookreporter.com tomorrow (at least that’s the plan), so I thought I’d post about his musical career for a change via this video from 2023.

Tagged as: Peter Gammons

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Baseball Best-Sellers, September 18, 2026

September 18, 2026 · 0 comments

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

So, with all that said…

PRINT

Touching All the Bases: A Story of Power, Purpose, and Surviving the Bronx, by Dave Winfield with Alan Maimon
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
One Day In September: Baseball, Brotherhood, and the Birth of the All-Star Game, by Scott Reich
The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter) Ω
Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter) Ω
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton
Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole

KINDLE

Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original, by Howard Bryant
Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, by Robert Creamer Kindle Unlimited, see note)
The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality, by Jeff Pearlman
The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers, by Michael Leahy Ω (Kindle Unlimited, see note)
Just Enough, David Eckstein with Jake Gronsky
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Bronx Is Burning: 1977, Baseball, Politics, and the Battle for the Soul of a City, by Jonathan Mahler
No Crying in Baseball: The Inside Story of A League of Their Own: Big Stars, Dugout Drama, and a Home Run for Hollywood, by Erin Carlson
Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, by David Jamieson
The Chicago Cubs: Story of the Curse, by Rich Cohen

AUDIO BOOKS

The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series, by Eliot Asinof
The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Pearlman (read by the author)
Baseball, by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns (narrated by Burns)
Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien
One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season, by Chris Ballard
The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Connor
Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, by Charles Leerhsen
The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Posnanski

Note: These books are included as Kindle Unlimited titles. See the books’ pages for details.

For the second week for the BBS, Winfield’s lastest memoir tops the print list. And we have a return of one of my all-time favorites, Michael Leahy’s The Last Innocents.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 3,002,436 in books overall; last time, 2,894,923. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,418,901; last time, 3,399,887.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

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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Lest We Forget: Peter Max

September 18, 2026 · 0 comments

The iconic artist passed away September 14 at the age of 88.

Tagged as: Peter Max

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Throwback Thursday: Remembering Mel Stottlemyre

September 17, 2026 · 0 comments

It’s hard to find any description of modern pitchers as “throwbacks.”

No one is throwing 300 innings any more. No one is tossing 20 complete games in a single season. Heck, no league is compiling that many in a season.

So when I came across this video by accident, it made me nostalgic for the time I was becoming a baseball fan. Although I’m a Mets devotee, my first game was at Yankee Stadium. Don’t worry, I’m not going to get all sappy talking about my first view of the huge expanse of green as I walked into the legendary ballpark.

One of my first baseball cards was this one:

So it somehow seemed appropriate to pay tribute to Mel Stottlemyre. The video is quite complete so I won’t go into all the highlights of his career, cut short by injury after just 11 seasons. But in his prime he was considered in the same category as Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson.

After calling it quits at the age of 32, he became a standout pitching coach for the Mets, Astros, and Yankees, with whom he’d had an contentious relationship when his career was winding down and beyond; kind of like Yogi Berra. But, like Yog, Mel reconciled, as you will see in the video.

Stottlemyre passed away in 2019 at the age of 77 after battling cancer for many years.

He published his memoirs, Pride and Pinstripes: The Yankees, Mets, and Surviving Life’s Challenges, written with John Harper, in 2007.

Tagged as: Mel Stottlemyre

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Baseball Best-Sellers, September 11, 2026

September 11, 2026 · 0 comments

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.

So, with all that said…

PRINT

Touching All the Bases: A Story of Power, Purpose, and Surviving the Bronx, by Dave Winfield with Alan Maimon
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (my review on Bookreporter) Ω
The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene (my Bookshelf review here)
The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter) Ω
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
Crossroads: A Memoir in Baseball and Life, by Dusty Baker
Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole
The Ultimate Baseball Trivia Challenge: Over 600 Quiz Questions for Die-Hard Baseball Fans, by Hank Patton
The First All-Star Game: Babe Ruth, FDR and America at the Crossroads, by Randall Sullivan

KINDLE

Nolan: The Singular Life of an American Original, by Tim Brown (my review on Bookreporter)
Bottom of the 33rd: Hope and Redemption in Baseball’s Longest Game, by Dan Barry (see note)
The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson, by Jeff Pearlman
The Boys of Summer, by Roger Kahn
The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Pearlman (read by the author)
No Crying in Baseball: The Inside Story of A League of Their Own: Big Stars, Dugout Drama, and a Home Run for Hollywood, by Erin Carlson
Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero – A Nuanced Biography of Baseball’s Celebrated, Controversial Icon, by Perlman
The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports, by Jeff Passan (see note)
The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter
How Baseball Happened: Outrageous Lies Exposed! The True Story Revealed, by Thomas Gilbert

AUDIO BOOKS

The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (read by the author)
Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien
Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series, by Eliot Asinof
The Methany Manifesto, by Mike Methany with Jerry B. Jenkins
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
The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Connor
Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, by David Jamieson
Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original, by Howard Bryant

Note: These books are included as Kindle Unlimited titles. See the books’ pages for details.

I’m a bit surprised there are no books about baseball and 9/11. Patrick Carney released Baseball After 9/11: Six Nights That Helped Heal Americaas a Kindle book in 2013. Here’s a piece The New York Times ran in today’s print edition on the topic.

The Winfield memoir tops the list for the first time.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,894,923 in books overall; last time, 2,763,100. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,399,887; last time, 3,390,469.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

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.

Tagged as: Dave Winfield

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Throwback Thursday: The Sporting News 1943 Baseball Guide

History

So right now I’m reading Peter Gammons’ new book, It’s All About the Players: What I’ve Learned from Baseball’s Best, for a review for Bookreporter.com, which of course led me down another rabbit hole. Gammons is one of those special writers — I’m thinking here of Thomas Boswell, Tom Verducci, Roger Angell, and the like […]

Read the full article →

Bits and Pieces

2025 title

From the Spokesman-Review, “[I]n his recent book titled “Before They Wore Dodger Blue,” Port Townsend, Washington, baseball historian Eric Vickrey concludes that the [1970 Spokane Indians] was the sport’s best one-team draft class that brought this city another championship. Here’s another Dodgers-centric piece: From Ballparkdigest.com, “We’re proud to announce Steve Dittmore’s Jim Gilliam: The Forgotten Dodger won […]

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Random bio of the day: Zoilo Versalles

Because I can...

I find it amusing that I can rattle off the starting lineups for teams of 50 years ago, but can’t tell you who’s on the current rosters. I’m in the midst of building a TV-center/bookcase in my office and during the cleanup process I came across this: If ever there was a head-scratcher about a […]

Tagged as: Zoilo Versalles

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Baseball Best-Sellers, September 4, 2026

2026 title

Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not. 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 […]

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Throwback Thursday: Good Will Hunting

Baseball in movies

I was flipping through the dial yesterday and came across Good Will Hunting, one of my favorite Matt Damon movies. There’s a famous scene (famous to me, anyway), in which Will, an unassuming genius, is in a session with his therapist Sean, played by Robin Williams, and the subject of regrets comes up. What Sean didn’t […]

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Bits and Pieces, August 28, 2026

2026 title

David Eckstein, who enjoyed a ten-year career that included a World Series MVP award, has a new book out (made its debut on the BBS list last week) which he discusses here. Meanwhile, Hall of Famer Dave Winfield also has a new book out (official release date Sept. 15), which he discusses here. I miss titles like The […]

Tagged as: Dave Eckstein, Dave Winfield, Dolly Parton

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Baseball Best-Sellers, August 28, 2026

2025 title

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Throwback Thursday: Yoo-hoo, Youtube

Classic title

I was looking for a goofy British TV segment called “NumberWang” and of course fell down that ol’ Youtube rabbit hole. BTW, “Julie from Summerset” if the renown actor, Olivia Coleman! Not sure if her opponent is similarly famous. So I went through my Youtube history — which is considerable — and one of the […]

Tagged as: George Carlin

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