Baseball Best-Sellers, March 30, 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…

PRINT

Miracle in Shreveport: A Memoir of Baseball, Fatherhood, and the Stadium that Launched a Dream, by David Benham and Jason Benham
Baseball Prospectus 2018
Why Baseball Matters, by Susan Jacoby
The Shift: The Next Evolution in Baseball Thinking, by Russell Carelton
42 Faith: The Rest of the Jackie Robinson Story, by Ed Henry
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
The Baby Bombers: The Inside Story of the Next Yankees Dynasty, by Bryan Hoch
Try Not to Suck: The Exceptional, Extraordinary Baseball Life of Joe Maddon, by Bill Chastain

E-BOOKS

Summer of ’49, by David Halbersatm
The Roger Angell Baseball Collection
42 Faith
2018 Little League Rulebook
The Shift
Miracle in Shreveport
Moneyball
2018 Baseball Prospectus
Teammate: My Journey in Baseball and a World Series for the Ages, by David Ross with Don Yeager
Try Not to Suck

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, #16 overall in sports)
The Matheny Manifesto: A Young Manager’s Old-School Views on Success in Sports and Life, by Mike Methany and Jerry B. Jenkins (read by Mark Deakins, #55)
Watching Baseball Smarter, by Zack Hample (read by Barry Abrams, #69)
The Catapult Loading System, by Joey Meyers (read by James Minter, #82)
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 (read by Mike Chamberlain, #100)

Two titles from the faith-based publisher Thomas Nelson highlight the list this week, including the #1 slotted Miracle in Shreveport. You can listen to my interview with Bryan Hoch, author of Baby Bombers, here. I hope to be doing additional “Bookshelf Conversations” with Susan Jacoby and Russell Carelton as well shortly.

The Kindle list includes a couple of classics in Halbertstam and Angell works.

No baseball titles on any of the New York Times‘ best-seller lists.

Not on either the Amazon or Times‘ (duh) lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 1,436,439; last time: 1,357,206. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 719,015 (last time, 598,985). 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.