Baseball Best-Sellers, May 4, 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

Ninety Percent Mental: An All-Star Player Turned Mental Skills Coach Reveals the Hidden Game of Baseball, by Bob Tewksbury and Scott Miller
Miracle in Shreveport: A Memoir of Baseball, Fatherhood, and the Stadium that Launched a Dream, by David Benham and Jason Benham
Hurricane Season: The Unforgettable Story of the 2017 Houston Astros and the Resilience of a City, by Joe Holley
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
I’m Keith Hernandez: A Memoir, by Keith Hernandez
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman
Mind of a Superior Hitter: The Art, Science and Philosophy, by Michael McCree
Why Baseball Matters, by Susan Jacoby
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

E-BOOKS

2018 Little League Rulebook
Moneyball
Mind of a Superior Hitter
Teammate, by David Ross with Don Yeager
Ninety Percent Mental
The Shift
2018 NFHS Baseball Rules Book
The History of Baseball: A Short Story, by Christie Hodgen
Saving Babe Ruth, by Tom Swyers
Miracle in Shreveport

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, #25 overall in sports)
90 Percent Mental (read by the author, #33)
The Arm, by Jeff Passan (read by Kevin Pierce, #79)
The Methany Menifesto, by Mike Methany (read by Mark Deakins, #82)
A Season in the Sun (read by Pete Larkin, #86)

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: 1,122,542; last time: 1,268,635. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,042,823 (last time, 1,053,407). 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.