Baseball Best-Sellers, May 11, 2018

Headnote: 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

I’m Keith Hernandez: A Memoir, by Keith Hernandez
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
Ninety Percent Mental: An All-Star Player Turned Mental Skills Coach Reveals the Hidden Game of Baseball, by Bob Tewksbury and Scott Miller
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
A Season in the Sun: The Rise of Mickey Mantle, by Randy Roberts
Miracle in Shreveport: A Memoir of Baseball, Fatherhood, and the Stadium that Launched a Dream, by David Benham and Jason Benham
Davey Johnson: My Wild Ride in Baseball and Beyond, by Davey Johnson with Erik Sherman
The Big 50: Minnesota Twins: The Men and Moments that Made the Minnesota Twins, by Aaron Gleeman
Why Baseball Matters, by Susan Jacoby
Throwback: A Big-League Catcher Tells How the Game Is Really Played, by Jason Kendall with Lee Judge

E-BOOKS

I’m Keith Hernandez
2018 Little League Rulebook
Moneyball
Throwback
October 1964, by David Halberstam
Ninety Percent Mental
The Shift: The Next Evolution in Baseball Thinking, by Russell Carleton
Davey Johnson
Summer of ’49, by Halberstam
Ball Four, by Jim Bourton

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, #20 overall in sports)
I’m Keith Hernandez (read by the author, #64)
90 Percent Mental (read by the author, #71)
Smart Baseball, by Keith Law (read by Mike Chamberlain, #77)

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

The surprising thing to me is not that Hernandez’s latest book is #1; it’s that The Science of Hitting is #2. I expect I’m Keith Hernandez will make it to the NY Times‘ bestseller list in the monthly sports category, if not the regular weekly list itself. And note: Davey Johnson’s second memoir makes it two books about by and about the Mets in their 1980s glory.

Also happy to see two Halberstam titles on the Kindle list. He was one of my favorites and I would have loved to have him as a guest on the Baseball Bookshelf podcast.

Not on either the Amazon or Times‘ (duh) lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 1,327,698; last time: 1,122,542. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 774,238 (last time, 1,042,823). 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.