Baseball Best-Sellers, May 25, 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. For example, this week the #2 book on the baseball best-seller list is The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect. “Why” is a good question.

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
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
Ninety Percent Mental: An All-Star Player Turned Mental Skills Coach Reveals the Hidden Game of Baseball, by Bob Tewksbury and Scott Miller
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
The Matheny Manifesto: A Young Manager’s Old-School Views on Success in Sports and Life, by Mike Methany and Jerry B. Jenkins
Beckett Baseball Card Price Guide 40
The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance, by H.A. Dorfman
2018 Official Rules of Major League Baseball
The Big 50: St. Louis Cardinals: The Men and Moments that Made the St. Louis Cardinals, by Benjamin Hochman

E-BOOKS

I’m Keith Hernandez
Moneyball
2018 Little League Rulebook
Lou: Fifty Years of Kicking Dirt, Playing Hard, and Winning Big in the Sweet Spot of Baseball, by Lou Pinella with Dave Madden
3 Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager, by Buzz Bissinger
Hawk: I Did It My Way, by Ken Harrelson with Jeff Snook
The Shift: The Next Evolution in Baseball Thinking, by Russell Carelton
Davey Johnson: My wild Ride in Baseball and Beyond, by Davey Johnson and Erik Sherman
Saving Babe Ruth, by Tom Swyers
The Catapult Loading System, by Joey Myers

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)

I‘m Keith Hernandez (read by the author, #16 overall in sports)
Moneyball (read by Scott Brick, #21)
90 Percent Mental (read by the author, #42)
Smart Baseball, by Keith Law (read by Mike Chamberlain, #65)
The Cubs Way, by Tom Verducci (read by the author, #73)

Why is The Book of Why No. 1 for baseball books on Amazon’s list? I would love to be a fly on the wall when they decide their paradigms.

I’m Keith Hernandez debuts at #15 on The New York Times‘ best-seller lists. just took a bit longer than I expected. Yet it doesn’t appear in the top top sports books on the paper’s monthly list.

Not on either the Amazon or Times‘ (duh) lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 1,488,737; last time: 1,424,978. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,424,978 (last time, 320,758. Ouch). 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.