Baseball Best-Sellers, Aug. 3, 2018

Holy cats, has it really been almost two months since I posted one of these? Moving on…

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

Astroball: The New Way to Win It All, by Ben Reiter
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
Wrigley Field’s Amazing Vendors (Images of Modern America), by Lloyd Rutzky
Heads-Up Baseball : Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time, by Tom Hanson
The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg , By Nicholas Dawidoff
The Natural, by Bernard Malamud
Beckett Baseball Card Price Guide #40
The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch that Changed My Life, by Rick Ankiel and Tim Brown
Ballplayer, by Chipper Jones and Carroll Rogers Walton

E-BOOKS

Moneyball
Astroball
The Catcher Was a Spy
Miracle in Shreveport: A Memoir of Baseball
Ball Four
The Phenom
I‘m Keith Hernandez
Fall From Grace: The truth and Tragedy of Shoeless Joe Jackson
The Catapult Loading System
Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season

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)

Astroball (read by the author, #7 overall in sports)
Moneyball (read by Scott Brick, #21)
The Phenom (read by the author, #55)
90 Percent Mental (read by the author, #88)

The book I’m most curious about is Wrigley Field’s Amazing Vendors. Arcadia Press is known for these photo collections. I was asked to do one once about the Mets, but when I found out how much work was involved, I declined the invitation.

Another Moneyball copycat? All due respect (and I haven’t read it yet) but the name isn’t even trying to be hide what it’s based on. Are we going to have one for every team that wins a World Series now? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Reiter’s work and am happy it’s #3 on The New York Times‘ monthly sports list.

The Ankiel book I attribute to the announcement that the former Major Leaguer is attempting a comeback at the age of 39. And as a pitcher yet. Jones’ memoir is an additional perk of being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Natural always seems to pop up at this time of year. I’ve long wondered if it’s not a high school summer reading assignment. And The Catcher Was a Spy‘s return I attribute to the recent movie starring Paul Rudd as Moe berg. Still haven’t seen that yet either.

Not on either the Amazon or Times‘ lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 1,698,623; last time: 1,586,020. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,269,868 (last time, 282,241). Been out of circulation too long…

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.