Baseball Best-Sellers, October 19, 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 perason 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

The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created, by Jane Leavy
Power Ball: Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game, by Rob Neyer
Astroball: The New Way to Win It All, by Ben Reiter
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
Papi: My Story, by David Ortiz and Michael Holley
Terror in the City of Champions: Murder, Baseball, and the Secret Society that Shocked Depression-era Detroit, by Tom Stanton
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
Heads-Up Baseball : Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time, by Tom Hanson
The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It, by Lawrence Ritter
The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Jeff Silverman

E-BOOKS

The Big Fella
Francona: The Red Sox Years, by Terry Francona and Dan Shaughnessy
Moneyball
Terror in the City of Champions
The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, by Ben Bradlee
Powerball
Astroball
Billy Martin: Baseball’s Flawed Genius, by Bill Pennington
Baseball Cop: The Dark Side of America’s National Pastime, by Eddie Dominguez
The Giants of the Polo Grounds, by Noel Hynd

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)

The Big Fella, (read by the author and Fred Sanders, #9 overall in sports)
Moneyball, (read by Scott Brick, #21)
Astroball, (read by the author, #55)
The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch That Changed My Life, by Rick Ankiel (read by the author, #97)

There are no baseball titles on The New York Times‘ monthly sports list. Wonder if/when they will do something with The Big Fella.

Moneyball…Astroball…now Powerball. With the World Series upon us — and the Red Sox as the AL representative — not surprised to see Papi back on the list. I am surprised to see Tom Stanton‘s 2016 book about the Detroit Tigers during the Depression there.

Not on either the Amazon or Times‘ lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 1,632,426; last time: 1,500,724. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 955,801 (last time, 333,938.)

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.