Baseball Best-Sellers, May 3, 2019

Note: The Amazon rankings are updated every hour, so these lists might not be 100 percent accurate by the time you read them (or even by the time I finish writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes.

In addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category to which it should not be listed (in my opinion). For example, a current title on the BBS list is The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect. “Why” is a good question. There might be a smattering of the national pastime in it, but not enough to make it a baseball book per se (again, IMO).

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

K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, by Tyler Kepner (hardcover)
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
Chumps to Champs: How the Worst Teams in Yankees History Led to the ’90s Dynasty, by Bill Pennington
Inside the Empire: The True Power Behind the New York Yankees, by Bob Klapisch and Paul Solotaroff
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
108 Stitches: Loose Threads, Ripping Yarns, and the Darndest Characters from My Time in the Game, by Ron Darling and Daniel Paisner
Astroball: The New Way to Win It All, by Ben Reiter (paperback edition)
Let’s Play Two: The Legend of Mr. Cub: The Life of Ernie Banks, by Ron Rapoport
Beckett Baseball Card Price Guide 2019
The Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball, by John Helyar

E-BOOKS

K: A History of Baseball in 10 Pitches
Moneyball
Astroball
Lords of the Realm
2019 Little League Rule Book
Chumps to Champs
108 Stitches
Fall from Grace: The Truth and Tragedy of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, by Tim Hornbaker
Francona: The Red Sox Years
2019 NFHS Baseball Rules Book

AUDIOBOOKS (note: the links will take you to a sample of the audio via Amazon/Audible)

Moneyball (read by Scott Brick, #20 overall in sports)
K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches (read by the author, #21)
Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury (read by the author, #23)
Astroball, (read by the author, #32)

K, by NY Times baseball writer Kepner, debuts at #15 on the paper’s non-fiction hardcover list. It’s also second on the May monthly sports list; 108 Stitches and Inside the Empire are fifth and eighth, respectively.

Another book about the Yankees overcoming “adversity” to become a winning crew again?Of course for the Bombers, adversity is a relatively word. I’ll still read it (look for it as part of another Bookreporter roundup), but it better knock my socks off.

Still not on either the Amazon or Times‘ lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 887,660; last time, 1,775,036. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 838,777 (last time, 833,244). Don’t know if they’ve ever been so close together in the same week.

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.