Baseball Best-Sellers, June 21, 2019

Happy Solstice, everybody!

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

The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players, by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchick
K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, by Tyler Kepner (hardcover)
Ballpark: Baseball in the American City, by Paul Goldberger
Full Count: The Education of a Pitcher, by David Cone and Jack Curry
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
If These Walls Could Talk: Boston Red Sox, by Jerry Remy and Nick Cafardo
My Dad, Yogi: A Memoir of Family and Baseball, by Dale Berra and Mark Ribowsky
Ten Innings at Wrigley: The Wildest Ballgame Ever, with Baseball on the Brink, by Kevin Cook
Here’s the Catch: A Memoir of the Miracle Mets and More, by Ron Swoboda

E-BOOKS

Going the Other Way: An Intimate Memoir of Life In and Out of Major League Baseball, by Bill Bean
K: A History of Baseball in 10 Pitches
Memories of Summer, by Roger Kahn
The MVP Machine
The Summer Game, by Roger Angell
Moneyball
Full Count
Mission 27
Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, by Robert Creamer
2019 Little League Rule Book

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

The MVP Machine (read by Josh Hurley, #10 overall in sports)
Moneyball (read by Scott Brick, #15)
Full Count (read by the author, #31)
K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches (read by the author, #33)
Astroball, (read by the author, #74)

Full Count is #3 on The NY Times‘ monthly sports bestseller list for June followed by K, by Times baseball writer Kepner, at #4 and Ripken’s latest — Just Show Up — at #8.

Still not on either the Amazon or Times‘ lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 1,202,408; last time, 407,920. Not for nothing, but it’s on sale for the insultingly low price of $7.45, $17 off the cover price. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,123,676 (last time, 494,405. By the way, I have compiled an Excel “checklist” of the books list in 501. If you’re interested in keeping track of how many you have read or own, drop me a line.

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.