Baseball Best-Sellers, August 2, 2019

August 2, 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

  1. https://i2.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51ztSKd7TAL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg?resize=190%2C285&ssl=1If These Walls Could Talk: Boston Red Sox, by Jerry Remy and Nick Cafardo
  2. The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players, by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchick
  3. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton
  4. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
  5. Astroball: The New Way to Win It All, by Ben Reiter
  6. Ballpark: Baseball in the American City, by Paul Goldberger
  7. K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, by Tyler Kepner (hardcover)
  8. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
  9. For the Good of the Game: The Inside Story of the Surprising and Dramatic Transformation of Major League Baseball, by Bud Selig with Phil Rogers
  10. Beckett Baseball Card Price Guide 2019

E-BOOKS

  1. The MVP Machine
  2. Fall from Grace: The Truth and Tragedy of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, by Tim Hornbaker
  3. For the Good of the Game
  4. Francona: The Red Sox Years
  5. The Catcher Was a spy, by Nicholas Dawidoff
  6. Babe: The Legend Comes to Life, by Robert Creamer
  7. Casey Stengel: Baseball’s Greatest Character, by Marty Appel
  8. Full Count: The Education of a Pitcher, by David Cone with Jack Curry
  9. Edgar: An Autobiography, by Edgar Martinez with Larry Stone
  10. I’m Keith Hernandez, by Hernandez

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

  1. The MVP Machine (read by Josh Hurley, #10 overall in sports, which is now, for some reason, under the general category “Biographies and Memoirs.” Yeah, I don’t understand either.)
  2. Full Count (read by the author, #70)
  3. The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch That Changed My Life, by Rick Ankiel (read by the author, #87)
  4. Play Hungry: The Making of a Baseball Player, by Pete Rose (read by Mark Deadkins, #89)
  5. One Base at a Time: How I Survived PTSD and Found My Field of Dreams, by David Mellor (read by the author, #94)

Four of the top ten books on the NY Times‘ monthly sports list are about baseball, including The MVP Machine (#4), K (#5(Play Hungry, by Pete Rose (#6), and Ballpark (#7). Well done, authors.

Nothing much has changed in the physical; book list, save the addition of the Beckett Guide. Perhaps this has something to do with the forthcoming National Baseball Card Day? Ball Four remains high on the list following the death of Jim Bouton. Edgar is probably still enjoying the post-Hall of Fame inductions.

Still not on either the Amazon or Times‘ lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 692,225; last time, 603,127. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,408,953 (last time, 1,306,540). 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 consumer 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.

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Tagged as: Boston Red Sox, Casey Stengel, David Cone, Houston Astros, Jerry Remy, Jim Bouton, Keith Hernandez, New York Yankees, Oakland As, Pete Rose, Pitching, Ted Williams

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