Baseball Best-Sellers, October 11, 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).

A new “service.” The asterisked books titles are available via Scribd.com, a website that allows you to read and listen to various titles for one flat monthly fee. You can also download them to your device. Click here to see what other titles they have “in stock,” although, like Amazon, you’ll get a few things that you might not consider “true” baseball books as you and I might define them. Well worth the money. You’re welcome.

So, with all that said…

PRINT

1. Astroball: The New Way to Win It All, by Ben Reiter * (paperback edition)
2. Curveball: How I Discovered True Fulfillment After Chasing Fortune and Fame, by Barry Zito with Robert Noland
3. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis *
4. The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players, by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchick
5. Ballparks: A Journey Through the Fields of the Past, Present, and Future, by Eric Enders
6. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
7. K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, by Tyler Kepner *
8. If These Walls Could Talk: Boston Red Sox, by Jerry Remy and Nick Cafardo *
9. Big Sexy: In His Own Words, by Bartolo Colon and Larry Stahl
10. Ballpark: Baseball in the American City, by Paul Goldberger

E-BOOKS

1. Ten Innings at Wrigley, by Kevin Cook *
2. Moneyball
3. Astroball
4. The Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter *
5. Ball Four, by Jim Bouton with Leonard Schecter *
6. Fall from Grace: The Truth and Tragedy of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, by Tim Hornbaker
7. The Last Innocents, by Michael Leahy *
8. The Arm, by Jeff Passan *
9. Curveball
10. I Never Had It Made, by Jackie Robinson and Alfred Duckett

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

1. Curveball, (read by Barry Zito, #19 overall in sports)
2. The MVP Machine (read by Josh Hurley, #34)
3. Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewskbury (read by the author, #52)

Two of the top ten books on the NY Times‘ monthly sports list are about baseball, including If These Walls Could Talk (#8) and For the Good of the Game (#9).

This is the image I will always have of Bartolo Colon…

Which was necessitated by this momentous event:

There is a lot of hyperbole in sports, but in this case, I agree with Gary Cohen: it was one of the great moments in the history of the game.

But a book? Sure, why not? The title alone will get people to buy it, although they might be surprised once they actually get a copy in their hands (it’s not due out until next April).

I’m guessing the Houston Astros return to the post-season — they will face the NY Yankees in the ALCS — is partly responsible for their first-place finish on this list. I wouldn’t be at all surprised by new books about the Dodgers, Yankees, and even the Washington Nationals (especially if they make it to the World Series).

Still not on either the Amazon or Times‘ lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 1,969,749; last time, 1,973,700. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 279,117 (last week, 1,556,911). I attribute that to the recent Jewish High Holidays, when Greenberg made the famous decision not to play on Yom Kippur.

Ever since then, there’s has been an annual “Yom Kippur Dilemma” over what any of the handful of Jewish ballplayers would do given the same situation. I’ve written about that many times over on the Kaplan’s Korner blog. This year the Day of Atonement began the evening of October 9 and ended the next day just after sundown. Three teams in the Divisional Series had Jewish players. The Atlanta Braves gave up 10 runs in the first inning of their 13-1 loss to the visiting St. Louis Cardinals to eliminate them from the NLDS. The game began at 5:02 local time, about 90 minutes before sunset. Max Fried allowed four runs in 1.2 innings, although to be accurate, he was done before dusk. Joc Pederson (single, double, and run scored) and the LA Dodgers were also knocked out of further postseason play in their stunning 7-3, 10-inning loss to the Washington Nationals (5:38 start time). On the other hand, Alex Bregman‘s two-run double on Yom Kippur day gave the Houston Astros all the scoring they needed as they copped the ALDS over the Tampa Bay Rays, 6-1.

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.