Baseball Best-Sellers, December 20, 2019

Well, the good thing about late December and the beginning of winter is that by the time next week’s list rolls around, the days will be getting longer. Wouldn’t it make sense to have the shortest day in the middle of the season, and the longest somewhere in August?

But I digress…

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 romance/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. The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman *
2. The Ultimate Yankee Book: From the Beginning to Today: Trivia, Facts and Stats, Oral History, Marker Moments and Legendary Personalities―A History and … Book About Baseball’s Greatest Franchise, by Harvey Frommer
3. K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, by Tyler Kepner *
4. Ballpark: Baseball in the American City, by Paul Goldberger
5. The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players, by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchick
6. Cubs Triviology: Fascinating Facts from the Bleacher Seats, by Christopher Walsh
7. Amazing Tales from the Boston Red Sox Dugout: A Collection of the Greatest Red Sox Stories Ever Told, by Jim Prime
8. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
9. Everything I Know I Learned from Baseball, by Paul Theibert
10. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis *

E-BOOKS

1. Astroball, by Ben Reiter
2. The Physics of Baseball, by Robert Adair
3. Smart Baseball, by Keith Law
4. Moneyball
5. The Long Season, buy Jim Brosnan
6. Fall from Grace: The Truth and Tragedy of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, by Tim Hornbaker
7. The Baseball Maniac’s Almanac, by Bert Randolph Sugar
8. The MVP Machine
9. Ball Four, by Jim Bouton
10. Francona: The Red Sox Years, by Terry Francona with Dan Shaughnessy

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

1. The MVP Machine (read by Josh Hurley, #44 overall in sports)
2. Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury (read by the author, #100)

The New York Times no longer offers a monthly list of sports best-sellers.

I usually don’t include books of “life lessons” gleaned from baseball (a metaphor for life), but I’m allowing it this time.

Still not on either the Amazon or Times‘ lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 2,177,859; last time, 2,000,259. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,463,904 (last time, 1,060,934).

A reminder: There’s 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.