Baseball Best-Sellers, December 27, 2019

Hard to believe this is the last BBS entry for the year; where did the time go?

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

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 *
The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman*
Ballpark: Baseball in the American City, by Paul Goldberger
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis *
Beckett Baseball Card Price Guide 2019
Fight to the Finish: How the Washington Nationals Rallied to Become 2019 World Series Champions, by the Washington Post
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
Ballparks: A Journey Through the Fields of the Past, Present, and Future, by Eric Enders
Ron Shandler’s 2020 Baseball Forecaster: & Encyclopedia of Fanalytics, by Ron Shandler (Several of Shandler’s previous editions are available via Scribd)

E-BOOKS

Smart Baseball, by Keith Law
Moneyball
Francona: The Red Sox Years, by Terry Francona with Dan Shaughnessy
K
Astroball, by Ben Reiter
The Wit and Wisdom of Yogi Berra, by Phil Pepe
The Physics of Baseball, by Robert Adair
Minor League Baseball Revealed: A Secret Tour Inside Our National Pastime, by Rick Schultz
The Bad Guys Won, by Jeff Perlman
Ball Four, by Jim Bouton

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

The MVP Machine (read by Josh Hurley, #56 overall in sports)
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.

A distinct lack of baseball-themed audiobooks in recent weeks. I imagine that will change as we get closer to opening day. Nothing much new otherwise, except for the “debut” of Ron Shandler’s annual. Look for those types of publications to become more prevalent as well as winter turns to spring.

The Amazon e-book section offers separate lists — for baseball books at least — of paid and free items. As you might imagine, and with all due respect, the quality of the free books vary widely. Many are self-published, although, once in a while, you might find a a gem from a traditional publishing house. Given that I recently posted about a New York Times trivia quiz, I felt it was warranted to note Major League Baseball IQ: The Ultimate Test of True Fandom, by Tucker Elliot, as one of those gratis e-books. Look for a “Bookshelf Conversation” in the near future with Jason Katzman, who had a hand in latest edition of The Baseball Maniac’s Almanac, a top-ten entry on the Dec. 13 list, for a discussion on what goes into making a good work of trivia. (Full disclosure, Katzman was also the editor for my Hank Greenberg book.)

Speaking of which: Still not on either the Amazon or Times‘ lists? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 2,134,448; last time, 2,177,859. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,417,178 (last time, 1,463,904). I have resigned myself to the fact that these titles will continue to sink as new releases continue to emerge. Circle of life.

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.