Baseball Best-Sellers, March 20, 2020

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. Buzz Saw: The Improbable Story of How the Washington Nationals Won the World Series, by Jesse Dougherty
2. The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman*
3. Dick Bremer: Game Used: My Life in Stitches with the Minnesota Twins, by Dick Bremer with Jim Bruton
4. Brain Games – Baseball Puzzles
5. The Boys of Summer (Harperperennial Modern Classics), by Roger Kahn
6. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
7. Baseball Prospectus 2020
8. The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance, by H.A. Dorfman
9. K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches, by Tyler Kepner
10. The Glory of Their Times: The Story of the Early Days of Baseball Told by the Men Who Played It,  by Lawrence Ritter

E-BOOKS

1. The Wit and Wisdom of Yogi Berra, by Phil Pepe
2. Smart Baseball, by Keith Law
3. Moneyball
4. The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Connor
5. A View from My Seat: My baseball Season with Jumbo Shrimp, by Armand Rosamilia
6. Game Used
7. The Boys of Summer
8. Buzz Saw
9. The Cloudbuster Nine, by Anne Keene
10. Fall from Grace: The Truth and Tragedy of “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, by Tim Hornbaker

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

1. The MVP Machine (read by Josh Hurley, #56 overall in sports)
2. The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter (read by Nick Pollifrone, #64)
3. Buzz Saw (read by Angelo Di Loreto, #94)

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

A few new items this week, including what I, as an east coaster, consider an improbably high ranking for the Bremmer book

I also chose to list the puzzle book — bui not a baseball coloring book — because people need some additional distraction during these difficult times.

Still not on the Amazon top-ten list? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. Today: 2,055,119; last time, 2,084,288. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 509,522 (last time, 1,225,989).

Shameless self-promotion: if you’re looking for suggestions for some good baseball reading during this down time, why not pick up a copy of 501?

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.