Baseball Best-Sellers, May 15, 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. Also no romance/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. 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid, by Willie Mays and John Shea
2. Lou Gehrig: The Lost Memoir, by Alan D. Gaff
3. The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife, by Brad Balukjian
4. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
5. Rod Carew: One Tough Out: Fighting Off Life’s Curveballs, by Rod Carew with Jaime Aron
6. Cleveland Rocked: The Personalities, Sluggers, and Magic of the 1995 Indians, by Zack Meisel
7. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
8. Buzz Saw: The Improbable Story of How the Washington Nationals Won the World Series, by Jesse Dougherty
9. Big Sexy: In His Own Words, by Bartolo Colon and Michael Stahl
10. Doc: The Life of Roy Halladay, by Todd Zolecki

E-BOOKS

1. K: A History of Baseball in 10 Pitches, by Tyler Kepner
2. 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid
3. The Wit and Wisdom of Yogi Berra, by Phil Pepe
4. Berra (Pessah)
5. Lou Gehrig: The Lost Memoir
6. The Wax Pack
7. Moneyball
8. Ball Four, by Jim Bouton and Leonard Shecter
9. The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, by Ben Bradlee Jr.
10. Rod Carew: One Tough Out

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

1. 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid (Read by Julian McWilliams and Larry Herron, #6 overall in sports)
2. Lou Gehrig: The Lost Memoir (read by Angelo Di Loreto, #25)
3. Yogi: A Life (read by Oliver Wyman, #31)
4. Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, by Jonathan Eig (Read by Edward Hermann, abridged, #58)
5. My Dad Yogi: A Memoir of Family and Baseball, by Dale Berra (read by the author, #68)
6. Curveball: How I Discovered True Fulfillment After Chasing Fortune and Fame, by Barry Zito (read by the author #87)

The New York Times no longer offers a monthly list of sports best-sellers and there are no baseball titles on either the fiction or nonfiction rolls.

Lots of audio books on the charts. Guess people don’t want to read for themselves these days.

Also a renewed interest in the Iron Horse, thanks to the new “Memoir” offering by Alan Gaff; look for a Bookshelf Conversation with the author in the not-too-distant future. 

Also looking forward to the new Carew book. It’s been 30 years since the eponymous Carew, written with Ira Berkow, was published. Guess he was due. Interesting factoid: the original 1979 version featured the ballplayer wearing the hat of the California Angels, but a reprint — issued by the University of Minnesota Press in 2010 — has him in the more familiar Twins uniform.

Not as interesting to me (sorry, Clevelanders) is the Indians’ title, which is also makes its debut on this list.

Still not on the Amazon top-ten list? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, right now it ranks at 1,373,531; last time, 880,951. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 298,394 (last time, 560,114).

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

Super-shameless self-promotion: And by the way, I am looking for a publisher for an revised edition of 501, UNP having passed on the opportunity. So if you have any suggestions, please drop me a line. Mucho appreciado.

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.

Tagged as: Bartolo Colon, Cleveland Indians, Lou Gehrig, Michael Lewis, Moneyball, Rod Carew, Ted Williams, Washington Nationals, Yogi Berra