Baseball Best-Sellers, June 26, 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. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
3. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
4. The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife, by Brad Balukjian
5. Lou Gehrig: The Lost Memoir, by Alan D. Gaff
6. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
7. Doc: The Life of Roy Halladay, by Todd Zolecki
8. The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman
9. The Milwaukee Brewers at 50, by Adam McCalvy
10. Turning 50 – The Brewers Celebrate a Half-Century in Milwaukee, by Tom Hardricourt

E-BOOKS

1. 1. Yogi
   2. 24
   3. Moneyball
   4. Ball Four, by Jim Bouton and Leonard Shecter
   5. I Live for This: Baseball’s Last True Believer, by Bill Plaschke with Tommy Lasorda
   6. Shoeless Joe, by W.P. Kinsella
   7. The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, by Ben Bradlee, Jr.
   8. The Glory of Their Times, by Laurence Ritter
   9. The 1932 New York Yankees: The Story of a Legendary Team, a Remarkable Season, and a Wild World Series, by Ronald A. Mayer
   10. Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember, by John Feinstein

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, #23 overall in sports)
2. Oscar Charleston: The Life and Legend of Baseball’s Greatest Forgotten Player, by Jeremy Beer (read by David Sadzin, #73)
3. Yogi: A Life (read by Oliver Wyman, #92)
4. Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, by Charles Leerhsen (read by Malcolm Hillgartner, #94)

The New York Times no longer offers a monthly list of sports best-sellers. There are no baseball titles on their regular weekly list.

Two books about the Milwaukee Brewers in the top 10? Amazing.

Last week I told you about some new “established” baseball titles available for free on Kindle. Check them out again today, there are some new ones listed, including Triumph’s “Game of My Life Series” for the Yankees, Cubs, White Sox, Reds, and Braves.

Still not on the Amazon top-ten list? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, right now it ranks at 2,159,413; last time, 2,139,958. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,047,227 (last time, 685,094).

Shameless self-promotion: if you’re looking for some good baseball reading during this down time, why not pick up a copy of 501? It’s like the abridged dictionary; it has most of the other books in it.

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: Los Angeles Dodgers, Lou Gehrig, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Tommy Lasorda, Willie Mays, Yogi Berra