Baseball Best-Sellers, October 23, 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…

NEW FEATURE: By the way, the links by the authors’ names will take you to any Bookshelf Conversations I did with them.

PRINT

1. The Captain: A Memoir, by David Wright with Anthony DiComo
2. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
3. The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman
4. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
5. The Baseball Book of Why: The Answers to Questions You’ve Always Wondered about from America’s National Pastime, by John McCollister
6. 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid, by Willie Mays and John Shea
7. How Baseball Happened: Outrageous Lies Exposed! The True Story Revealed, by Thomas W. Gilbert
8. Mind of a Superior Hitter: The Art, Science and Philosophy, by Michael McCree
9. Ballparks: A Journey Through the Fields of the Past, Present, and Future, by Eric Enders
10. The Story of Baseball: In 100 Photographs, Sports Illustrated

E-BOOKS

1. Summer of ’49, by David Halberstam
2. The Physics of Baseball, by Robert Adair
3. Intangibles, by Joan Ryan
4. Moneyball
5. The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, by Ben Bradlee Jr.
6. The Captain
7. Ball Four, by Jim Bouton and Leonard Shecter
8. Shoeless Joe, by W.P. Kinsella
9. Judge and Jury: The Life and Times of Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, by by David Pietrusza
10. Over the Right Field Wall, by G.P. Hutchinson

AUDIOBOOKS

Note: Amazon has changed the way they list audiobooks. No longer under the general category of “biography and memoir,” they are now treated in their own baseball/softball category. Here’s the general link to the section where you will find further links to the individual audiobooks, their reader/narrators, and samples. Note further that these are updated regularly and the top ten list below might no longer be the same.

1. Moneyball
2. The Captain
3. Moneyball (yes, again; not a typo)
4. Ball Four
5. Astroball
6. The MVP Machine
7. Where Nobody Knows Your Name
8. Ninety Percent Mental
9. Smart Baseball
10. Heads-Up Baseball 2.0

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

As I did the last few weeks, I should point out that Tom Callahan’s new book, Gods at Play: An Eyewitness Account of Great Moments in American Sports, was listed in the top ten for both print and e-books, but I do not consider that a “baseball” book for the purposes of these posts so I have omitted it (see note, above).

And still not on the Amazon top-ten list? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, right now it ranks at 1,437,886, overall in books; last time, 368,005. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,348,532 (last time, 892,894). Here’s something I never even knew: Greenberg was selected by MLB.com as one of the “notable books of 2017.” Woo-hoo.

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.