Baseball Best-Sellers, March 5, 2021

Just as Opening Day is just around the corner for players, so is it also for readers about the national pastime. The schedule might not be the same: there won’t be multiple releases every day, not even one a week, at least not on a regular basis. But the “rookies” will be hitting the shelves soon, so there is that to look forward to.

Now for the usual spiel:

A reminder: 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 posting them). 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, The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect appeared on the BBS list. “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 “adult” books here, that is, no romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme either (although goodness knows there are a bunch of those).

So, with all that said…

The links under the authors’ names will take you to the Bookshelf Conversations I did with them.

PRINT

1. Baseball Prospectus 2021
2. Baseball America 2021 Prospect Handbook
3. Ron Shandler’s 2021 Baseball Forecaster
4. 2021 Fantasy Baseball Almanac, by Sean Ryan
5. So Many Ways to Lose: The Amazin’ True Story of the New York Mets―the Best Worst Team in Sports, by Devin Gordon
6. The Fantasy Baseball Black Book 2021, by Joe Pisapia
7. I Should Have Quit This Morning: Adventures in Minor League Baseball, by Kathy Dietroger
8. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
9. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene
10. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood

E-BOOKS

1. 1. Baseball Prospectus
   2. The Year of the Pitcher, by Sridhar Pappu
   3. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
   4. 2021 Fantasy Baseball Almanac
   5. Moneyball
   6. I Should Have Quit This Morning
   7. The Fantasy Baseball Black Book 2021
   8. Son of Havana: A Baseball Journey from Cuba to the Big Leagues and Back, by Luis Tiant with Saul Wisnia
   9. Ball Four, by Jim Bouton and Leonard Shecter
   10. Shoeless Joe, by W.P. Kinsella

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 titles, 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. Ninety Percent Mental
3. K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches
4. Ball Four
5. The MVP Machine
6. Heads-Up Baseball
7. The Metheny Manifesto
8. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask
9. The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell
10. The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood

The New York Times no longer offers a monthly list of sports best-sellers. There are no baseball titles on their latest nonfiction hardcover weekly posting. But they did run an excerpt from Andrew Maraniss’ new book, Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke. Look for a Bookshelf Conversation with the author in the weeks ahead.

Reading Gordon’s book about the Mets and really enjoying it so far. Surprised by the appearance of Should Have Quit, since it was originally published in 2019 and as far as I recall this is the first time it’s made the BBS list.

Buyer Beware: Amazon’s e-book lists offer the top 100 paid and free titles. But if you look closely, some of the books on the “free” list are in reality not free, so pay attention. I sent sent a query to Amazon’s media relations department today about the discrepancy but have not heard back yet.

Still not in the Amazon top-ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, right now it ranks at 1,601,375 overall in books; last time, 624,026. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,505,509 (last time, 1,351,553).

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 my books, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing an Amazon review; it’s never too late.

Tagged as: Fantasy baseball, Glenn Burke, New York Mets, Ted Williams, Yogi Berra