Baseball Best-Sellers, April 16, 2021

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 has 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. 1. Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball, by Luke Epplin (My review on Bookreporter.com)
   2. So Many Ways to Lose: The Amazin’ True Story of the New York Mets―the Best Worst Team in Sports, by Devin Gordon (My review on Bookreporter.com)
   3. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
   4. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
   5. New York Times Story of the Yankees: 1903-Present: 390 Articles, Profiles & Essays
   6. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene
   7. I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography of Jackie Robinson, by Jackie Robinson and Alfred Duckett
   8. The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman
   9. Baseball Prospectus 2021
   10. A Fan’s Guide to Baseball Analytics: Why WAR, WHIP, wOBA, and Other Advanced Sabermetrics Are Essential to Understanding Modern Baseball, by Anthony Castrovince

E-BOOKS

1. 1. 3 Nights in August
   2. Intangibles: Unlocking the Science and Soul of Team Chemistry, by Joan Ryan
   3. Our Team
   4. Moneyball
   5. Dynastic, Bombastic, Fantastic, by Jason Turbow
   6. The Last Real Season, by Mike Shropshire
   7. So Many Ways to Lose
   8. 2020 NFHS Baseball Rules Book
   9. Summer of ’68: The Season that Changed Baseball — And America — Forever, by Tim Wendel
   10. A Fan’s Guide to Baseball Analytics

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. Stealing Home
3. Ball Four
4. Moneyball
5. I Never Had it Made
6. Moneyball
7. The Matheny Manifesto
8. Heads-Up Baseball
9. Ninety Percent Mental
10. Our Team

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.

April 15 was Jackie Robinson Day which probably accounts for the renewed interest.

Generally, I don’t like collections as published by the Times. Basically, they’re just digging into their archives on the Yankees to make money. But I can understand how others would appreciate such a book. Certainly makes a nice gift.

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 another query recently to Amazon’s media relations department; still waiting for their answer.

Still not in the Amazon top-ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, right now it ranks at 1,896,940 overall in books; last time, 1,610,531. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 610,540 (#67 in “Teen & Young Adult Baseball & Softball”; last time, 1,458,077).

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: Cleveland Indians, ew York Mets, Jackie Robinson, New York Yankees, Ted Williams