New: An asterisk serves to let you know that the author is a member of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club. I enthusiastically recommend you visit the site, sign up for their newsletter, and buy some merch.
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. The asterisk denotes the author is a “member” of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club.
Till the End, by CC Sabathia and Chris Smith (coming July 6)- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
- The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
- Mind of a Superior Hitter: The Art, Science and Philosophy, by Michael McCree
- Remember Who You Are: What Pedro Gomez Showed Us About Baseball and Life
- The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene
- Cheated: The Inside Story of the Astros Scandal and a Colorful History of Sign Stealing, by Andy Martino
- The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman
- The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance, by H.A. Dorfman
- The Natural, by Bernard Malamud
E-BOOKS
- Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx is Burning, by Jonathan Mahler
- Till the End
- Ball Four
- Summer of ’68: The Season That Changed Baseball — and America — Forever, by Tim Wendel
- The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball’s Golden Age, by Robert Weintraub
- The Last Real Season, by Mike Shropshire
- Moneyball
- 1954: The Year Willie Mays and the First Generation of Black Superstars Changed Major League Baseball Forever, by Bill Madden
- Cheated
- Uppity: My Untold Story About The Games People Play, by Bill White with Gordon Dillow
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.
- Till the End
- Moneyball (unabridged, narrated by Scott Brick)
- The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron
- Ball Four: The Final Pitch
- Ninety Percent Mental
- Cheated
- Chipper Jones: Ballplayer
- The Baseball Codes
- The Inside Game
- Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask
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.
Still not in the Amazon top-ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, right now it ranks at 2,260,232 overall in books; last time, 1,960,654. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,622,032; last time, 1,457,004).
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.
Now we’ll see who pays attention. Removing the “Super shameless self-promotion” section. Look for some exciting news in the near future.
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.
is available on Amazon.com,
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