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.
The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski- Joe Nuxhall: The Old Lefthander & Me: My Conversations with Joe Nuxhall About the Reds, Baseball & Broadcasting, by John Kiesewetter
- Ballparks: A Journey Through the Fields of the Past, Present, and Future, by Eric Enders
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
- Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between, by Eric Nussbaum* (My review on Bookreporter.com)
- The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
- The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene
- The Mental Game of Baseball: A Guide to Peak Performance, by H.A. Dorfman
- Heads-Up Baseball : Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time, by Tom Hanson
- The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman
E-BOOKS
- The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the … Put on a New York Uniform–and Maybe the Best, by Jeff Pearlman
- The Baseball 100
- Moneyball
- Ball Four, by Jim Bouton and Leonard Shecter
- 1962: Baseball and America in the Time of JFK, by David Krell
- Stealing Home
- The Last Real Season, by Mike Shropshire
- So Many Ways to Lose, by Devon Gordon* (My review on Bookreporter.com)
- Game Six, by Mark Frost
- Our Team: The Epic Story of Four Men and the World Series That Changed Baseball, by Luke Epplin* (My review on Bookreporter.com)
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.
- Moneyball (unabridged, narrated by Scott Brick)
- Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
- Stealing Home
- The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Connor
- Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury
- The Baseball 100
- The Bronx Zoo, by Sparky Lyle
- Ball Four: The Final Pitch
- Chipper Jones, Ballplayer
- Lenny Dykstra: A Memoir of Life on the Edge
Any books about the Mets I attribute to the terrific four-part 30 for 30 series, “Once Upon a Time in Queens.” I’ll post my take on it soon but in the meantime, Decider.com votes positive in a “Stream it or Skip It” column. I’m thinking the inclusion of Dykstra’s “memoir” is a just so readers can confirm that he’s as big of a loose cannon (to out it much more politely than even he would), based on his appearance in the documentary.
Even though I’ve started several books, I put them all aside when I received Posnanski’s latest. Enjoyable on so many levels. I’m looking forward to having him on for a Conversation in the very near future.
For those of you who never heard of him, Joe Nuxhall was the youngest player to appear in the major leagues, coming on the scene in the war-plagued year of 1944 at the tender age of 15. But even though his career spanned from 1944-66, that includes seven years when he wasn’t on a major league roster.
Still not in the Amazon top-ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, right now it ranks at 2,402,679 overall in books; last time, 2,277,001. I think I’ll stop these updates if it sinks below three million; that’s just too depressing. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,815,987; last time, 1,788,044).
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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