Baseball Best-Sellers, October 1, 2021

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.

PRINT

The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
Maris & Mantle: Two Yankees, Baseball Immortaity, and the Age of Camelot, by Tony Castro
Ballparks: A Journey Through the Fields of the Past, Present, and Future, by Eric Enders
The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene
The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman
Joe Nuxhall: The Old Lefthander & Me: My Conversations with Joe Nuxhall About the Reds, Baseball & Broadcasting, by John Kiesewetter
The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
The Natural, by Bernard Malamud

E-BOOKS

The Baseball 100
A False Spring, by Pat Jordan
Maris & Mantle
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
Moneyball
The Roger Angell Baseball Collection
Ball Four, by Jim Bouton and Leonard Shecter
A Season in the Sun: The Rise of Mickey Mantle, by Randy Roberts
The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife, by Brad Balukjian *
Clubbie: A Minor League Baseball Memoir, by Greg Larson

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.

The Baseball 100
Summer of ’64, by David Halberstam
Moneyball (unabridged, narrated by Scott Brick)
Ball Four: The Final Pitch
Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury
The Mental Game of Baseball, by H.A. Dorfman
The Matheny Manifesto, by Mike Matheny
Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
The Science of Hitting
The Soul of Baseball: A Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Joe Posnanski

The Baseball 100 remains at the top of the print list and is, in fact, a “Triple Crown” winner this week. Coming soon: a “Bookshelf Conversation” with the author.

Still not in the Amazon top-ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, right now it ranks at 2,526,986 overall in books; last time, 2,479,422. 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 794,109 (#90 in Teen & Young Adult Baseball & Softball); last time, 1,831,134).

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.