Baseball Best-Sellers, October 8, 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. The asterisk denotes the author is a “member” of the Pandemic Baseball Book Club.

PRINT

1. The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski *
2. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
3. Once Upon a Time in Queens: An Oral History of the 1986 Mets, by Nick Davis
4. Ballparks: A Journey Through the Fields of the Past, Present, and Future, by Eric Enders
5. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
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. The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman
8. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
9. A Fan’s Guide to Baseball Analytics: Why WAR, WHIP, wOBA, and Other Advanced Sabermetrics Are Essential to Understanding Modern Baseball, by Anthony Castrovince  *
10. So Many Ways to Lose: The Amazin’ True Story of the New York Mets―the Best Worst Team in Sports, by Devin Gordon *

E-BOOKS

1. The Baseball 100
2. October 1964, by David Halberstam
3. Moneyball
4. The Last Real Season, by Mike Shropshire
5. Uppity: My Untold Story About The Games People Play, by Bill White with Gordon Dillow
6. Game Six, by Mark Frost
7. Maris & Mantle: Two Yankees, Baseball Immortality, and the Age of Camelot, by Tony Castro
8. Cheated: The Inside Story of the Astros Scandal and a Colorful History of Sign Stealing, by Andy Martino
9. Doc: A Memoir, by Dwight Gooden and Ellis Henican
10. The Ten-Minute Collapse: Black Friday and the Fall of the 1977 Phillies by Mitchell Nathanson

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. The Baseball 100
2. Moneyball  (unabridged, narrated by Scott Brick)
3. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
4. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton and Leonard Shecter
5. The  Boys of Summer, by Roger Kahn
6. Summer of ’64, by David Halberstam
7. The Phenom: Pressure, The Yips, and The Pitch That Changed My Life, by Roger Ankiel
8. The Matheny Manifesto, by Mike Matheny
9. The Soul of Baseball: A Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America, by Joe Posnanski
10. Chipper Jones, Ballplayer, by Jones

Once again, The Baseball 100 remains at the top of all three lists. In addition, it made The New York Times list coming in at #5, the first baseball title to do so in a long time. But let Posnanski tell you himself.

Once Upon a Time in Queens is the companion book for the excellent four-part HBO 30-for-30 series. Look for an interview with the author/director next week.

Still not in the Amazon top-ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, right now it ranks at 2,565,349 overall in books; last time, 2,526,986. 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 1,501,095; last time, 794,109.

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.

Tagged as: New York Mets, New York Yankees, Ted Williams