Baseball Best-Sellers, October 29, 2021

October 29, 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

A Day In The Bleachers: Hano, Arnold: 9780306813221: Amazon.com: BooksPRINT

  1. The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski
  2. A Day In The Bleachers, by Arnold Hano
  3. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene
  4. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
  5. The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman
  6. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
  7. One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season, by Chris Ballard
  8. The Ultimate Atlanta Braves Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Braves Fans!, by Ray Walker
  9. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
  10. Ballparks: A Journey Through the Fields of the Past, Present, and Future, by Eric Enders

E-BOOKS

  1. The Baseball 100
  2. Out of My League, by Dirk Hayhurst
  3. Moneyball
  4. The Last Real Season, by Mike Shropshire
  5. Doc: A Memoir, by Dwight Gooden and Ellis Henican
  6. Ball Four, by Jim Bouton and Leonard Shecter
  7. 1954: The Year Willie Mays and the First Generation of Black Superstars Changed Major League Baseball Forever, by Bill Madden
  8. The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball’s Golden Age, by Robert Weintraub
  9. Uppity: My Untold Story About The Games People Play, by Bill White with Gordon Dillow
  10. Game Six, by Mark Frost

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  (unabridged, narrated by Scott Brick)
  2. The Baseball 100
  3. The Science of Hitting
  4. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
  5. Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury
  6. Ball Four: The Final Pitch
  7. Cheated
  8. The Cloudbuster Nine
  9. One Shot at Forever
  10. Baseball, by Geoffrey C. Ward

No surprise that A Day in the Bleachers is on the list following the passing of Arnold Hano. Surprisingly, there is no audio version. You would think that would be a natural from a storyteller like Hano.

Ray Walker has two books of trivia on the print list. It seems like an easy project, putting this type of thing together. (I spoke with Jason Katzman of Sports Publishing — and editor for my book on Hank Greenberg — on what goes into putting a good one together.)

Clicking through TV last night, I happened upon a reference to Moneyball on the CBS show, The United States of Al. It’s about a Marine combat veteran struggling to readjust to civilian life in Ohio, and the Interpreter who served with his unit in Afghanistanan. The vet’s dad is watching a ball game and Al comments that nothing is happening.

“That’s baseball,” answers the dad, who goes on to express how “Moneyball changed baseball forever. That’s why no one swings at pitches anymore.” (After a long silence, Al notes that “Still nothing is happening.” “Yeah, it’s a good game,” says dad. Hey, I didn’t say this was a great show.)

The Baseball 100 dropped off The New York Times list.

Still not in the Amazon top-ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They DieFYI, right now it ranks at 2,610,941 overall in books; last time, 2,582,296 . 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 1,603,964 ; last time, 800,338.

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.

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