Baseball Best-Sellers, December 3, 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. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene
3. Ballparks: A Journey Through the Fields of the Past, Present, and Future, by Eric Enders
4. The Ultimate Atlanta Braves Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Braves Fans!, by Ray Walker
5. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
6. The Ultimate Boston Red Sox Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard BoSox Fans!, by Ray Walker
7. The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman
8. The Ultimate Los Angeles Dodgers Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Dodgers Fans!, by Ray Walker
9. The Ultimate Chicago Cubs Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Cubs Fans!, by Ray Walker
10. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis

E-BOOKS

1. Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series, by David Pietrusza
2. The Baseball 100
3. Moneyball
4. Ball Four: Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, by Jim Bouton and Leonard Shecter
5. The Last Real Season, by Mike Shropshire
6. 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
7. Future Value: The Battle for Baseball’s Soul and How Teams Will Find the Next Superstar, by Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel
8. Out of My League, by Dirk Hayhurst
9. The Teammates: A Portrait of Friendship, by David Halberstam
10. Maris & Mantle: Two Yankees, Baseball Immortality, and the Age of Camelot, by Tony Castro

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 Baseball Codes, by Jason Turbow
4. Ty Cobb: A Terrible Beauty, by Charles Leerhsen
5. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton and Leonard Shecter
6. Moneyball  (Abridged)
7. Cheated: The Inside Story of the Astros Scandal and a Colorful History of Sign Stealing by Andy Martino
8. The Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter
9. Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury
10. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood

No baseball titles on the New York Times‘ list.

Still not in the Amazon top-ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, right now it ranks at 2,156,383 overall in books; last time, 1,787,371. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,893,277; last time, 1,687,165.

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.