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” adult books (no romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme although goodness knows there are a bunch of those available).
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 Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson, by Jeff Pearlman
- The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene
- The Grandest Stage: A History of The World Series, by Tyler Kepner
- 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 Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski
- The Ultimate Boston Red Sox Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard BoSox Fans! , by Ray Walker
- The Ultimate Philadelphia Phillies Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Phillies Fans!, by Ray Walker
- The Ultimate Atlanta Braves Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Braves Fans!, by Ray Walker
- The Ultimate St. Louis Cardinals Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Cardinals Fans! , by Ray Walker
- A Game of Extremes: 25 Exceptional Baseball Stories about What Happened on and off the Field, by Roy Lingster
KINDLE BOOKS
- The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O’Neil’s America
- Moneyball
- The Grandest Stage
- The Glory of Their Times
- Warren Spahn: A Biography of the Legendary Lefty
- The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams
- Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah *
- Spitter: Baseball’s Notorious Gaylord Perry
- Ball Four: 50th Anniversary Edition
- The Cloudbuster Nine
AUDIBLE
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)
- The Baseball 100
- Ball Four
- Ninety Percent Mental
- The Yankee Years
- Astroball: The New Way to Win It All
- The Matheny Method
- The Soul of Baseball
- Rickey: The Life and Legend of an American Original
- Wait Till Next Year
Thought Me and the Spitter, Gaylord Perry’s “confessional,” would be on the list given the Hall of Famer’s passing this week. And I repeat, Ray Walker will have a list of his own one of these days. As of this posting, he has half of the print best-sellers.
Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 1,474,235 overall in books; last time, 1,585,814. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 2,308,407; last time, 2,199,667. Still only $1.99 for the Kindle version.
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.
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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