Baseball Best-Sellers, March 31, 2023

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. (See my piece on “Why Amazon’s search engine sucks.”)

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. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list.

PRINT

1. Baseball Prospectus 2023
2. Baseball America Prospect Handbook
3. The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski
4. Welcome to the Circus of Baseball: A Story of the Perfect Summer at the Perfect Ballpark at the Perfect Time, by Ryan McGee *
5. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
6. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
7. Mind of a Superior Hitter, by Michael McCree
8. The Mental Game of Baseball, by H.A. Dorfman
9. The Ultimate Boston Red Sox Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard BoSox Fans!, by Ray Walker
10. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker

KINDLE BOOKS

1. Baseball Prospectus 2023
2. Moneyball
3. The Baseball 100
4. Welcome to the Circus of Baseball
5. Winning Fixes Everything
6. A Constraints-Led Approach to Baseball Coaching
7. How Baseball Happened
8. Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Takes a Swing at Baseball
9. A Damn Near Perfect Game
10. The Franchise: The New York Yankees

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.

1. The Baseball 100
2. The Game: Inside the Secret World of Major League Baseball’s Power Brokers, by Jon Pessah
3. Moneyball (unabridged, narrated by Scott Brick)
4. Ball Four: The Final Pitch
5. Winning Fixes Everything
6. A Damn Near Perfect Game
7. Heads-Up Baseball
8. The Umpire is Out
9. The Soul of Baseball
10. The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Great Team in Pinstripe History

Kind of funny how the Yankees and Red Sox trivia books are battling each other for supremacy on the BBS list.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,855,340 overall in books; last time, 2,853,488. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,628,631 (#85 in Teen & Young Adult Baseball & Softball); last time, 642,756.

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 dictionary; it has the other books in it. Which kind of reminds me of one of my favorite lines from one of my favorite shows.

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.