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
- Welcome to the Circus of Baseball: A Story of the Perfect Summer at the Perfect Ballpark at the Perfect Time, by Ryan McGee
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
- The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
- The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski
- Mind of a Superior Hitter, by Michael McCree
- 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 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Great Team in Pinstripe History, by Jack Curry *
- The Mental Game of Baseball, by H.A. Dorfman
- Baseball America Prospect Handbook
- Baseball Prospectus 2023
KINDLE BOOKS
- Welcome to the Circus of Baseball
- Moneyball
- Game Time by Roger Angell
- The Baseball 100
- Winning Fixes Everything
- A Constraints-Led Approach to Baseball Coaching
- In Scoring Position: 40 Years of a Baseball Love Affair
- Future Value: The Battle for Baseball’s Soul and How Teams Will Find the Next Superstar
- Baseball Prospectus
- The Sputnik Season: 1957
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)
- Welcome to the Cirus of Baseball
- The Baseball 100
- Winning Fixes Everything
- The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Great Team in Pinstripe History
- Ball Four: The Final Pitch
- The Science of Hitting
- The Matheny Manifesto
- Heads-Up Baseball
- Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
Not much has changed, other than positioning. Is Welcome to the Circus of Baseball a parody of “the Church of Baseball?” Anyway, it’s #1 so I’m leaving the photo.
Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 948,014 overall in books (#92 in Literary Bibliographies & Indexes); last time, 2,855,340. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,961,073 (#100 in Teen & Young Adult Baseball & Softball); last time, 1,628,631.
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.
is available on Amazon.com,
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