Baseball Best-Sellers, June 16, 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 (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

The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Great Team in Pinstripe History, by Jack Curry
The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene
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 Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski (hardcover)
The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson, by Jeff Pearlman
The Baseball 100 (paperback)
The Ultimate New York Mets Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Mets 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

Moneyball
The New Ballgame: The Not-So-Hidden Forces Shaping Modern Baseball, by Russell Carelton
The Baseball 100
Detroit Tigers Gone Wild: Mischief, Crimes and Hard Time, by George Hunter
Mind of a Superior Hitter, by Michael McCree
The Greatest Summer in Baseball History: How the ’73 Season Changed Us Forever, by John Rosengren
Good As Gold: My Eight Decades in Baseball, by Jim Kaat and Douglas Lyons
Welcome to the Circus of Baseball: A Story of the Perfect Summer at the Perfect Ballpark at the Perfect Time, by Ryan McGee
The 1998 Yankees
How Baseball Happened: Outrageous Lies Exposed! The True Story Revealed, by Thomas Gilbert

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
The Church of Baseball: The Making of Bull Durham: Home Runs, Bad Calls, Crazy Fights, Big Swings, and a Hit, by Ron Shelton (read by the author)
Banana Ball: : The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole and Don Yeager (read by the Cole)
Ball Four: The Final Pitch , by Jim Bouton (read by the author)
DIAMOND MIND: Inspiring Stories of Mental Toughness for Young Athletes: A Baseball Player’s Guide to Sports Psychology & Motivation for Kids and Coaches, by Chase Brooks
The 1998 Yankees (read by the author)
Welcome to the Circus of Baseball (read by the author)
The Science of Hitting
Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports’ Biggest Mess, by Evan Drellich

Seems unfair that Moneyball gets two of the top ten slots in the print list, but rules is rules. BTW, here’s a great interview with the author from The Athletic on the twentieth anniversary of its publication. Unfortunately, it’s behind a paywall, but I’m sure there are ways around that.

Speaking of anniversaries, 2023 marks 35 years since the premiere of Bull Durham.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 1,393,581 overall in books; last time, 407,617. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 403,790 (#28 in Teen & Young Adult Baseball & Softball); last time, 2,389,110. So kind of a reverse.

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.

Happy holiday, folks. Be safe out there.