Baseball Best-Sellers, June 23, 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

1. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
2. The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Great Team in Pinstripe History, by Jack Curry
3. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
4. The Last Folk Hero: The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson, by Jeff Pearlman
5. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keene
6. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
7. The Ballpark Bucket List: Take THIS Out to the Ballgame! – The Ultimate Scorecard for Visiting All 30 Major League Parks, by James Buckley
8. The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski (hardcover)
9. Heads-Up Baseball, by Tom Hanson
10. The Mental Game of Baseball, by H.A. Dorfman

KINDLE BOOKS

1. Moneyball
2. The Baseball 100
3. The Greatest Summer in Baseball History: How the ’73 Season Changed Us Forever, by John Rosengren
4. The 1998 Yankees
5. Game Time, by Roger Angell
6. Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports’ Biggest Mess, by Evan Drellich
7. Ball Four: Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, by Jim Bouton
8. The New Ballgame: The Not-So-Hidden Forces Shaping Modern Baseball, by Russell Carelton
9. Billy Martin: Baseball’s Flawed Genius, by Bill Pennington
10. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of The Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole with Don Yaeger

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. Moneyball (unabridged, narrated by Scott Brick)
2. The Last Innocents: The Collision of the Turbulent Sixties and the Los Angeles Dodgers, by Michael Leahy (and Part 2)
3. Baseball Maverick: How Sandy Alderson Revolutionized Baseball and Revived the Mets, by Steve Kettman
4. The Baseball 100
5. Banana Ball (read by Cole)
6. Welcome to the Circus of Baseball: A Story of the Perfect Summer at the Perfect Ballpark at the Perfect Time, by Ryan McGee (read by the author)
7. Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports’ Biggest Mess
8. Ball Four: The Final Pitch , by Jim Bouton (read by the author)
9. 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
10. The Science of Hitting

Nothing really new except the reappearance after a long time of Michael Leahy’s excellent book about the Dodgers. That deserves a pic, even if it’s not a print edition.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 1,726,673  overall in books; last time, 1,393,581. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,498,248 (#91 in Teen & Young Adult Baseball & Softball); last time, 403,790.

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.