Baseball Best-Sellers, July 28, 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 Tao of the Backup Catcher: Playing Baseball for the Love of the Game, by Tim Brown with Eric Kratz
The Last Miracle: My 18-Year Journey with the Amazin’ New York Mets, by Ed Kranepool with Gary Kaschak * (Release date Aug. 1)
62: Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees, and the Pursuit of Greatness, by Bryan Hoch
The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and John Underwood
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
The Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter
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 Mental Game of Baseball, by H.A. Dorfman
The Ballpark Bucket List: Take THIS Out to the Ballgame! – The Ultimate Scorecard for Visiting All 30 Major League Parks, by James Buckley
The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski

KINDLE BOOKS

Tao of the Backup Catcher
The Inside Game: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves, by Keith Law
The Last Miracle
Moneyball
Intentional Balk: Baseball’s Thin Line Between Innovation and Cheating, by Mark Armour and Daniel Levitt
Ball Four: Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, by Jim Bouton
Rothstein: The Life, Times, and Murder of the Criminal Genius Who Fixed the 1919 World Series, by David Pietrusza
Al Kaline: The Biography of a Tigers Icon, by Jim Hawkins
The Baseball 100
The Sputnik Season: 1957, by Noel Hynd

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)
Tao of the Backup Catcher
The Baseball 100
Banana Ball , by Jesse Cole with Dan Yaeger (read by Cole)
Calico Joe, by John Grisham
Ball Four: The Final Pitch , by Jim Bouton (read by the author)
The Bad Guys Won, by Jeff Pearlman (read by the author)
Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury (read by the author)
Heads-Up Baseball, by Ken Ravizza
The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Connor

Like Charlie Brown, my childhood baseball hero was someone pretty far off the radar. No Mickey Mantle or Willie Mays for me. Steady Eddie Kranepool — a middling first baseman for the New York Mets — was my guy. So I was really tickled when I saw he was coming out with a book. Krane has been dealing with some pretty bad health issues over the past several years. So I’m glad he’s telling his story.

Remember how I said in the head note that I don’t consider baseball romance novels in these lists? Still don’t, but I found this — 20 Must-Read Baseball Romances — on Bookriot.com and just had to include it (although I have not read it).

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,013,995 overall in books; last time, 1,549,970. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 2,196,690; last time, 2,003,330.

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.