Baseball Best-Sellers, May 3, 2024

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 in 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 Amazon’s 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 (i.e., 12 and under). Also no “adult” adult books (romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme although goodness knows there are a bunch of those out there).

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. And a Ω (omega), means it’s an award winner.

PRINT

1. The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City, by Kevin Baker (Look for a Bookshelf Conversation with the author next week.)
2. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski Ω
3. The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness, by Andy McCullough (pre-sale, release date May 7)
4. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood
5. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
6. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien
7. Perfect Eloquence: An Appreciation of Vin Scully, Edited by Tom Hoffarth *
8. The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski Ω
9. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
10. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen

KINDLE BOOKS

1. The Wingmen
2. The New York Game
3. The DiMaggios: Three Brothers, Their Passion for Baseball, Their Pursuit of the American Dream, by Tom Clavin
4. Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series, by Eliot Asinof
5. Joe DiMaggio: The Hero’s Life, by Richard Ben Cramer
6. Nine Innings: The Anatomy of a Baseball Game, by Daniel Okrent
7. Charlie Hustle
8. Wait Till Next Year, by Doris Kearns Goodwin Ω
9. Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend, by James Hirsch
10. Moneyball

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 New York Game
3. The Baseball 100
4. Charlie Hustle
5. Why We Love Baseball
6. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (narrated by the author)
7. The Boys of Summer
8. The Last of His Kind
9. Wait Till Next Year
10. The Arm

New this week: Tom Hoffarth’s Perfect Eloquence.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,795,396 overall in books; last time, 2,674,170.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 2,928,578; last time, 2,919,376.

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 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.