Baseball Best-Sellers, July 12, 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. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
2. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien (My review on Bookreporter.com)
3. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
4. The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City, by Kevin Baker (My review on Bookreporter.com)
5. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
6. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood
7. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen
8. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
9. The Baseball 100, by Joe Posnanski Ω
10. Mind of a Superior Hitter: The Art, Science and Philosophy, by Michael McCree

KINDLE BOOKS

1. The Wingmen
2. Charlie Hustle
3. The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Greatest Baseball Team Ever, by Jack Curry
4. Moneyball
5. The Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter Ω
6. The Tao of the Backup Catcher, by Tim Brown with Erik Kratz
7. Wait Til Next Year, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
8. The New York Game
9. Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball, by George F. Will
10. The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness, by Andy McCullough

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. Charlie Hustle
2. Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports Greatest Mess, by Evan Drelich
3. The Baseball 100
4. Moneyball (unabridged, read by Scott Brick)
5. Why We Love Baseball
6. The New York Game
7. So Many Ways to Lose: The Amazin’ True Story of the New York Mets—the Best Worst Team in Sports, by Devin Gordon
8. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole with Don Yeager (narrated by Cole)
9. Heads-Up Baseball, by Ken Ravizza and and Tom Hanson
10. Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury (narrated by the author)

Virtually the same list for print books as last week with the return of Mind tossed into the mix. Constantly amazed how Ted Williams remains so popular week after week.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,980,531 overall in books; last time, 2,962,993.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 618,917 (#53 in Teen & Young Adult Baseball & Softball); last time, 2,869,466.

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.