Baseball Best-Sellers, November 8, 2024

A reminder: The Amazona 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. Perfect Eloquence: An Appreciation of Vin Scully, by Tom Hoffarth
2. Dodgers: 2024 World Champions, by the Los Angeles Times *
3. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
4. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
5. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
6. 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)
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 Baseball 100, by Posnanski Ω
9. The Ultimate Los Angeles Dodgers Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Dodgers Fans!, by Walker
10. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood

KINDLE BOOKS

1. Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball, by George F. Will
2. The Wingmen
3. Nice Guys Finish Last, by Leo Durocher with Ed Linn
4. Why We Love Baseball
5. Seasons in Hell: With Billy Martin, Whitey Herzog and, “the Worst Baseball Team in History”—The 1973–1975 Texas Rangers, by Mike Shropshire
6. The Teammates: A Portrait of Friendship, by David Halberstam
7. Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?: The Improbable Saga of the New York Mets’ First Year, by Jimmy Breslin
8. Ball Four, by Jim Bouton
9. Electric October: Seven World Series Games, Six Lives, Five Minutes of Fame That Lasted Forever, by Kevin Cook
10. Moneyball, by Michael Lewis

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, read by Scott Brick)
2. Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years, by Steven P. Gietschier
3. Charlie Hustle
4. The Arm, by Jeff Passan
5. The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created, by Jane Leavy
6. Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball, by Keith Law
7. The Baseball 100
8. Why We Love Baseball
9. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Bouton (narrated by the author)
10. Wait Till Next Year, by Doris Kearns Goodwin

As I mentioned last week, here’s the quickie book about the Dodgers World Series victory, as well as Tom Hoffarth’s book on Vin Scully.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 3,133,855 overall in books; last time, 3,064,694.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,087,295; last time, 3,069,549.

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.

Tagged as: Los Angeles Dodgers, Vin Scully