Baseball Best-Sellers, November 15, 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. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
2. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole and Don Yeager
3. Dodgers: 2024 World Champions, by the Los Angeles Times
   
4. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
5. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen
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. Ballparks: A Journey Through the Fields of the Past, Present, and Future, by Eric Enders
8. The Ultimate New York Mets Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Mets Fans!, by Walker
9. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood
10. Perfect Eloquence: An Appreciation of Vin Scully, by Tom Hoffarth

KINDLE BOOKS

1. The Wingmen
2. Why We Love Baseball
3. Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy, by Jane Leavy
4. Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?: The Improbable Saga of the New York Mets’ First Year, by Jimmy Breslin
5. Moneyball, by Michael Lewis
6. The Baseball 100, by Posanski
7. Wait Til Next Year, By Doris Kearns Goodwin
8. 1901: The War of the Baseball Magnates, by Timothy Zarley
9. The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball, by Tom Tango, et al
10. 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)

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. The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created, by Jane Leavy
2. 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
3. Moneyball (unabridged, read by Scott Brick)
4. The Arm, by Jeff Passan
5. The Baseball 100
6. Why We Love Baseball
7. Charlie Hustle
8. The Yankee Way, by Andy Martino
9. Banana Ball, by Jesse Cole
10. Wait Till Next Year

Nothing new to report.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 759,643 overall in books (#61 in Literary Bibliographies & Indexes); last time, 3,133,855.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,113,153; last time, 3,087,295.

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.