Baseball Best-Sellers, April 4, 2025

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 Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter.com)
2. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments (hardcover), by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
3. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole
4. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments (paperback)
5. Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America, by Will Bardenwerper
6. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen (Paperback)
7. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood
8. Baseball America Prospect Handbook
9. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
10. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω (paperback)

AUDIBLE

1. The Last Manager
2. Moneyball (unabridged, read by Scott Brick)
3. Yogi: A Life, by Jon Pessah
4. The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Greatest Baseball Team Ever, by Jack Curry
5. Why We Love Baseball, by Posnanski (narrated by the author)
6. The Baseball 100, by Posnanski
7. 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)
8. Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury (narrated by the author)
9. The Tao of the Backup Catcher, by Tim Brown (narrated by the author)
10. Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between, by Eric Nussbaum

Note: Amazon has changed the way they list their books. I’ve managed to find a ranking for the audio books but still not for the Kindle versions.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,218,864 overall in books; last time, 1,884,583.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 1,277,306; last time, 3,460,729.

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.