Baseball Best-Sellers, May 9, 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. Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America, by Will Bardenwerper (My review on Bookreporter.com)
2. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter.com)
3. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments (hardcover), by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
4. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen (Paperback)
5. The Forgotten Miracle: The Story of the 1973 New York Mets  by Mark Rosenman *
6. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole
7. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood
8. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien (narrated by the author. My review on Bookreporter.com) Ω
9. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
10. The National Baseball Hall of Fame Collection: Celebrating the Game’s Greatest Players, by James Buckley

KINDLE BOOKS

1. The Wingmen
2. The Glory of Their Times, by Lawrence Ritter
3. The Last Manager
4. Eight Men Out, by Eliot Asinof
5. Moneyball
6. The 1998 Yankees: The Inside Story of the Greatest Baseball Team Ever, by Jack Curry
7. Homestand
8. The Bill James Guide to Baseball Managers
9. It’s a Beautiful Day for Baseball: The National Pastime in the 1960s, by Doug Kurkul
10. Wait Till Next Year, by Doris Kearns Goodwin

AUDIBLE

The links here will take you to the pages where you can hear samples.

1. The Baseball 100
2. October 1964, by David Halberstam
3. Moneyball (unabridged, read by Scott Brick)
4. Homestand
5. Wait Till Next Year
6. The Last Manager
7. Why We Love Baseball
8. Charlie Hustle
9. The Inside Game: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves, by Keith Law
10. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (narrated by the author)

For the time being at least, Amazon once again has lists for all three best-seller categories.

Congrats to Keith O’Brien, winner of the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,840,923 overall in books; last time, 2,784,153.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 497,234; last time, 1,719,832.

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: New York Mets