Baseball Best-Sellers, June 20, 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. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments (hardcover), by Joe Posnanski Ω (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. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
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 Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams and Tom Underwood
6. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
7. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole
8. Stealing Home: Los Angeles, the Dodgers, and the Lives Caught in Between, by Eric Nussbaum
9. Homestand: Small Town Baseball and the Fight for the Soul of America, by Will Bardenwerper (My review on Bookreporter.com)
10. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker

KINDLE

1. Nice Guys Finish Last, by Leo Durocher and Ed Linn
2. The Wingmen
3. The Last Manager
4. Stealing Home
5. The Bad Guys Won, by Jeff Pearlman
6. Moneyball
7. Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton and Tim Keown
8. Why We Love Baseball
9. One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season, by Chris Ballard
10. Skipper: Why Baseball Managers Matter and Always Will, by Scott Miller

AUDIO

1. The Baseball 100
2. 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
3. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (narrated by the author)
4. The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness, by Andy McCullough (My review on Bookreporter.com)
5. The Metheny Manifesto, by Mike Metheny and Jerry Jenkins
6. Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury (narrated by the author)
7. The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players, by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchick
8. Calico Joe, by John Grisham (My review on Bookreporter.com)
9. 62: Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees, and the Pursuit of Greatness, by Bryan Hoch

So this week we have a Kindlke best-seller list. Huzzah. I still had to glean the Audible list from the  overall Amazon top 100 baseball books, which is why there are only nine titles.

Once again, nothing much 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 2,992,090 overall in books; last time, 2,925,779. For some reason, the print version is much less than the Kindle version.   Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 2,345,396; last time, 1,850,218.

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.