Baseball Best-Sellers, September 26, 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 had with them. An asterisk denotes a book making its debut on the BBS list. And a “Ω” means it’s an award winner.

PRINT

1. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
2. Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It, by Jane Leavy (My review on Bookreporter.com)
3. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen (Paperback)
4. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
5. The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter.com)
6. Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole
7. The Baseball 100 (paperback), by Joe Posnanski Ω
8. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
9. The Ultimate Baseball Trivia Challenge, by Hank Patton
10. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton

KINDLE

1. The Last of His Kind: Clayton Kershaw and the Burden of Greatness, by Andy McCullough
2. Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig, by Jonathan Eig
3. Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero, by David Maraniss
4. Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, by David Jamieson
5. The Card: Collectors, Con Men, and the True Story of History’s Most Desired Baseball Card, by Michael O’Keeffe and Teri Thompson
6. Orange Crush: The Neglected 1971 Houston Astros, by Samuel Barrett
7. I Never Had It Made: An Autobiography, by Jackie Robinson and Alfred Duckett
8. Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers, by Peter Golenbock

AUDIOBOOKS

1. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Posnanski
2. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien
3. The Boys of Summer: The Classic Narrative of Growing Up Within Shouting Distance of Ebbets Field, Covering the Jackie Robinson Dodgers, and What’s Happened to Everybody Since, by Roger Kahn
4. The Cubs Way: The Zen of Building the Best Team in Baseball and Breaking the Curse, by Tom Verducci (narrated by the author)
5. Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury and Scott Miller
6. Yogi: A Life Behind the Mask, by Jon Pessah
7. The Matheny Manifesto: A Young Manager’s Old-School Views on Success in Sports and Life, by Mike Matheny and Jerry B. Jenkins
8. Calico Joe, by John Grisham
9. The Game: Inside the Secret World of Major League Baseball’s Power Brokers, by Jon Pessah

There is some semblance to a return of the original three-tiered Best-Seller list. Not surprised Kershaw’s bio is back, but a bit surprised it’s not represented in all three categories.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 3,413,175  overall; last time, 3,214,694.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 2,463,777; last time, 2,042,048.

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.

BUT…

Some exciting news (now we’ll see who’s paying attention and reading down this far).

Necessity is the mother of invention. Thanks to emergency surgery in which I said goodbye to a recalcitrant gallbladder, I have a couple off months for recuperation during which time I will be working on a revision of 501.

The new version will include all the original stuff but as you know if you’re a baseball reading fool, there have been a lot of great books published since 501 came out a dozen years ago. So since this isn’t a ranking where one title might be pushed off the list, the new material will appear as an added chapter.

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.