Baseball Best-Sellers, Sept. 25, 2020

Has it really been three weeks since the last one of these? My, my…

Note: 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 writing one). But close enough for government work, as the saying goes.

aIn addition, occasionally the powers-that-be over there try to pull a fast one by including a book in a category to which it should not be listed (in my opinion). For example, a current title on the BBS list is The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect. “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. Also no romance/erotic fiction that features baseball as a theme either (and goodness knows there are a bunch of those).

So, with all that said…

NEW FEATURE: By the way, the links by the authors’ names will take you to any Bookshelf Conversations I did with them.

PRINT

1. The Captain: A Memoir, by David Wright with Anthony DiComo (due Oct. 13)
2. The Inside Game: Bad Calls, Strange Moves, and What Baseball Behavior Teaches Us About Ourselves, by Keith Law
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. Keene
5. The Science of Hitting, by Ted Williams with John Underwood
6. The Greatest Baseball Stories Ever Told: Thirty Unforgettable Tales from the Diamond, by Michael Silverman
7. 24: Life Stories and Lessons from the Say Hey Kid, by Willie Mays and John Shea
8. Dick Bremer: Game Used: My Life in Stitches with the Minnesota Twins, by Dick Bremer with Jim Bruton
9. Beckett Baseball Card Price Guide 42
10. Heads-Up Baseball : Playing the Game One Pitch at a Time, by Tom Hanson\

E-BOOKS

1. The Inside Game
2. Ball Four, by Jim Bouton and Leonard Shecter
3. The Roger Angell Baseball Collection
4. The Old Ball Game, by Frank Deford
5. Moneyball
6. Living on the Black: Two Pitchers, Two Teams, One Season to Remember, by John Feinstein
7. The Gashouse Gang: How Dizzy Dean, Leo Durocher, Branch Rickey, Pepper Martin, and Their Colorful, Come-from-Behind Ball Club Won the World Series-and America’s Heart-During the Great Depression, by John Heidenry
8. Shoeless Joe, by W.P. Kinsella
9. I’m Keith Hernandez, by Hernandez
10. The Captain: A Memoir

AUDIOBOOKS

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 audiobooks, their reader/narrators, and samples. Note further that these are update regularly and the top ten list below might no longer be the same.

1. Moneyball
2. Ball Four
3. The Captain
4. Yogi
5. The MVP Machine
6. The Mental Game of Baseball
7. Ninety Percent Mental
8. Stealing Home
9. 24
10. The Big Fella: Babe Ruth and the World He Created

New York Times no longer offers a monthly list of sports best-sellers. There are no baseball titles on their regular weekly list.

I should point out that Tom Callahan’s new book, Gods at Play: An Eyewitness Account of Great Moments in American Sports, was listed in the top ten for both print and e-books, but I do not consider that a “baseball” book for the purposes of these posts so I have omitted it (see above).

David Wright’s new memoir is out soon. Wouldn’t be surprised if it made the Times‘ list. There’s no arguing that he was a great player: seven time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove and Silver Slugger winner, numerous franchise records. But I don’t consider him Hall of Fame material (he led the league in only one department (sacrifice flies, twice). Of course, I will read it, but given his reputation as an all around good egg, I can’t see this as breaking any new ground. He reminds me of the way Lou Gehrig was described in The Pride of the Yankees, when sportswriter Hank Hanneman, a rival of Gehrig supporter Sam Blake, says, “He’s a boob with a batting eye. He wakes up, brushes his teeth, hikes out to the ballpark, hits the ball, hikes back to the hotel room, reads the funny papers, gargles, and goes to bed.” Blake replies that that’s the best kind of hero.

Roger Angell turns 100 tomorrow so I’m surprised there aren’t more of his titles on these lists. That’s the guy I would really love to have for a Bookshelf Conversation, so if anyone can make that happen…

And apparently baseball cards are finally back, at least judging by the listing of the Beckett guide.

Still some good freebies available for the Kindle. Joining the current batch is my own Hank Greenberg bio (see below). Mixed feelings about this but…

And still not on the Amazon top-ten list? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, right now it ranks at 1,976,423, overall in books; last time, 433,751. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 328,774 (last time, 1,439,988).

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 abridged dictionary; it has most of the other books in it.

Super-shameless self-promotion: And by the way, I am looking for a publisher for an revised edition of 501, UNP having passed on the opportunity. So if you have any suggestions, please drop me a line. Mucho appreciado.

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 those books, thanks, hope you enjoyed it, and please consider writing an Amazon review; it’s never too late.

Tagged as: Baseball Cards, David Wright, Hank Greenberg, New York Mets, Willie Mays, Yogi Berra