A reminder: The Amazona 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
- Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
- The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
- The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen
- The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω (paperback)
- The Ultimate Los Angeles Dodgers Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Dodgers Fans!, by Walker
- Banana Ball: The Unbelievably True Story of the Savannah Bananas, by Jesse Cole and Don Yeager
- Wait Till Next Year, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
- The Baseball 100, by Posnanski Ω
- Dewey: Behind the Gold Glove, by Dwight Evans and Erik Sherman
KINDLE BOOKS
- The Wingmen
- Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of ’76, by Dan Epstein
- Wrigleyville: A Magical History Tour of the Chicago Cubs, by Peter Golenbock
- Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?: The Improbable Saga of the New York Mets’ First Year, by Jimmy Breslin
- Sho-Time: The Inside Story of Shohei Ohtani and the Greatest Baseball Season Ever Played, by Jeff Fletcher
- Moneyball
- Wait Till Next Year
- Ball Four, by Jim Bouton
- The Game Must Go On: Hank Greenberg, Pete Gray and the Great Days of Baseball on the Home Front in WWII, by John Klima
- The Roger Angell Baseball Collection
AUDIBLE
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 titles, their reader/narrators, and samples. Note further that these are updated regularly and the top ten list below might no longer be the same.
- The Betrayal : The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball, by Charles Fountain
- Moneyball (unabridged, read by Scott Brick)
- The Baseball 100
- Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien
- Wait Till Next Year
- Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball’s Brightest Minds Created Sports Greatest Mess, by Evan Drelich
- Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (narrated by the author)
- Why We Love Baseball
- Smart Baseball: The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball, by Keith Law
- The Captain: The Journey of Derek Jeter, by Ian O’Connor
I know it the World Series ended just a couple of days ago, but I’m still surprised there hasn’t been one of those quickie books by the local newspaper heralding the victory by the Dodgers. Willing to be there will be one by the next time I post one of these. (Notice that I give myself an out by not saying “next week.”)
I wonder if someone will do an update of Breslin’s classic about the Mets for the Chicago White Sox? Not sure which record to go by: the Sox lost one more game than the Mets, 121 vs. 120, but their winning percentage was actually better: .253 to .250. That’s because the Mets played just 160 games in their inaugural season.
And now that the 2024 campaign has concluded, look for Ray Walker to make a killing as people turn to books like his
Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 3,064,694 overall in books; last time, 2,969,340. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,069,549; last time, 3,065,106.
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.