Baseball Best-Sellers, January 17, 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.

1. The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen (Paperback)
2. Baseball Prospectus 2025 (Jan. 25. 2025)
3. Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski Ω (My review on Bookreporter.com)
4. The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
5. Motor Preferences for Baseball: A Coach’s Guide to Identifying and Respecting Player Strengths to Enhance Performance and Reduce Injury, by David Genest and Matthew Swope
6. The 2025 Fantasy Baseball Blackbook, by Joe Pisapia
7. Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω (paperback)
8. The Ultimate New York Yankees Trivia Book: A Collection of Amazing Trivia Quizzes and Fun Facts for Die-Hard Yankees Fans!, by Ray Walker
9. The New York Game: Baseball and the Rise of a New City, by Kevin Baker (My review on Bookreporter.com)
10. Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien (My review on Bookreporter.com)

KINDLE BOOKS

1. The Wingmen
2. Moneyball
3. Bob Uecker Biography, by Leon Norris *
4. The New York Game
5. Ball Four, by Jim Bouton
6. Why We Love Baseball
7. The Fantasy Baseball Blackbook
8. Charlie Hustle
9. Can’t Anybody Here Play This Game?: The Improbable Saga of the New York Mets’ First Year, by Jimmy Breslin
10. The Arm: Inside the Billion-Dollar Mystery of the Most Valuable Commodity in Sports, by Jeff Passan

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.

1. Moneyball (unabridged, read by Scott Brick)
2. The Baseball 100
3. Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (narrated by the author)
4. The New York Game
5. Charlie Hustle
6. Why We Love Baseball
7. A Well-Paid Slave: Curt Flood’s Fight for Free Agency in Professional Sports, by Brad Snyder
8. Ninety Percent Mental, by Bob Tewksbury (narrated by the author)
9. Moneyball (abridged)
10. The Arm, by Jeff Passan

As I expected, the passing of Bob Uecker generated interest in reading about him. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t include a book like this, since it was obviously written very quickly following his death. We’re already dubious since, according to Uecker’s family, he died from small-cell lung cancer, not emphysema — as the book’s title states — according to COPDFoundation.org. Of course, I’m not a doctor… In addition, the author writes in a rather odd  “disclaimer”: “This biography of Bob Uecker is on available informations [sic] and personal insights. While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the author does not claim to represent Bob Uecker or his official views. The content is for informational purposes only and reflects the author’s interpretation of Uecker’s life and legacy.” Bottom line: wait for a more traditional bio of the late, great Uke, which is surely coming.

Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 1,080,016 overall in books (#72 in Literary Bibliographies & Indexes); last time, 1,451,154.  Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,358,148; last time, 3,346,613.

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: Bob Uecker