Amazon keeps changing the way they report, so that will be mirrored here. Sometimes there will be rankings of Kindle and audio-books on baseball, other times, not.
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.
- Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America, by Howard Bryant
- Ron Shandler’s 2026 Baseball Forecaster and Encyclopedia of Fanalytics (My Bookshelf Conversation with Shandler from 2015 here)
- The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship Between John Glenn and Ted Williams, by Adam Lazarus
- Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis Ω
- The Last Manager: How Earl Weaver Tricked, Tormented, and Reinvented Baseball, by John W. Miller. (My review on Bookreporter.com) Ω
- Why We Love Baseball: A History in 50 Moments, by Joe Posnanski (My review on Bookreporter.com) Ω
- The Fantasy Baseball Black Book 2026, by Joe Pisapia
- Baseball Obscura 2026, by David J. Fleming
- The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II, by Anne R. Keen (Paperback; my review here)
- Joy in Tigertown: A Determined Team, a Resilient City, and our Magical Run to the 1968 World Series, by Mickey Lolich with Tom Gage *
KINDLE
- 1978: Baseball and America in the Disco Era, by David Krell
- Stars and Strikes: Baseball and America in the Bicentennial Summer of ’76, by Dan Epstein
- Bushville Wins!: The Wild Saga of the 1957 Milwaukee Braves and the Screwballs, Sluggers, and Beer Swiggers Who Canned the New York Yankees and Changed Baseball, by John Klima
- Ballpark: Baseball in the American City, by Paul Goldberger
- Baseball Imposters: The Dark Side of Fandom, by Rob Sheinkopf
- The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron, by Howard Bryant
- Baseball, by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns (narrated by Burns)
AUDIO BOOKS
- Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton (narrated by the author)
- The MVP Machine: How Baseball’s New Nonconformists Are Using Data to Build Better Players, by Ben Lindbergh and Travis Sawchick
- The Bad Guys Won: A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform – and Maybe the Best, by Jeff Pearlman (narrated by the author)
- Charlie Hustle: The Rise and Fall of Pete Rose, and the Last Glory Days of Baseball, by Keith O’Brien
- The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch that Changed My Life, by Rick Ankiel (narrated by the author)
Enough of a representation of Kindle and audio books to list them, even if they’re not an even ten.
Obviously, the passing of Mickey Lolich explains how his memoir, published in 2018, makes the list.
Honorable mention: Even though it’s technically not a book, Fantasy Baseball Index Book 2026 — a magazine — lists in the #3 spot among BBS. The #8 slot goes to another fantasy mag, Rotoman’s Fantasy Baseball Guide A-Z 2026.
Still not in the Amazon top ten? 501 Baseball Books Fans Must Read before They Die. FYI, as of this posting it ranks 2,714,793 in Books overall; last time, 2,419,026. Hank Greenberg in 1938: Hatred and Home Runs in the Shadow of War ranks 3,231,490 ; last time, 2,931,091.
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.