* Bits and pieces

Still trying to catch up from Yankee Fantasy Camp, so we’ll take it a few steps at a time:

• Richard Barbieri writes an intersting “This annotated week in baseball history” for The Hardball Times that deserves mention. The same can be said for Rob Neyer’s postings at ESPN.com, in particular his daily doses (Friday Filberts, Wednesday Wangdoodles, etc.) on his Sweet Spot blog.If you’re gonna get technical on me and say these are not books, etc., I would remind you that a laptop or netbook fits nicely on a bookshelf.
• Baseball Past and Present (“A historical look at the national pastime”) posted this review of The Boys of Summer.
• Bruce Markusen (A Baseball Dynasty: Charlie Finley’s Swingin’ A’s,  The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates, Tales From The Mets Dugout, and The Orlando Cepeda Story) contributed this profile of Satchel Paige on Hardball Times. Markusen is currently working on a book about iconic baseball cards since the 1960s.
• Michael Hankison at BaseballReflections.com wrote this review of Sixty Feet, Six Inches. Upshot: “a great baseball book.”
• I quite enjoy it when baseball cards return to their roots. Wish they would do it more often (and cut back on these hundreds of subsets).
• Pirates broadcaster Nelson King has self-published his memoirs in Happiness is like a Cur Dog: The Thirty-Year Journey of a Major League Baseball Pitcher and Broadcaster.
• Here’s a shocker: baseball owners back in the day were racists. Film at 11.

* TIBB — December 18

This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, December 11.

Title	Rank
General
The Yankee Years, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci	1
The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, by Joe Posnanski	2
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis	3
Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played, by Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, and Lonnie Wheeler	4
Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress	5
Essays and Writing
Sixty Feet Six Inches	1
Moneyball	2
Now I Can Die in Peace: How The Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Red Sox, by Bill Simmons (3,135)	3
As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires, by Bruce Weber	4
Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton	5
History
The Machine	1
Sixty Feet, Six Inches	2
Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America’s Pastime, by Mark Frost (2,471)	3
Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, by Larry Tye (2,373)	4
Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain,by Marty Appel	5
Statistics
The Bill James Handbook 2010	1
Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan’s Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks, by Zack Hample	2
Baseball Prospectus 2010	3
The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball, by Tango, et al	4
The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2010	5

Analysis: Josh Hamilton’s book returns to the list, perhaps as a nod to the Christian values for the holiday season. I have dispensed with the baseball rankings in comparison with the general numbers. Suffice it to say, there can be thousands of regular books between the top baseball title and the second.

Once again, there are no baseball titles in either Amazon’s top 100 (although Baseball Americana and The Yankee Years are in the top 25 sports bestsellers) or The New York Times‘ non-fiction best seller lists.

* TWIBB — December 11

This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, December 11.

Title	Rank
General
The Yankee Years, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci (448)	1
The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, by Joe Posnanski (649)	2
Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played, by Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, and Lonnie Wheeler(857)	3
Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress (942)	4
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (1,018)	5
Essays and Writing
Sixty Feet Six Inches	1
Moneyball	2
Now I Can Die in Peace: How The Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Red Sox, by Bill Simmons (3,135)	3
Sports Illustrated: The Baseball Book (3,157)	4
101 Reasons to Love the Red Sox (Revised),by Dave Green(4,313)	5
History
The Machine	1
Sixty Feet, Six Inches	2
Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America’s Pastime, by Mark Frost (2,471)	3
Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, by Larry Tye (2,373)	4
Now I Can Die in Peace	5
Statistics
The Bill James Handbook 2010 (1,662)
Baseball Prospectus 2010 (5,044)	2
The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2010 (7,349)	3
Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects (Baseball America Prospect Handbook) (10,032)	4
The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball, by Tango et al (10,591)	5

Analysis: The sales rankings are returning to where they were prior to last week, although the numericals remain pretty much the same. A new title since I’ve been making these lists: 101 Reasons to Love the Red Sox (Revised Edition). As I wrote awhile ago, I have no love for these types of revisions. There’s no real new information, so it just seems like a money grab.

Once again, there are no baseball titles in either Amazon’s top 100 or The New York Times‘ non-fiction best seller lists.

* TWIBB: December 4

This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, December 4.

Title	Rank
General
Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress (565)	1
The Yankee Years, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci (731)	2
The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, by Joe Posnanski (1,020)	3
Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played, by Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, and Lonnie Wheeler(1,192)	4
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (1,597)	5
Essays and Writing
Sixty Feet Six Inches	1
Moneyball	2
Now I Can Die in Peace: How The Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Red Sox, by Bill Simmons (3,856)	3
Sports Illustrated: The Baseball Book (4,428)	4
As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires, by Bruce Weber (4,807)	5
History
The Machine	1
Sixty Feet, Six Inches	2
Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America’s Pastime, by Mark Frost (2,492)	3
Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, by Larry Tye (3,552)	4
Now I Can Die in Peace	5
Statistics
The Bill James Handbook 2010 (2,746)
The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2010 (7,368)	2
2010 Baseball Forecaster, by Ron Shandler (8.809)	3
Baseball Prospectus 2010 (10,476)	4
Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan’s Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks, by Zack Hample (11,932)	5

Analysis: Baseball Americana jumps to the top spot, since it’s getting down to the wire for gift-giving time. Perhaps that’s why most of the rankings are so much lower. Gift books and overall bestsellers leap to higher slots, pushing these older titles down. new season draws nearer.

Larry Tye’s Satchel returns to the top 5, aided, no doubt, by its inclusion on The New York Times‘ list of notable books for 2009.

href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061625450?ie=UTF8&tag=ronkapsbasb04-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061625450″>Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress<img src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ronkapsbasb04-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061625450″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”" style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />

* TWIBB — November 27

This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, November 27.

Title	Rank
General
The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, by Joe Posnanski (490)	1
Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress (625)	2
The Yankee Years, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci (674)	3
Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played, by Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, and Lonnie Wheeler(989)	4
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (1,063)	5
Essays and Writing
Sixty Feet Six Inches	1
Moneyball	2
Now I Can Die in Peace: How The Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Red Sox, by Bill Simmons (2,758)	3
The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2010 (4,023)	4
Sports Illustrated: The Baseball Book (5,437)	5
History
The Machine	1
Sixty Feet, Six Inches	2
Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America’s Pastime, by Mark Frost (2,475)	3
Munson: The Life and Death of a Yankee Captain, by Marty Appel (2,538)	4
Now I Can Die in Peace	5
Statistics
The Bill James Handbook 2010 (1,585)	1
The Hardball Times Annual 2010	2
Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects (6,012)	3
Baseball Prospectus 2010 (11,367)	4
Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan’s Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks, by Zack Hample (10,847)	5

Analysis: The new Baseball Americana and the old Sports Illustrated Baseball Book both make fine gifts. And 2010 titles will only increase in sales as the new season draws nearer.

href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061625450?ie=UTF8&tag=ronkapsbasb04-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061625450″>Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress</a><img src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ronkapsbasb04-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061625450″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”" style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />

* TWIBB — November 13

This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, November 6.

Title	Rank
General
The Bill James Handbook 2010 (Ranks 613 in books)	1
The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, by Joe Posnanski (709)	2
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis (970)	3
Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played, by Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, and Lonnie Wheeler(1,030)	4
The Yankee Years, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci (1,249)	5
Essays and Writing
Moneyball	1
Sixty Feet Six Inches	2
Now I Can Die in Peace: How The Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Red Sox, by Bill Simmons (1,980)	3
The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2010 (9,251)	4
As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires, by Bill Weber (12,531)	5
History
The Machine	1
Sixty Feet, Six Inches	2
Now I Can Die in Peace	3
Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America’s Pastime, by Mark Frost (2,475)	4
The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, the Giants and the Cast of Players, Pugs and Politicos Who Re-Invented the World Series in 1912, by Mike Vacarro (3,086)	5
Statistics
The Bill James Handbook 2010	1
The Hardball Times Annual 2010 (9,251)	2
Baseball Prospectus 2008: The Essential Guide to the 2008 Baseball Season (9,504)	3
2010 Baseball Forecaster (10,553)	4
Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan’s Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks, by Zack Hample (10,847)	5

Analysis: The post-season is upon us, so I look for increasing interest in the statistical and alanlytic books to help those so inclned gear up for the 2010 fantasy season.

Again, the success of Bill Simmons’ basketball book (# 13 among all bestsellers and #1 on the NY Times‘ non-fiction list) is dragging along his Red Sox book in its wake. No baseball titles in Amazon’s top 100 bestseller list, but other sports books, aside from Simmons’, include Andre Aggasi’s memoirs (#3), When the Game Was Ours, by Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Jackie MacMullin (31), Born to Run, by Christopher McDougall (63), and Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman, by Jon Krakauer (66).  None among the NY Times top 35 non-fictional titles, either.

 

href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061625450?ie=UTF8&tag=ronkapsbasb04-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061625450″>Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress</a><img src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ronkapsbasb04-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061625450″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”" style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />

* Book award season begins

Spitball Magazine release its list of nominees for its Casey Book Award, given annual for the publication’s take on the best baseball book of the year.

The 2009 roster includes:

• As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires, by Bruce Weber
• Catcher: How the Man Behind the Plate Became an American Folk Hero, by Peter Morris
• Chasing Moonlight: The True Story of Field of Dreams’ Doc Graham, by Brett Friedlander and Robert Reising
• The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, the Giants and the Cast of Players, Pugs and Politicos Who Re-Invented the World Series in 1912, by Mike Vaccaro
• Forever Blue: The True Story of Walter O’Malley, Baseball’s Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles, by Michael D’Antonio
• Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America’s Pastime, by Mark Frost
• Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit, by Matt McCarthy
• Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, by Larry Tye
• The Wizard of Waxahachie: Paul Richards and the End of Baseball as We Knew It, by Warren Corbett
• The Yankee Years, by Joe Torre and Tom Verducci

The winner will be honored at the 27th Annual Casey Awards Banquet to be held in Cincinnati in the spring of 2010.

For the most part, IMHO, these are all excellent choices. My only quibble is the inclusion of the controversial Odd Man Out, since the author was accused of basically making stuff up. One ommissi0on: S.L. Price’s Heart of the Game, the sentimental tale of Mike Collbaugh’s tragic death.

 

* TWIBB — November 6, 2009

This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, November 6.

Title	Rank
General
Game Six: Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America’s Pastime, by Mark Frost	1
The Bill James Handbook 2010	2
The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, by Joe Posnanski	3
Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played, by Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, and Lonnie Wheeler	4
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis	5
Essays and Writing
Sixty Feet Six Inches	1
Moneyball	2
Now I Can Die in Peace: How The Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Red Sox, by Bill Simmons	3
The Hardball Times Baseball Annual 2010	4
Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton	5
History
Game Six	1
The Machine	2
Sixty Feet, Six Inches	3
Now I Can Die in Peace	4
Perfect: Don Larsen’s Miraculous World Series Game and the Men Who Made It Happen, by Lew Paper	5
Statistics
The Bill James Handbook 2010	1
Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan’s Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks, by Zack Hample	2
The Hardball Times Annual 2010	3
Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects	4
The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball, by Tango et al	5

Analysis: Now that the World Series is over (watching the parade as I type), things are stabilizing, with a mixture of topics populating the top five spots in each category.

Again, there are no baseball titles in Amazon’s top 100 bestseller list, nor among the NY Times top 35 non-fictional titles.

href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061625450?ie=UTF8&tag=ronkapsbasb04-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0061625450″>Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress</a><img src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=ronkapsbasb04-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0061625450″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”" style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” />

* Unclaimed projects

So what do you think: what will be some of the topics we’ll see on the bookshelves next year?

I would venture to guess

• there will be at least a couple on this year’s World Series, including the quickies put out by the local newspapers. Plus autobios of key players (Sabathia, Utley, Werth). The caveat is that they’ll only do well locally.
• at least one title on the Mets’ collapse
• a new A-Rod bio, especially now that he’s finally won a World Series ring
• a bio on Tim Lincecum (esp. if he wins the Cy Young)
• anniversaries always make good topics. Maybe one about the Pirates-Yankees Fall Classic (although Jim Reisler did one not that long ago). 2010 also marks the 25th anniversary of the infamous Pittsburgh cocaine trials (Wiki warning). Pete Rose became the all-time hits leader, but he’s pretty much been done to death. That year also marked the beginning of night-only World Series games, so I’m sure someone out there will write about the impact that has had on the sport. Going back further, we have the 50th anniversary of Ted Williams’ retirement. I’m willing to be cash money now that someone, perhaps Sports Illustrated, will dredge up John Updike’s famous “Kid bids Hub fans adieu” essay. Next year is also the 75th anniversary of the first Major League night game (see World Series, above). Babe Ruth was released by the Yankees in 1935; anything there?

* TWIBB — Oct. 30

This week in baseball books, featuring the best-sellers according to Amazon.com on Friday, October 30.

Title	Rank
General
Now I Can Die in Peace: How The Sports Guy Found Salvation Thanks to the World Champion (Twice!) Red Sox, by Bill Simmons	1
The Machine: A Hot Team, a Legendary Season, and a Heart-stopping World Series: The Story of the 1975 Cincinnati Reds, by Joe Posnanski	2
Sixty Feet, Six Inches: A Hall of Fame Pitcher & a Hall of Fame Hitter Talk about How the Game is Played, by Bob Gibson, Reggie Jackson, and Lonnie Wheeler	3
The Bill James Handbook 2010*	4
The First Fall Classic: The Red Sox, the Giants and the Cast of Players, Pugs and Politicos Who Re-Invented the World Series in 1912, by Mike Vaccaro	5
Essays and Writing
Now I Can Die in Peace	1
Sixty Feet Six Inches	2
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis	3
Beyond Belief: Finding the Strength to Come Back, by Josh Hamilton	4
Ball Four: The Final Pitch, by Jim Bouton	5
History
Now I Can Die in Peace	1
The Machine	2
Sixty Feet, Six Inches	3
The First Fall Classic	4
Perfect: Don Larsen’s Miraculous World Series Game and the Men Who Made It Happen, by Lew Paper	5
Statistics
The Bill James Handbook 2010	1
The Book: Playing the Percentages in Baseball, by Tango, et al	2
Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan’s Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks, by Zack Hample	3
Baseball Between the Numbers: Why Everything You Know About the Game Is Wrong	4
Baseball America 2010 Prospect Handbook: The Comprehensive Guide to Rising Stars from the Definitive Source on Prospects	5

* Like last week, the real fourth-place title was Mathletics: How Gamblers, Managers, and Sports Enthusiasts Use Mathematics in Baseball, Basketball, and Football by Wayne L. Winston, but since it’s not strictly about baseball, I excluded it from the list. Because that’s how I still roll.

Analysis: Simmons’ book on the Red Sox tops all three non-statistical cetagories. The renewed interest is probably generated by his new release on basketball. Many readers are impulse buyers; if a new title is really hot, they tend to buy other titles by the same author (see, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and all the vampire books). The Machine, Game Six, and The First Fall Classic, and Perfect – four World Series titles — remain in favor. And Sixty Feet also retains its popularity.

Bouton’s Ball Four extension hits the charts for the first time since I;ve been tracking.

Baseball America’s book on prospects makes its debut.

Again, there are no baseball titles in Amazon’s top 100 bestseller list (although there are a couple of basketball books, including Simmons’),  nor among the NY Times top 35 non-fictional titles.

 

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