{"id":193,"date":"2014-03-21T01:49:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-21T05:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/?page_id=193"},"modified":"2015-10-17T20:46:44","modified_gmt":"2015-10-18T00:46:44","slug":"md-baseball-best-sellers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/?page_id=193","title":{"rendered":"Memories & Dreams: Baseball Best Sellers"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Marty Appel<\/span><\/p>\n

Baseball\u2019s place in American literature is not necessarily measured by book sales and a landing on best-seller lists. Indeed, many fine books about the game develop cult followings, strong word-of-mouth, and a treasured place in baseball libraries without being necessarily reflected in sales.<\/p>\n

Still, we\u2019re baseball people, and we love our league leaders. We comb the stats and categorize the numbers, and find a certain order, a certain rightness to looking at names and numbers in charts. It\u2019s who we are as baseball fans.<\/p>\n

And so comes the wonderful marriage over the years between baseball books and the New York Times best-seller list.<\/p>\n

There are any number of best-seller lists in the country, most published on Sundays, but it is the hardcover list in the Times that tends to be the standard-bearer, the one publishers themselves turn to when designing the paperback and proudly adding \u201cNew York Times Bestseller!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Times began its list on October 6, 1935 as a monthly feature. It became weekly on August 9, 1942, well after Christy Mathewson might have made it with \u201cPitching in a Pinch\u201d (1912), or Ring Lardner with \u201cYou Know Me, Al\u201d (1914), or John McGraw with \u201cMy Thirty Years in Baseball\u201d (1923).<\/p>\n

The methodology in researching the list was to work with Deborah Hoffman at the Times, and provide her with all names of books that might have appeared. She would check the book against her file, and if there was a match, she would be able to provide the number of weeks on the list. It was not possible to do a computer search entering \u201cbaseball\u201d and have all the best-sellers come back. It had to be checked one at a time, and yes, the possibility exists that one or two could have been missed. For example, Paul O\u2019Neill\u2019s \u201cMe and My Dad\u201d, published just this year in time for Father\u2019s Day, spent a week on the list just at that time of year. It\u2019s the sort of book that one might not think of years from now. But it was, indeed, the 35th baseball book to make the list.<\/p>\n

It is important to note, of course, that making the list has a lot to do with what else is out there at the time, and not necessarily about total sales. An evergreen work of literature like Lawrence Ritter\u2019s wonderful \u201cThe Glory of Their Times\u201d, considered by many the best baseball book ever, never appeared on the list, but has sold more than 360,000 to date. However, it is still selling some 40 years later, still beloved, and in aggregate, surely one of the best-selling baseball books in history. But in no particular week was it able to crack the list.<\/p>\n

The Baseball Encyclopedia, published by MacMillan, totaled nearly a million in sales through its nine editions, but never made the list.<\/p>\n

The first baseball book to appear on the list was \u201cThe Babe Ruth Story\u201d, by Ruth and Bob Considine, which checked in at number 14 on May 30, 1948, about 11 weeks before the Babe\u2019s passing. So for the man who hit the first home run in Yankee Stadium and the first home run in an All-Star Game, the Babe had one more \u201cfirst\u201d before his death; he was the author of the first baseball book to make the Times best-seller list.<\/p>\n

How much the dying Ruth cared about that fact, or about the book itself, is open to question. We do know from anecdotal tales, that he did attend a book party thrown by the publisher, and at the party Considine asked Ruth if he might sign a personalized copy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure,\u201d said the Babe. \u201cWhat\u2019s your name again?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Babe Ruth Story\u201d spent three weeks on the list. We skip over 1954\u2019s Grantland Rice memoir, \u201cThe Tumolt and the Shouting\u201d, because that book, like others to follow, was all sports, not strictly baseball. It did spend 26 weeks on the list, and \u201cCosell,\u201d an autobiography by the acerbic sportscaster Howard Cosell, spent 21 weeks in 1973. But neither was strictly baseball, and thus doesn\u2019t make our cut.<\/p>\n

So the next baseball book to hit the list after Ruth did not come until 1955, when the autobiography of Jimmy Piersall, \u201cFear Strikes Out\u201d, written with Al Hirschberg, appeared on the list for a single week. The book, which dealt with Piersall\u2019s mental illness while playing for the Red Sox, inspired a movie, but the movie publicity did not help propel this to the list; the movie was released in 1957.<\/p>\n

Only two books, aided by the release of a movie, have ever hit the list. Bernard Malamud\u2019s \u201cThe Natural\u201d was first published in 1952, but did not make the list until Robert Redford starred in the movie in 1984. And W.P. Kinsella\u2019s \u201cShoeless Joe\u201d, from which Field of Dreams came to the cinema, made it in 1989, seven years after it was first published.<\/p>\n

In any case, the 1940s gave us Ruth and the 1950s Piersall, not a very voluminous impression of baseball on the list. Only three books from the 1960s would hit \u2013 ex-pitcher Jim Brosnan\u2019s acclaimed \u201cThe Long Season\u201d, ex-catcher Joe Garagiola\u2019s riotous \u201cBaseball is a Funny Game\u201d, and ex-owner Bill Veeck\u2019s memoir, \u201cVeeck as in Wreck\u201d.<\/p>\n

Baseball writing in the \u201870s was beckoned by the publication of Jim Bouton\u2019s \u201cBall Four\u201d, which would go on to 17 weeks on the hardcover list, breaking Veeck\u2019s record of 15, and Garagiola\u2019s of 13. Bouton\u2019s book has been reissued under numerous publishers, and the author\u2019s own estimate on total sales of all editions is over three million. And while the Bouton book opened the door for baseball writing with a higher octane level of publicity, and led to Leo Durocher\/Ed Linn\u2019s \u201cNice Guys Finish Last\u201d (1975) and Sparky Lyle\/Peter Golenbock\u2019s \u201cBronx Zoo\u201d (1979, 220,000 sold), there was also a welcome place for Roger Kahn\u2019s classic \u201cThe Boys of Summer\u201d, (1972). With 140,000 hardcover sales during it\u2019s record 24-week best-seller run, (which would continue to grew to more than 2.5 million, including1.9 in trade paperback, covering a remarkable 85 editions), the book was the first not written by a baseball insider, but rather, by an observer of the game, to crack the list.<\/p>\n

Kahn\u2019s \u201dA Season in the Sun\u201d, (1977) and Roger Angell\u2019s first collection of New Yorker magazine articles, \u201cThe Summer Game\u201d (1972), were also mid-\u201870s delights on the list. \u201cThe Bronx Zoo\u201d held firm on the list for an amazing 29 weeks, breaking Kahn\u2019s record, and setting a mark which would stand for 11 years.<\/p>\n

Ten books would break through in the 1980s, including \u201cThe Natural\u201d and \u201cShoeless Joe.\u201d Two were by umpire Ron Luciano and David Fisher, \u201cThe Umpire Strikes Back\u201d (18 weeks, 400,000 copies sold), and \u201cStrike Two\u201d (260,000 copies sold). Golenbock\u2019s collaboration with Graig Nettles, \u201cBalls\u201d, found a place on the list, as did Angell\u2019s \u201cLate Innings\u201d, Pete Rose\u2019s collaboration with Roger Kahn, \u201cPete Rose: My Story\u201d, Reggie Jackson\u2019s autobiography written with Mike Lupica (\u201cReggie\u201d), \u201cBill James Historical Abstract\u201d, which came off and on the list over a period of three years for a total of 13 weeks, and Duke Snider\u2019s autobiography, written with Bill Gilbert, \u201cThe Duke of Flatbush\u201d. For Kahn, it marked his third appearance on the list. He\u2019s the only baseball writer to accomplish that.<\/p>\n

Five books made the list in the 1990s, the first of which, \u201cMen At Work\u201d, by George Will, stayed on the list for 35 weeks \u2013 nearly 9 months – breaking Lyle\u2019s record and still the pace setter to this day. Eighteen of those weeks were spent at the number one position.<\/p>\n

In addition to Will, the only books to crack the list in the \u201890s were \u201cIf I Had a Hammer\u201d (Hank Aaron and Lonnie Wheeler), \u201cAll My Octobers\u201d (Mickey Mantle and Phil Pepe), \u201cWait Til Next Year\u201d (Doris Kearns Goodwin) and \u201cBunts\u201d (George Will\u2019s follow-up), which only spent two weeks on the list.<\/p>\n

This new millennium seems to find a baseball hungry reading audience waiting on line for bookstores to open. With the decade only 4 years old, nine books have already hit, including O\u2019Neills. The others have been Bob Costas\u2019s \u201cFair Ball\u201d (2000), Richard Ben Cramer\u2019s \u201cJoe DiMaggio\u201d (2000), Yogi Berra and Dave Kaplan\u2019s \u201cWhen You Come to a Fork in the Road\u201d (2001), \u201cZimmer\u201d (2001) by Don Zimmer and Bill Madden, Jane Leavy\u2019s \u201cSandy Koufax: A Lefty\u2019s Legacy\u201d (2002), and this year\u2019s \u201cPerfect I\u2019m Not\u201d (David Wells and Chris Kreski), \u201dThe Teammates\u201d (David Halberstam) and \u201cMoneyball\u201d (Michael Lewis).<\/p>\n

Among those that didn\u2019t make the cut were the autobiographies by Ty Cobb, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Whitey Ford, Bob Creamer\u2019s wonderful biographies of Babe Ruth and Casey Stengel, Ray Robinson\u2019s Lou Gehrig and Christy Mathewson bios, Halberstam\u2019s earlier baseball books, \u201cSummer of \u201849\u201d and \u201cOctober 1964\u201d, the Putnam team histories from the \u201840s and \u201850s, Frank Graham\u2019s and Paul Gallico\u2019s Gehrig bios, Eliot Asinof\u2019s \u201cEight Men Out\u201d, Pat Jordan\u2019s \u201cA False Spring,\u201d or Daniel Okrant\u2019s and Harris Lewine\u2019s \u201cThe Ultimate Baseball Book,\u201d which has been in print and selling since 1979.<\/p>\n

Tops by Weeks on List<\/p>\n

35 Men At Work (Will, 1990)<\/p>\n

29 The Bronx Zoo (Lyle, Golenbock, 1979)<\/p>\n

24 The Boys of Summer (Kahn, 1972)<\/p>\n

20 Moneyball (Lewis, 2003)<\/p>\n

18 The Umpire Strikes Back (Luciano, Fisher 1982)<\/p>\n

17 Ball Four (Bouton, Schecter 1970)<\/p>\n

16 Sandy Koufax: A Lefty\u2019s Legacy (Leavy 2002)<\/p>\n

15 Veeck As in Wreck (Veeck, Linn 1962)<\/p>\n

15 Balls (Nettles, Golenbock 1983)<\/p>\n

13 Baseball is a Funny Game (Garagiola, 1960)<\/p>\n

13 Bill James Historical Abstract (James, 1984)<\/p>\n

13 The Teammates (Halberstam, 2003)<\/p>\n

10 Wait til Next Year (Goodwin, 1997)<\/p>\n

10 Fair Ball (Costas, 2000)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

9 weeks \u2013 Joe DiMaggio (2000), 7 weeks \u2013 When You Come to a Fork in the Road (2001), 6 weeks \u2013 All My Octobers (1994), Late Innings (1982), 5 weeks \u2013 Perfect I\u2019m Not (2003), If I Had a Hammer (1991), The Summer Game (1972), 4 weeks \u2013 Shoeless Joe (1989), Reggie (1984), 3 weeks \u2013 The Babe Ruth Story (1948), Zimmer (2001), 2 weeks \u2013 Bunts (1998), Pete Rose: My Story (1989), The Duke of Flatbush (1988), 1 week \u2013 Me and My Dad (2003), The Natural (1984), Strike Two (1984), A Season in the Sun (1977), Nice Guys Finish Last (1975), The Long Season (1960), Fear Strikes Out (1955).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Marty Appel Baseball\u2019s place in American literature is not necessarily measured by book sales and a landing on best-seller lists. Indeed, many fine books about the game develop cult followings, strong word-of-mouth, and a treasured place in baseball libraries… Continue Reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":2269,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-template-full.php","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-193","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P4s5bl-37","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=193"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2385,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/193\/revisions\/2385"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}