{"id":356,"date":"2014-03-21T14:38:27","date_gmt":"2014-03-21T18:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/?page_id=356"},"modified":"2016-08-29T01:48:57","modified_gmt":"2016-08-29T05:48:57","slug":"scd-ny-times-best-sellers","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/?page_id=356","title":{"rendered":"Sports Collectors Digest: NY Times Best Sellers"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

Here\u2019s something for book collectors to ponder: would it make an interesting collection to have a copy of every baseball book to ever make The New York Times best seller list?<\/p>\n

A bit of digging \u2013 trust me, it wasn\u2019t easy \u2013 has led to the titles of 45 books to have made what is generally considered the gold standard of best seller lists. Interestingly, 17 of the 45 have come in this half-decade (I count 2000 as the start of the decade), six in 2005 alone, making it possible to say that the baseball book industry is very much alive and well.<\/p>\n

A few notes on all of this before we get into the titles: making the best-seller list does not necessarily mean it\u2019s a baseball classic. Among those not on the list are Lawrence Ritter\u2019s \u201cThe Glory of Their Times\u201d, Eliot Asinof\u2019s \u201cEight Men Out\u201d, Bob Creamer\u2019s biographies of Babe Ruth and Casey Stengel, David Halbertam\u2019s \u201cSummer of \u201949\u201d and \u201cOctober l964\u201d, Pat Jordan\u2019s \u201cA False Spring\u201d, Frank Graham\u2019s, \u201cA Quiet Hero,\u201d James T. Farrell\u2019s \u201cMy Baseball Diary,\u201d and \u201cThe Ultimate Baseball Book\u201d, which has been in print since 1979.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, the list includes such \u201cnon-classics,\u201d as \u201cMe and My Dad,\u201d by Paul O\u2019Neill, and \u201cPerfect I\u2019m Not\u201d by David Wells. Getting on the list has a lot to do with controversy, or, as with any \u201cbest seller\u201d list, with what the competition at the moment is.<\/p>\n

The list only records sales in a particular week, so a long and steady sales record without a burst would not get the book noticed by the compilers. Also, there are no measurements of overall sales, so a book could have made the list but might not have sold as many copies as a book with a long record of sales. Thus \u201cThe Glory of Their Times\u201d undoubtedly outsold \u201cPerfect I\u2019m Not,\u201d but there is no list for lifetime sales, and trust me, that one would be impossible to ascertain. Publishers are not quick to release sales figures and authors often mistrust the figures they release anyway.<\/p>\n

The Times list began on October 6, 1935 as a monthly feature, turning weekly on August 9, 1942. It was a \u201ctop ten\u201d at that point, and didn\u2019t expand to a top 15 until 1978. The current list still features 15 in the Sunday Book Review section, and an expanded list up to 35 which is shown online, but not included in this account. (USA Today publishes a top 100, a mixture of fiction, non-fiction, paperback and hardcover, and the Amazon and Barnes & Noble online lists go into the millions).<\/p>\n

By starting in 1935, a few possible best sellers failed to get attention, including Christy Mathewson\u2019s \u201cPitching in a Pinch\u201d (1912), Ring Lardner\u2019s \u201cYou Know Me, Al\u201d (1914) and John McGraw\u2019s \u201cMy Thirty Years in Baseball\u201d (1923).<\/p>\n

The first baseball book to crack the list then was \u201cThe Babe Ruth Story\u201d, an autobiography written \u201cwith\u201d Bob Considine and published in 1948, the year Babe died. The book spent three weeks on the list, and would be the only pure baseball book to reach these heights until 1955 when the Jimmy Piersall autobiography, \u201cFear Strikes Out,\u201d helped by a movie release of the same name, spent one week on the list.<\/p>\n

In between those two, Grantland Rice\u2019s memoir, \u201cThe Tumolt and the Shouting\u201d would spend 26 weeks on the list (and later on, Howard Cosell\u2019s \u201cCosell\u201d would spend 21), but to me, those were not pure baseball books, and aren\u2019t on my list.<\/p>\n

The third book to hit the list was Jim Brosnan\u2019s \u201cThe Long Season\u201d in 1960 (one week), which was a really fine achievement given that Brosnan was not a famous player and his subject \u2013 a losing season in small market cities – hardly sexy. That the book made the list is a total tribute to his literary skills.<\/p>\n

Also in 1960, Joe Garagiola\u2019s enormously popular \u201cBaseball is a Funny Game\u201d had a 13-week stay on the list and would remain in print for decades as Joe\u2019s national fame spread. And then in 1962, Bill Veeck\u2019s still-beloved \u201cVeeck as in Wreck\u201d surpassed Garagiola\u2019s mark with a 15-week run.<\/p>\n

There wouldn\u2019t be another baseball book on the list until 1970, meaning that for the first 35 years of the list, only 5 books cracked it. And then came \u201cBall Four.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Bouton\u2019s revealing behind-the-scenes book which caused enormous controversy, but which remains a breakthrough sports book, spent 17 weeks on the list, the new record. The mark would be broken two years later with a book no one found controversial, only lovable \u2013 Roger Kahn\u2019s brilliant, \u201cThe Boys of Summer.\u201d That one is indeed a classic, and its run of 24 weeks \u2013 nearly half a year on the list \u2013 would stand until Sparky Lyle and Peter Golenbock combined for \u201cThe Bronx Zoo,\u201d the story of the early George Steinbrenner championship years. \u201cBronx Zoo\u201d was on the list for 29 weeks, and that mark stood for 11 years until broken by the book that still holds the record with an incredible 35 weeks on the list, that being \u201cMen At Work,\u201d the baseball book by political pundit George Will. Will\u2019s record goes into 2006 with a 16 year run.<\/p>\n

The only novels to ever make the list were Bernard Malamud\u2019s \u201cThe Natural\u201d at the time the Robert Redford movie was released, 32 years after it was published, and W.P. Kinsella\u2019s \u201cShoeless Joe,\u201d published in 1982, but a best-seller in 1989 when \u201cField of Dreams\u201d was released on film.<\/p>\n

Golenbock, with four trips to the list, is the champion, followed by Kahn, with three.<\/p>\n

By decades, bestsellers have numbered 1 (1940s), 1 (1950s), 3 (1960s), 6 (1970s), 11 (1980s), 6 (1990s), and as noted, 17 (2000s), with this decade only half over. Among the big hits in recent years have been \u201cSandy Koufax: A Lefty\u2019s Legacy\u201d by Jane Leavy (16 weeks), \u201cMoneyball\u201d by Michael Lewis (20 weeks), \u201dThree Nights in August\u201d by Buzz Bissinger (20 weeks), and \u201cThe Teammates\u201d by Halberstam, (13 weeks).<\/p>\n

Marty Appel, former Yankees PR Director and Emmy award-winning TV Producer, is the author of 16 books including \u201cNow Pitching for the Yankees,\u201d and the Casey Award- winning \u201cSlide, Kelly, Slide.\u201d He can be reached at AppelPR@gmail.com<\/p>\n

The complete list, including number of weeks on the list:<\/p>\n

1948 The Babe Ruth Story (Babe Ruth\/Bob Considine) (3 weeks)<\/p>\n

1949<\/p>\n

1955 Fear Strikes Out (Jimmy Piersall\/ Al Hirschberg) (1)<\/p>\n

1960 The Long Season (Jim Brosnan) (1)<\/p>\n

1961<\/p>\n

1960 Baseball Is a Funny Game (Joe Garagiola) (13)<\/p>\n

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

1963<\/p>\n

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

1971<\/p>\n

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

1973<\/p>\n

1972 The Summer Game (Roger Angell) (5)<\/p>\n

1975 Nice Guys Finish Last (Leo Durocher\/Ed Linn) (1)<\/p>\n

1976<\/p>\n

1977 A Season in the Sun (Roger Kahn) (1)<\/p>\n

1978<\/p>\n

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

1980 Number 1 (Billy Martin\/Peter Golenbock) (8 into 1981)<\/p>\n

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

1983<\/p>\n

1982 Late Innings (Roger Angell) (6)<\/p>\n

1983<\/p>\n

1984 Reggie (Reggie Jackson\/Mike Lupica) (4)<\/p>\n

1985<\/p>\n

1984 Bill James Historical Abstract (Bill James) (13, thru 1987)<\/p>\n

1984 Strike Two (Ron Luciano\/David Fisher) (1)<\/p>\n

1984 The Natural (Bernard Malamud) (1)<\/p>\n

1984 Balls (Graig Nettles\/Peter Golenbock) (15)<\/p>\n

1985<\/p>\n

1988 The Duke of Flatbush (Duke Snider\/Bill Gilbert) (2)<\/p>\n

1989 Pete Rose: My Story (Pete Rose\/Roger Kahn) (2)<\/p>\n

1989 Shoeless Joe (W.P. Kinsella) (4)<\/p>\n

1990<\/p>\n

1991 Men At Work (George Will) (35)<\/p>\n

1992<\/p>\n

1993 I Had A Hammer (Hank Aaron\/Lonnie Wheeler) (5)<\/p>\n

1994<\/p>\n

1991 My Favorite Summer (Mickey Mantle\/Phil Pepe) (6)<\/p>\n

1994 All My Octobers (Mickey Mantle\/Mickey Herskowitz) (6)<\/p>\n

1995<\/p>\n

1997 Wait Til Next Year (Doris Kearns Goodwin) (10)<\/p>\n

1998 Bunts (George Will) (2)<\/p>\n

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

2001<\/p>\n

2000 Joe DiMaggio (Richard Ben Cramer) (9)<\/p>\n

2001<\/p>\n

2002 When You Come to A Fork in the Road (Yogi Berra\/David Kaplan) (7)<\/p>\n

2003<\/p>\n

2002 Zimmer (Don Zimmer\/Bill Madden) (3)<\/p>\n

2003<\/p>\n

2004 Sandy Koufax: A Lefty\u2019s Legacy (Jane Leavy) (16 )<\/p>\n

2005<\/p>\n

2006 Perfect I\u2019m Not (David Wells\/Chris Kreski) (5)<\/p>\n

2007<\/p>\n

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

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

2003 Me and My Dad (Paul O\u2019Neill\/Burton Rocks) (1)<\/p>\n

2008 My Prison Without Bars (Pete Rose\/Rick Hill) (5)<\/p>\n

2009<\/p>\n

2004 Ted Williams (Leigh Montville) (1)<\/p>\n

2005 Juiced (Jose Canseco) (8)<\/p>\n

2005 Three Nights in August (Buzz Bissinger) (20)<\/p>\n

2005 Idiot (Johnny Damon\/Peter Golenbock) (2)<\/p>\n

2005 Coach (Michael Lewis) (5)<\/p>\n

2005 Luckiest Man (Jonathan Eig) (1)<\/p>\n

2005 Praying for Gil Hodges (Thomas Oliphant) (1)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Marty Appel Here\u2019s something for book collectors to ponder: would it make an interesting collection to have a copy of every baseball book to ever make The New York Times best seller list? A bit of digging \u2013 trust… Continue Reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":2277,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-template-full.php","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-356","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P4s5bl-5K","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/356","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=356"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2935,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/356\/revisions\/2935"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}