I’m bored out of my gourd. I’m doing my afternoon routine of trying to get the girls to nap. I’m staring at my bookshelves of baseball books. Trying to figure out which is my favorite. Which ones are my top ten. So, I ended up ranking them. The list doesn’t include baseball fiction. It also doesn’t include a series of 25 books that I got from Major League Baseball that are about 129 pages each on different topics (such as “Baseball’s Best Pitchers” and “Baseball’s Best Ballparks”)

92. Clearing the Bases – Mike Schmidt

91. My Prison Without Bars – Pete Rose

90. Hanover Raiders -John Coulson

89. The American Game -Ira Rosen

88. Lost in the Sun – Roy Gleason

87. Yer Out and You’re Ugly Too – Durwood Merrill

86. Fair Ball – Bob Costas

85. 2008 Phillies Confidential – Gary Mathews

84. I Ain’t An Athlete Lady – John Kruk

83. Ya Gotta Believe – Tug McGraw

82. You Can’t Lose ‘Em All – Frank Fitzpatrick

81. Confessions of a Baseball Purist – Jon Miller

80. When Baseball Went to War – Todd Anton and Bill Nowlin

79. Wrigleyworld -Kevin Kaduk

78. Macho Row – William Kashatus

77. I Love This Game – Kirby Puckett

76. Baseball as America – National Geographic

75. Cooperstown: Baseball’s Hall of Fame – The Sporting News

74. Worth The Wait – Jayson Stark

73. Baseball’s Book of Firsts – Lloyd Johnson

72. Ya Gotta Have Heart: A History of Washington Baseball – Frederick Frommer

71. The 33-Year-Old Rookie – Chris Coste

70. The Yankee Years – Joe Torre

69. Living on the Black – John Feinstein

68. The Heart of the Order – Tom Boswell

67. The Rotation – Jim Salisbury and Todd Zoleki

66. Hitter – E.D. Linn

65. Making the Play – Dave Winfield

64. Sports Illustrated Baseball – Various

63. A Pitcher’s Story – Roger Angell

62. If they Don’t Win It’s a Shame – Dave Rosenbaum

61. Faithful – Stewart O’Nan and Stephen King

60. Heroes of the Negro Leagues – Mark Chiarello and Jack Morelli

59. The Catcher Was a Spy – Nicholas Dawidoff

58. 3 Nights in August – Buzz Bissinger

57. Home Run – edited by George Plimpton

56. The Bronx is Burning – Jonathan Mahler

55. Aces: The Last Season on the Mound with the Oakland A’s Big Three – Mychael Urban

54. Baseball in the Garden of Eden – John Thorne

53. Summer of 68 – Tim Wendel

52. Game 6 – Mark Frost

51. High Heat – Tim Wendel

50. If at First – Keith Hernandez

49. Satchel – Larry Tye

48. Snatch, Dizzy and Rapid Robert – Timothy Gay

47. Jackie Robinson – Arnold Rampersand

46. Fenway 1912 – Glenn Stout

45. The Teammates -David Halberstam

44. At Fenway – Dan Shaughnessy

43. The Soul of Baseball – Joe Posnanski

42. Tomahawked – Bill Zack

41. Hammerin’ Hank, George Almighty and the Say Hey Kid – John Rosengren

39. The House That Ruth Built – Robert Weintraub

38. 60 feet, 6 Inches – Bob Gibson and Reggie Jackson

37. May the Best Team Win – Andrew Zimbalist

36. Heads Up Baseball -Ken Ravizza and Tom Hanson

35. Branch Rickey – Jimmy Breslin

34. Why Time Begins on Opening Day – Tom Boswell

33. Willie Mays, The Life, The Legend – James Hirsch

32. The Bad Guys Won – Jeff Pearlman

31. Out of My League – George Plimpton

30. Whatever Happened to the Hall of Fame -Bill James

29. Summer of ’49 – David Halberstam

28. The Old Ballgame – Frank Deford

27. Paul Dickson’s Baseball Dictionary – Paul Dickson

26. The Big Bam – Leigh Montville

25. The Card – Michael O’Keefe and Teri Thompson

24. Baseball: A Literary Anthology – Various

23. The Machine – Joe Posnanski

22. Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an antihero – Jeff Pearlman

21. I Had a Hammer – Hank Aaron

20. 9 Innings – Daniel Okrent

19. Luckiest Man – Jonathan Eig

18. A Life of Henry Aaron – Howard Bryant

17. The Science of Hitting – Ted Williams

16. Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty – Buster Olney

15. First Class Citizenship: The Civil Rights Letters of Jackie Robinson – Michael Long

14. Sandy Koufax – Jane Leavy

13. Up, Up and Away – Jonah Keri

12. Men at Work – George Will

11. Moneyball – Michael Lewis

10. The Arm – Jeff Passan

9. Boys of Summer – Roger Kahn

8. Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract – Bill James

7. The Glory of Their Times – Lawrence Ritter

6. Crazy 08 – Cait Murphy

5. Juicing the Game – Howard Bryant

4. Clemente: The Passion And Grace of Baseball’s Last Hero – David Maraniss

3. I Was Right On Time – Buck O’Neil

2. Eight Men Out – Eliot Asinof

1. Ball Four – Jim Bouton