The best thing about Morton Grove

$20 well spent

STATS, Inc.

John DeWan, Don Zminda and crew may have sold out to media conglomerate News Corp but when it comes to crunching numbers - and baseball is a game of numbers - no one does it better than this crew. I picked up my copy of The TSN/STATS Inc 2005 Scouting Report a few days ago and haven't been able to put the thing down. Easy to read summaries with great details and necessary facts. Unlike Baseball Prospectus, this book focuses more on discussing a player's past performace, ability, strengths and weakness, and do not attempt to look into a crystal ball and predicte their future. BP isn't even in the same league. This book will be worn to pieces by seasons end. Anyone want a copy of the 2004 Baseball Prospectus real cheap?

Additionally, while browsing thru the huge fiction section of one of my favorite dusty old bookstores, looking for southsider James T. Farrell's collection of short stories or his lone and somewhat rare collection of poetry, I came across a work of his I had not previously known existed- a book called My Baseball Diary. Its a non fiction book from the 1950s that was out of print for 30 years, when the good folks at Southern Illinois University Press put this one back into circulation in 1998. Farrell goes deep into old time baseball, writing about the Sox and great players of the day like Ty Cobb. Always one to discuss southside culture, he profiles fans and the likes of McCuddahy's tavern. No way I was going to pay $20 retail, so I found it on http://www.abebooks.com/ (link at right as well) that wound up costing me $5 including shipping. Forget that Napoleon biogrpahy, I've got to dive into this book as soon as it shows up on my doorstep next week. Could be a "Farrell Spring", as I have the Studs Lonigan Trilogy lined up right to read after that... So, fans, have your thinking caps on, there will be plently of literary discussion, along with baseball talk, in the coming months.