Inspired

It’s strange to be thinking about baseball on a day when the weather is like it is in Kansas City today. But, here I am, wrapped in a blanket, wearing a thick sweatshirt, thinking about baseball.

That’s because I’ve been downright inspired by these great baseball novels I’ve been reading lately.

I don’t want to say too much yet - the idea is just a seedling, and too much exposure to the elements may kill it - but I’ve got a notion for a baseball novel of my own.

But because of that, I’ve changed my plans a bit for the baseball novel review series. I was planning to read “The Southpaw” next (which I finally found for a reasonable price on eBay), but I’m putting that aside and instead I’m going to read a non-fiction book called “Prophet of the Sandlots,” by Mark Winegardner.

The book is about real-life baseball scout Tony Lucadello. In a few days, I’ll write some initial notes about the book and its author.

I don’t intend to veer into non-fiction too often in this series, but one of the characters in my own novel is a baseball scout. This portrait of Lucadello is one of the most informative works on scouting I’ve ever read. But I haven’t read it for over a decade, so I wanted to brush up.

Besides, “Prophet of the Sandlots” reads like a novel (in fact, it falls into that expanding and wonderful genre called “non-fiction novels”).

I’ll get started on “Prophet” in a few days, and I’ll let you know more about my novel idea as it develops.

--Matt Kelsey