Prophet of the Sandlots: Journeys With A Major League Scout [Hardcover]

Mark Winegardner (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From 1942 to 1988, the late Tony Lucadello was a baseball scout. Working first for the Chicago Cubs and then for the Philadelphia Phillies, he signed up 50 players who went on to the major leagues, including such stars as Ferguson Jenkins and Mike Schmidt. Winegardner, who accompanied Lucadello during his last year on the job, depicts an uncommonly generous man who sat through hundreds of college, high school and sandlot games, ever on the lookout for young men with the "right stuff" to take them to the top--and always willing to help them. In illuminating Lucadello's life, which ended in suicide, Winegardner ( Elvis Presley Boulevard ) evokes the spirit of baseball.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Tony Lucadello, likely to be the first scout to be inducted into Cooperstown, related to Winegardner during their trips through the Midwest the tricks of the trade in identifying and signing future major leaguers. Winegardner is reminiscent of David Halberstam in his research and reporting style, as he faithfully chronicles the events and emotions of the Lucadello scouting trips. The behind-the-scenes insight into baseball scouting alone is worthy reading, but the book's ending is more dramatic than any fictional account. Winegardner's honest writing style makes his admiration of Lucadello contagious. For another Lucadello book see David V. Hanneman's Diamonds in the Rough, reviewed above.--Ed.
-Martin J. Hu dacs, Towanda H.S., Pa.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 279 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press; First edition (January 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871133369
• ISBN-13: 978-0871133366
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,165,268 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Winegardner was born and raised in Bryan, Ohio, near Exit 2, a town of 8,000 which supplies the world with its Dum-Dum suckers and Etch-a-Sketches. His parents owned an RV dealership there, and every summer he traveled with his family across the USA in various travel trailers and motorhomes. By the time he was 15, he had been in all 48 contiguous states. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude from Miami University and went on to receive a master of fine arts degree in fiction writing from George Mason University. He published his first book at age 26, while still in graduate school. He has taught at Miami, George Mason, George Washington, and John Carroll Universities, and is now a professor in the creative writing program at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida.

Winegardner has won grants, fellowships and residencies from the Ohio Arts Council, the Lilly Endowment, the Ragdale Foundation, the Sewanee Writers Conference and the Corporation of Yaddo. His books have been chosen as among the best of the year by the New York Times Book Review, Chicago Sun-Times, Los Angeles Times, the New York Public Library, and USA Today. His work has appeared in GQ, Playboy, Ploughshares, TriQuarterly, DoubleTake, Family Circle, The Sporting News, Witness, Story Quarterly, American Short Fiction, Ladies Home Journal, Parents and The New York Times Magazine. Several of his stories have been chosen as Distinguished Stories of the Year in The Best American Short Stories.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Prophet of The Sandlots - Review, August 13, 2000

By 

John C. Haffner (ZIONSVILLE, IN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prophet of the Sandlots: Journeys With a Major League Scout (Paperback)

This is one of the better "first attempts" at baseball writing ever! Mark Winegardner spends a year w/ baseball's greatest scout and learns & shares all Tony Lucadello has to offer. Pre-draft Baseball is contrasted w/ post-draft Baseball. Several great pointers for baseball coaches and parents!!!! Prophet of the Sandlots (knowingly or otherwise) makes a very strong arguement that Baseball's HOF should make room for it's greatest scout ever.

This book is now out of print. This is unfortunate as it should be required reading for all fans of Baseball. I would make two recommendations to Mark Winegardner if a reprint is on the horizon- 1) Add photographs to the next edition. Ideas: Tony in his player's uniform, Tony at the gravesite of the Ohio born HOF'er, Tony's wedding pictures, Tony w/ Mike Schmidt, etc. 2) Add an index at the back listing people covered in the book w/ page numbers.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A good contrast to Moneyball, August 6, 2004

By 

M. H. Sharon (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Prophet of the Sandlots: Journeys With a Major League Scout (Paperback)

The bestseller Moneyball should be read in conjunction with this book for two reasons. First, they are both enjoyable reads, written in dramatically different ways. Moneyball is like a group of interesting and informative short stories/magazine articles. Prophet of the Sandlots, on the other hand, is more like a lovingly crafted tale about an old-time baseball guy, that older gent sitting in the bleachers taking notes on the high school player. It is a story about a baseball life and serves as a tribute to a man and a bygone era.

Second, Prophet of the Sandlots reflects why the old-time baseball scouts are still essential to the talent evaluation aspect of the game. No matter how much statistical analysis is ever done, there is no substitute for the trained and experienced eyes of the Tony Lucadello's of the sport. These contrasts make Prophet of the Sandlots even more interesting, beyond the highly descriptive and evocative prose that Mark Winegardner utilizes to tell this touching story.

I read this book years ago and have recommended it often to not only baseball fans, but also to fans of good reading. Hopefully it will come back into print and will become readily available again.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A true gem..., February 9, 2000

By 

"[e-mail]" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Prophet of the Sandlots: Journeys With a Major League Scout (Paperback)

I first read this book in the eighth grade and was captivated by the story of Tony Lucadello. This is a truly heartwarming and very disturbing portrait of a part of baseball that no one ever really thinks about. This book, I believe, should be dedicated to all of the baseball travelers who drive the summer roads in search of the next Thurman Munson or Duke Snider. This book should also be dedicated to all those ballplayers who don't make it out of the minors. A must read...