By Mike Moore
C & G Sports Writer

Editor’s note: This is another story in our ongoing summer series about individuals who make a living in the world of sports. This week, we’ll take a look at Tom Stanton. Since realizing playing professional sports was not an option, he became a successful sports author. For other stories in this series follow the “Summer happenings” link.

Tom Stanton didn’t hesitate to stereotype sports writers.

After all, he believes he is a perfect example.

“Sports writers are, more or less, failed athletes,” Stanton said with a laugh.

“We all want to be pro athletes but eventually realize the skill isn’t there. Sadly, in my case, that realization came at a pretty young age. When a curveball was nearly impossible to hit, that’s when I knew.”

His dream of playing professional baseball may have crashed at a young age, but with that crash a new hope was born.

“I wanted to pursue a literary career of some kind,” said Stanton, 47, a graduate of Sterling Heights High who now resides in New Baltimore with his wife, Beth, and their three sons after spending more than 20 years in Warren.

“If you can’t play sports, what better thing to do than write about them?”

After earning a master’s degree in journalism at Michigan State, he started a weekly newspaper. His current profession, sports author, began after he sold the paper in 1999.

“There’s so much to love about being a sports author,” Stanton said. “I have an office at home, where I spend most of my time. You have to be willing to drive yourself to meet deadlines without daily or weekly reminders.

“The highlight is when a book comes out and your publisher sends you on a tour, if you’re lucky enough to have that happen.”

Stanton’s fourth book, “Ty and the Babe,” was recently released in softcover after a successful hardcover release in 2007. The book investigates the relationship of Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, and as Stanton said, “challenges the perception many people have of those two players.”

Stanton’s first book, “The Final Season,” which documented the last year of Tiger Stadium, was a Michigan bestseller, while his other two works, “The Road to Cooperstown” and “Hank Aaron and the Home Run That Changed America,” have also enjoyed a good deal of success.

Asked about his fascination with baseball, Stanton said, “It’s a love my grandfather developed in the early 1900s, when he went to games at Navin Field. He passed it on to my dad, who passed it on to me. I grew up in a baseball environment.”

Stanton said the story of his dad, Joe, getting two hits off Hall of Fame pitcher Hal Newhouser in a pick-up game in the early 1930s certainly didn’t hurt his love of the game.

“My dad’s team was practicing at the same field, Burroughs Park on Van Dyke, where Newhouser’s American Legion Roose-Vanker team was practicing,” Stanton explained. 

“Both of my dad’s hits were bloop singles over the first baseman’s head that rolled out of play for ground-rule doubles. Those were the only two hits he surrendered that game.”

Stanton, who is scheduled to teach a journalism class at the University of Detroit Mercy this fall, said speaking engagements and appearances on many media outlets has been another part of the job he has enjoyed.

“Being a sports author does have its drawbacks, though,” he said. “Sometimes working alone as much as an author has to can become a pretty difficult task. There’s also a lot of research involved, which can be a pretty slow process.”

Temptation also creeps into the story once in a while, Stanton admitted with a laugh.

“There are days during the summer when the whole family is home and the weather is nice that you can’t help but sneak outside to enjoy it,” he said.

It’s a small sin Stanton said he is willing to partake in every now and then. Heck, if his dream of becoming a major leaguer had been realized, he’d spend most summer days and nights outside.

“Unfortunately,” he laughed, “the only shot I ever had at the majors was in my own mind.”

You can reach Sports Writer Mike Moore at mmoore@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1038.