• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, March 3, 2006

I consider myself fairly knowledgeable when it comes to Major League Baseball: I've read the book Moneyball, I own "Field of Dreams," I'm in a fantasy baseball league. Most importantly, I'm a long-suffering Mets fan. This is our year. Really.

Not fully accustomed to the inner workings of minor league teams, I got acquainted with the latest issue of Baseball America (the magazine is published twice a month) to see what makes the minor leagues tick.

Baseball America does a great job covering what it knows best: minor league players are profiled in heavy rotation, MLB stories are placed on the backburner, yet the pub still manages to count ESPN analysts Peter Gammons, Jayson Stark and Jerry Crasnick as columnists.

I was pleasantly surprised at the number of feel-good, uplifting baseball stories written in the Feb. 13-26 issue. For one, there's a profile of MLB's soon-to-be-opened UrbanYouthAcademy in Compton, Calif, which enables MLB to give back to the community, promote inner-city baseball, and keep kids off the streets. Another inspiring piece lists the top 10 prospects from each team in the American League Central in baseball card format, providing each player's background, strengths, weaknesses, and future plans.

Most of the No. 1 prospects from each team, in fact, had to overcome personal obstacles to land the top spot. This is what baseball is all about. Check the egos and bloated salaries at the door.

Baseball America analyzes the 2006 baseball draft (taking place in June), ranking its projected first round picks and the order the MLB teams are choosing players. The pub doesn't stop there: The top 100 college AND the top 100 high school prospects are listed, giving this baseball fan a brief case of vertigo.

I was disappointed to learn that my beloved Mets traded many of its team prospects to bring in veteran players, a move that will inevitably come back and haunt them down the road.

I never expected to read about this in a sports magazine. Branded entertainment has become de rigueur, and minor league baseball has taken note. In a recent episode of the TV show "7^th Heaven," The Modesto Nuts of California, a minor league team, received prominent placement in a plot line about a character torn between attending college and joining the Modesto Nuts.

The pub concludes with organization reports from each baseball team: who's been hired in the front office, who's been designated for assignment, etc. The teams have a section of brief snippets following the reports, each with a witty name for the respective teams. The New York Mets have a Metamorphoses section, The San Diego Padres area is called Father Figures, and check out the Cubbyhole for all information pertaining to the Chicago Cubs.

Hardcore baseball fans and people who work in the industry are the readers of Baseball America. It does its job well by catering to this readership base, for the publication doesn't have a direct competitor, unless you consider Sports Weekly (formerly known as Baseball Weekly).

The pub's emphasis on player development, beginning in high school and continuing through college, the minor leagues and up through the majors, would overwhelm baseball novices with the wealth of data provided. Newbies would be better off starting off elsewhere and progressing to Baseball America, should their passion for everything baseball need further satisfying.