About

Hi everyone! Tom Stone here, author of Now Taking the Field, a baseball email newsletter and blog.

I’ve had a successful 25+ year career in corporate HR and learning and development, but have also been a long-time freelance baseball analyst and writer. (I welcome connections on LinkedIn.)

After writing for several years at a previous personal blog and Seamheads.com, I finally published my first baseball book with ACTA Sports in early 2019: Now Taking the Field: Baseball’s All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises (see the book also on Amazon). I plan to write several more baseball books, but for now this email newsletter and blog is my primary baseball writing outlet.

What’s New in 2025?

For the 2025 season I have launched a new, daily newsletter series called The Baseball Buffet. The goal is to provide the best daily dose of relevant baseball info in a smart-brevity format (mostly short bullets, getting to the point, with quick analysis/insights.) Think of it like what baseball fans of a certain age would look forward to in their morning newspaper’s sports section each day! Included in each issue will be sections covering:

  • Quick highlights of the previous days’ games

  • On the Move - transactions including significant injuries, demotions, call-ups, etc.

  • On this Day in Baseball History - 3-6 events that took place on that date in years past

  • Today’s Birthday Boys - which star players from the present or past have birthdays today?

  • Previewing Today’s Games

    • HR Watch

    • Hits Watch

    • Who is Streaking?

    • Who Might Struggle Today?

I’ll probably add more in time, especially if I can find more time to dedicate to this. Let me know what you think of each issue… leave a comment on the post or send me an email at [email protected].

Beyond the new Baseball Buffet feature in 2025, if you are new to Now Taking the Field, consider taking a look at the archive of over 200 posts for some of what you’ve missed, such as:

A few other recent articles of note:

Thank you for reading my email newsletter and blog, Now Taking the Field. Please subscribe (free!) so that you get each issue directly in your email inbox, and don’t miss out any of the fun!

Please also feel free to send me a note with any feedback you have—I can be reached by email at [email protected].

- Tom Stone

Tom Stone, author of Now Taking the Field

More about my first book…

The result of over 20 years of research, writing, re-writing, etc., I gave my spin on the question: Who is the best at each position throughout the history of each major league baseball franchise?

Now Taking the Field provided robust 30-man, all-time dream team rosters, selected based on Wins Above Replacement (WAR), traditional statistics, awards, and post-season accomplishments. Additional features for each all-time team chapter include starting lineups, depth charts, comparisons with numerous past authors and fan surveys, and more.

The book is over 600 pages, and did pretty well—at least for a first-time baseball book author. I appeared on MLB Now on the MLB Network in February 2019, gave a presentation at the Baseball Hall of Fame, and did over 100 radio and podcast interviews during the first 18 months after its release. Loads of fun, and you can learn more about the book at my website www.nowtakingthefield.com.

Book Cover from Now Taking the Field: Baseball's All-Time Dream Teams for All 30 Franchises