Lots to write about this week. I could touch upon the rise of Texas Rangers All-Star outfielder Josh Hamilton, who has kicked his coke habit to the curb and nowadays smacks home runs over the wall at an alarming rate. In Monday’s Home Run Derby, he hit 28 dingers in the first round alone, easily besting the top first-round performance in my mind, Mark McGwire’s memorable round at Fenway in 1999.

I’ve long debated an angle for my next Cardinals-related column. While the acquisitions of C.C. Sabathia by the Brewers and Rich Harden by the Cubs could provide an opportunity to express a desire for the Cardinals to pick up a shut-’em-down reliever and big bat, I’ll take a pass this week. I’ll even avoid talking about the implosion of Mark Mulder’s shoulder, yet again, and the surprise promotion of one of St. Louis’ prized pitching prospects, Jamie Garcia. For by this time next week I’ll have a better read on all of the above.

In the meantime, there are always books to read while wasting away warm summer afternoons. So, let’s discuss some you may have a hard time putting down.

In celebration of the 2008 NBA Draft and the Chicago Bulls top overall selection of Derrick Rose, who will no doubt transform the team’s lackluster offense into a stealth scoring machine under the master guidance of first-year coach (of any kind) Vinny Del Negro, I give you my own hardly expert draft analysis. Not of this year’s draft, and not of No. 1 picks, but of the best sleeper picks from every draft since the 1976 NBA-ABA merger. Why? Because I enjoy such silly exercises, and also because I am too lazy to execute my original plan — to rank the best and worst first-round draft picks by selection number (first through last) over the same time period. Ready or not, here we go!

Well, so much for Doug Collins. On Wednesday, the Bulls announced the hiring of their new head coach, a head coach with no head coaching experience, no assistant coaching experience, really, zero coaching experience of any kind: Vinny Del Negro. After peaking fans’ interest by capturing the No. 1 pick in the upcoming draft, the Bulls trampled any momentum the franchise had going for it with the filling of this vacancy.

Gather round friends and Cubs fans. Northsider groupies, including Smile Politely scribe Adam Fein, are getting their hopes up thanks to an MLB-best start. So now is as good a time as any to remind them that the Cardinals are just two games back in the win column, and the Cubs, as their faithful surely know, have this little thing called history working against them. Speaking of history, shall we take a quick walk down memory lane and recall some of the Cubs more memorable regular-season collapses?

As the NBA Finals draw near and the league wets its lips in anticipation of a Lakers–Celtics match up, Bulls fans can take solace in owning the first overall pick in June’s draft, and possibly hiring a new coach, TNT analyst and former Bulls coach Doug Collins. I say “possibly” not because there is still lingering speculation about whether Collins is the Bulls’ guy — Chicago GM John Paxson just won’t make it official until Collins is relieved of his on-air duties, which likely occurred last night as the Lakers wrapped up the West — but rather because plenty of Chicago fans may not be too excited to see Collins back on the team’s bench after a two-decade absence. But more on that later.

Back in December, I wrote a long-winded eulogy for Jim Edmonds when his ties were cut with the Cardinals upon being shipped to San Diego. I wanted to remember his loping, upper-cut swing, his shoestring or scaling-the-wall catches, his notoriously lackadaisical appearance on the field, his So. Cal. bleached tips, his uncanny ability to clobber the high fastball and that glorious, walk-off home run he hit off Dan Miceli to keep the Cardinals alive in the 2004 NLCS.

I never published that eulogy. And now, I’m glad I didn’t, because Jim Edmonds isn’t going quietly into the night. Instead, he’s playing for the arch-rival Cubs. Whether Edmonds, who once admitted to treading lightly on Wrigley’s warning track thanks to its vine-covered brick walls, has any gas left in the tank or not is beside the point. He’ll be wearing the C on his chest, and that’s uncomfortable for Redbirds fans. The man who said on many occasions that he wanted to end his career in St. Louis will now likely cap his career in Chicago. That’s tough to stomach.

The Cardinals’ Rick Ankiel has accomplished more in his six-year major league career than most. He’s won 13 games and sports a 3.90 career ERA. He’s averaged better than a strikeout per inning on the mound. At the plate, he owns a .470 slugging percentage and 67 career RBIs.

Ankiel has also earned enough criticism, empathy, praise and “What if … ?”s in six seasons to last him a lifetime. The role of pitching phenom is never an easy part to play. Just ask Kerry Wood or Mark Prior. But neither of their stories mimic the bizarre tale of Ankiel, which any recent baseball fan knows all too well. His progression has been a memorable one: “the next Sandy Koufax,” Game 1 of the 2000 NLDS, wild pitches, mental blocks, media scrutiny, failed comeback, Single-A ball, injuries, more failure, thoughts of quitting, rebirth as a position player, success in the minors, comparisons to The Natural in the majors, scandal, suspense.

Let’s get three things straight about Tony La Russa, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. First, a pet peeve: There is a space between “La” and “Russa.” Second, his lifetime Major League batting average as a middle infielder is one point below the Mendoza Line. Third, and most important, his 2,393 career wins as a Major League manager place him among some select, Hall-of-Fame company: Only Connie Mack and John McGraw have more victories.

Mack, who has won — by far — more games than any other manager in MLB history, 3,731, also has 3,948 losses. I bring this up because wins, as a metric for the success of managers and starting pitchers alike, don’t tell the whole story. And in the case of La Russa, the whole story is worth telling.

I spend my days editing and acquiring sports non-fiction books. I also often spend my nights reading sports non-fiction books, which makes for a lot of sports reading — probably too much. In light of the arrival of both spring and the baseball season, I’m sharing some recent baseball reads that you may find of interest.

I don’t much care to join the debate over whether the Big Ten Network is in the wrong or Comcast should be blamed for the cable provider’s ongoing refusal to carry the Big Ten Network. Regardless of who is ultimately to blame — and the likely truth is that it’s both of ’em to some degree — I’m still without the Big Ten Network, despite reports that the two sides are close to agreement. The only one getting screwed in this process is me, the fan.

And Comcast hasn’t improved its Q rating by choosing not to pick up an extra twenty Cardinals games that Fox Sports Midwest is offering. On Tuesday night I waited with bated breath for the first-place Cardinals to take on the second-place Brewers. After all, this was the first time in the last fifty years (and, quite possibly, ever) of Major League Baseball that two opposing teams would each bat the pitcher eighth in the order. (Yes, these are the sorts of thrills that I look forward to on a daily basis.)

No one pegged the Cardinals to win the N.L. Central this year, but after ten games they find themselves atop the division, a half-game ahead of the Brewers and the streaking Cubs. You can put me among those skeptics. I felt this team had as much of a chance of winning the division as Neifi Perez had in finding his stroke, landing with the Yankees, displacing Alex Rodriguez at third base and making his first All-Star team. (I don’t think they currently market that strong of a performance-enhancing drug.)

Finally, games that count have arrived. For better or worse, that means the Cardinals took the field this week. The Redbirds then promptly played in a game that didn’t count, an Opening Day rainout that washed away an Albert Pujols home run. Funny how that happens. Opening Day redux ended with Rockies starter Kip Wells getting the best of his former team. Ouch. But St. Louis rebounded to take the series with a win on Thursday. All told, they allowed the reigning N.L. champs just five runs in three games.

Getting back to my last column — a silly expedition in selecting the best players in the N.L. Central — I must carry on where I left off and identify the pitchers who will surely shine this season, given my blessing. We’ll start with a rotation, then build a pen.

As I stated last week, I could really care less about spring training. It becomes especially difficult to pay attention to baseball games that don’t count when there’s college basketball games that do count being played for all the marbles. March is for the Butlers, George Masons, Bucknells, Kent States, Vermonts and Virginia Commonwealths. March is for whomever is playing Duke. I could care less who is playing the St. Louis Cardinals.

But for the sake of writing a baseball column amidst the excitement of a college basketball tournament, I’ll attempt to honor college basketball tradition and pick a preseason “all conference” team for the N.L. Central. Like any great preseason team, my picks are based on wild hunches and threads of evidence, and will largely turn out to be wrong come September.

I’m in the minority among baseball fans: I don’t find spring training to be all that interesting. Sure, it’s exciting to know that baseball games that actually count are right around the corner, but as for devouring the ins and outs of spring training games and studying the myriad competitions for precious roster spots that ensue, I could care less. So and so is mowing down the organization’s soon-to-be Double-Aers in batting practice? So and so is 16 for 40 and leading the team in RBIs? So what!