By Lisa Neff

Contributing writer

On deck…for the winter baseball season

For true baseball fans, NFL, NBA and NHL action cannot replace Major League Baseball play, those moments of glory on the green, green fields of American shrines.

I’ll confess here to dreaming, as a child, of growing up to play Major League Baseball. Today, I like to think it was my arm, not my gender or even my sexual orientation, that kept me from the big leagues.

I remain a big league fan even during the off-season. Yes, the arrival of November need not send baseball enthusiasts into hibernation for five cold winter months.

The winter baseball season may not be what it was some three decades ago, when fans could listen to the play-by-play of games in Puerto Rico, where Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente shared the outfield.

But Winter League play still draws top talent—and consumers can catch the action on ESPN. During the 2007-08 winter season, ESPN presents the most extensive coverage of winter baseball from the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Venezuela on various platforms—ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPNdeportes.com. Live coverage began in mid-October and continues through the season with play-by-play, analysis and color. www.espn.com or espndeportes.com

Digital delivery: MLB’s digital library contains enough material to last a fan through many winters, including the “Chicago Cubs Legends Great Games Collector’s Edition” DVD set and the “Chicago White Sox 2005 World Series Collector’s Edition” DVD set.

In a partnership with A&E Entertainment and CreateSpace, MLB also has made available each World Series game between the Red Sox and the Rockies within hours after the last pitch. www.amazon.com

Suit up: For this year’s post-season clubs, including the Cubbies, MLB Properties with Majestic Athletic created a redesigned Premier player’s jacket and hooded fleece. The idea was to offer players a jacket and fleece that keeps them dry and warm in the late-fall weather, while staying away from bulk.

For post-season collectors, MLB also offers the on-field collection of World Series jackets, jerseys and caps with Red Sox and Rockies logos, as well as a variety of playoff gear for the Phillies, Yankees, Indians, Diamond Backs, Angels and Cubs. By the way, for those who wonder what happens to the pre-printed post-season merchandise for teams that failed to advance, MLB makes good use of the clothing. While it cannot be sold—though pirates and bootleggers might try—it can be given away. With the cooperation of the World Vision international relief organization, the clothing gets distributed in developing countries. www.mlb.com

For those who favor the lesser-known teams, the Hawaii Winter Baseball team apparel blends baseball style with tropical flair. The Waikiki Beach Boys T-shirt, with a muscle-bound blond guy in front of a surfboard for a logo, seems perfect for a night at Crew Bar and Grill. www.shop.hawaiiwinterbaseball.com

Of champions: “Buy me some peanuts.…” A study from Purdue University showed that when people ate peanuts, they felt very satisfied and naturally decreased food consumption at other times of the day. Despite the inclusion of a significant amount of extra calories in the diet, little change in body weight was observed. This was the first clinical study designed to confirm and explain a body of epidemiological data showing that nut-eaters tend to have a lower body mass index than non-nut-eaters.

“And Cracker Jacks.…” According to legend, the world encountered Cracker Jack in 1893 at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. F.W. Rueckheim and his brother, Louis, introduced a unique popcorn, peanut and molasses mix that would become Cracker Jack. A prize in every box didn’t come along until 1912 and Sailor Jack and his dog, Bingo, until 1918.

Some of you will recall the olden days when players in the dugouts would spit tobacco chew. Today, for the most part, they spit sunflower seed shells. And, by and large, the brand of seed they eat and the brand of shell they spit is David Original Sunflower Seeds—roasted and salted, and maybe even “sizzlin’ BBQ.” www.davidseeds.com

In the late-1970s, Major League pitcher Jim Bouton noticed that a lot of younger teammates in the bullpen had started to chew gum. One teammate, Rob Nelson, mentioned that it was too bad there wasn’t a chewing gum that looked like chewing tobacco. Bouton and Nelson then decided to run with the concept. They designed some pouches, made some shredded gum and scouted around for a manufacturer. They found one in a novelty gum company in Illinois, Amurol Products. In their rookie year, the partners sold $18 million worth of Big League Chew. www.jimbouton.com

The love affair between baseball fans and Wheaties breakfast of champions dates back decades, to the 1930s and the Wheaties’ radio baseball broadcasts. From one station the broadcasts expanded to 95, spreading to teams and cities throughout the country. Athlete testimonials were a key part of the “Breakfast of Champions” broadcast package. Among the stars endorsing the cereal through the years were Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, Lefty Grove, Carl Hubbell, Joe Cronin, Jimmie Foxx, Mel Ott, Eddie Stanky, Bob Feller, Ted Williams, Hank Greenberg, Stan Musial, Lou Boudreau, Phil Rizzuto, Jackie Robinson, Hal Newhouser, Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Warren Spahn, Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and Johnny Bench. In fact, Wheaties had such a strong presence that 46 of the 51 players selected for the 1939 Major League All-Star Game endorsed Wheaties at the time. Soon after that all-star game, Wheaties sponsored the first televised commercial sports broadcast—a game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Powerhouse prose: Bibliophile baseball fans can go scouting for the best prices on the best reads about this great pastime on bookfinder.com. Through its network of more than 100,000 new and used booksellers, bookfinder.com can locate copies of classic titles and latest bestsellers and out-of-print collectibles. Some recommendations: Philip Roth’s “The Great American Novel,” W.P. Kinsella’s “Shoeless Joe,” Mark Harris’ “Bang the Drum Slowly” and Michael Lewis’ “Moneyball: The Art of Wining an Unfair Game.”