LITTLE LEAGUE’S OFFICIAL HOW-TO-PLAY BASEBALL BOOK <i> by Peter Kreutzer and Ted Kerley (Doubleday: $19.95) </i>

I’m a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, which means I know a great deal more about blind faith than I do about baseball. I certainly can’t be accused of having an oversupply of common sense. Still, this seems a smart book--a guide to Little League designed for the folks who play it: (still mostly) boys between the ages of 8 and 14.

Kreutzer and Kerley, respectively a screenwriter of children’s programming and the educator author of a book for Little League managers and coaches, guide the player through every aspect of the game, explaining all the rules, the role of each individual position, and situational strategies.

In this era of pre-adolescent sports prodigies and stage parents, the authors take a pleasantly low-key approach: A page entitled “How NOT to Look Like a Baseball Player” encourages both respect for the game and enjoyment of it, even if you do strike out. By speaking directly to the young player, the authors give him some ammunition in the parent/coach/kid equation--a nice nod, given that he’s supposed to be the beneficiary of a system that could, and sometimes does, overpower him.

There are quizzes throughout the book to help the reader gauge his own progress, as well as diagrams and drawings. “The Little League’s Official How-to-Play Baseball Book” represents a daunting optimism in that it is an expanded version of a very popular videotape; its very existence implies a belief that somewhere in this country there are a few boys left who would rather read than watch a color monitor.