A Hit, 2nd Run, No Errors

Jon Light isn’t quite ready to give up his day job as a lawyer with Ventura County’s largest law firm, but the first printing of his first book, “The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball,” has not only sold out, it’s pulling in rave reviews.

The second printing should roll off the presses just in time for spring training later this month.

The Camarillo man, father of 7-year-old twins, is a happy hyphenate these days: Jon Light, attorney-author.

“We’re very proud of him--he’s our own nonfiction John Grisham,” said Tony Trembly, one of Light’s partners at Nordman, Cormany, Hair & Compton.

The word “book” may be a misnomer; “tome” perhaps better describes the 888-page hardback that the American Library Assn. recently named one of the top reference books of 1997. Sports announcer Bob Costas called Light at his law office to offer praise.

“He told me, ‘Great book,’ ” said Light, who confesses he saved the “While you were out” message slip from the announcer’s call.

Light, an “extreme” Dodgers fan, has framed portraits of Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams and Smoky Joe Woods of the Boston Red Sox, plus a bat and helmet or two, hanging next to the diplomas on his office wall.

Now 40, Light was 32 when he began to rise at 4 in the morning to research and write the anecdotal encyclopedia of lore and history of what is his, if not this country’s, most beloved sport.

“If you’re any kind of sports fan, it’s fascinating reading,” said Mike O’Brien, managing partner of Nordman Cormany. “When did they first sing the national anthem in a park? Have the first night game? Who was the fastest pitcher?”

By day, Light is an employment law specialist: He consults with businesses on such issues as discrimination, drug policy and sexual harassment policy. Sometimes he tries cases.

“The more time I spend in this area, the more I enjoy it--it’s diverse and interesting,” he said.

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But for eight years, writing was his night job. A typical day, or predawn, found him at the kitchen table on his computer, from 4 until 7 a.m., after which he dressed and cooked breakfast for the family before heading off to tussle with torts.

“I worked in the kitchen with everyone all around,” he said. “In fact, sometimes the girls sat on my lap--they liked to help, so I’d let them punch keys.

“I put in at least a thousand hours a year on it. I’ve just always wanted to write a book. So I thought, ‘Why not write about something I really like?’ I really loved the research. I did it mostly from other books--I now have a thousand baseball books at home.”

But Light also made a couple of trips to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. There, to his great joy, while fishing through a box of donated papers in a back room of the museum, he came on Lou Gehrig’s original will, which no one at the hall knew was there. The hall’s research director, Tim Wiles, wrote the book’s foreword.

Light has one of those publishing tales that gives hope to other aspiring writers: He sold the book on his 20th try, to textbook publisher McFarland & Co.

Growing up in Sherman Oaks, he absorbed the love of baseball from his father, broadcaster Robert Light, who “took me to Dodger games all the time. Dad actually proofread the manuscript of this book, and my mom was its first editor.”

Light was only a so-so Little Leaguer; watching baseball, talking baseball and reading about baseball have always been his oeuvre.

Light said he would like to do it again, maybe write a second edition in three or four years. “It’ll be easier then--I’ll already have the core,” he said.

His wife was encouraging, Light said. The reason for her patience, said Angela Light, was because “Jon is the only man I know who can multi-task--usually a woman’s thing. He’d be cooking dinner and plunking on the laptop at the same time.

“The only thing he gave up was a few hours’ sleep every night,” said Angela, a professional United Way fund-raiser.

He doesn’t expect to make big money on the oversize $75 book.

That was never the point, the evidence of which can be found in his favorite all-time baseball quote from humorist Kin Hubbard, which begins the text: “Knowin’ all about baseball is about as profitable as being a good whittler.”

“The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball” is more likely to be found on library reference shelves than in bookstores. However, the book may be special-ordered from bookstores, the publisher, or on the Internet through amazon.com.