A sports writer’s ‘stuff I like’: Jason Isbell, Westside Local, Chipper Jones’ book

Here’s what sports reporter Maria Torres is into right now:

This playlist

If you’re a singer/songwriter fan and/or enjoy a fair bit of indie music, hit play below. You can listen fo’ free.

Brunch at the Westside Local

I have lived incredibly close to this place for months but didn’t know it existed until I brunched there recently. It’s in an eclectic neighborhood just south of Quality Hill, on Summit and 16th, where the architecture is a mix of craftsman and contemporary. We ate at the bar because it was a crowded Sunday afternoon, but there’s patio seating in the beer garden and a nice dining room outfitted with handmade tables and exposed brick walls. Hopefully I can take my mom there in a few weeks.

Tips: Make reservations. Servings are large, so come with an appetite.

Recommendation: Chorizo Burrito. I ate the Pumpkin French Toast, which was also fabulous, but This. Burrito™.

‘Ballplayer’ by Chipper Jones

When I was growing up in Atlanta, Chipper Jones’ toe tap was the stuff of dreams. So when the former third baseman’s autobiography, which former Atlanta Journal-Constitution beat writer Carroll Rogers Walton co-wrote, was released in early April, it rocketed to the top of my shopping list. A co-worker handed a copy off to me. I started reading it on a flight back home two weeks ago and have found it difficult to put the book down in favor of The Real World.

Jones does a fair amount of boasting, but it’s hard to fault a switch hitter who averaged .303 over 19 major-league seasons and is a sure first-ballot Hall of Famer for bragging. Plus the clubhouse stories, the accounts of conversations with John Schuerholz and other Braves brass, and Jones’ unabashed honesty make up for it. The section of the book dedicated to the struggles in his first marriage might make you cringe, but Jones has never been one to hold his tongue. It’s refreshing.

Pho

A Vietnamese friend in high school once offered me pho at her house, but I wouldn’t go near the dish that featured slimy noodles and weird vegetables. Plus the spoon was oddly shaped, chopsticks were involved and none of that was my thing back then, you know? Six years later, I’ve come to recognize I was wrong, like I was, and am, about most things.

So far I’ve had only the beefy broth from Vietnam Cafe, some in Wichita several weeks back and from a food truck at The Star. Would love to try some different places, so hit me with your best pho.

S-Town

The title of this investigative journalism podcast is politically correct but its contents are very much not. It’s as convoluted as the relationship between late Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura and his family. At every turn is another source corroborating outlandish situations without batting an eye. A small-town Alabama man emailed “This American Life” producer Brian Reed a few years ago asking him to investigate what he thinks is a murder that local police have covered up. I’ll let S-Town describe the rest:

“He asks Brian to investigate the son of a wealthy family who’s allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder. But then someone else ends up dead, and the search for the truth leads to a nasty feud, a hunt for hidden treasure and an unearthing of the mysteries of one man’s life.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2017 at 7:00 AM with the headline "A sports writer’s ‘stuff I like’: Jason Isbell, Westside Local, Chipper Jones’ book."