having retired from baseball, van slyke has begun pursuing a career as an author, focusing on books centered on baseball. in 2009, he authored "tiger confidential: the untold inside story of the 2008 season" (with co-author jim hawkins). in july 2010, he published "" (with co-author rob rains), a book in the subgenre sports fiction about the chicago cubs finally breaking their one hundred year curse and playing in the world series.