Dr. Tony Rebuck thinks about sports, a lot. He is a fan with a fanatical streak, a pulsing, palpable devotion to fun and games that infected him as a child after taking "the tube" to London's Wembley Stadium to watch the 1948 Olympics.

The native Brit brought his sporting passion to Toronto in the early 1970s, put down roots, worked as a lung specialist, taught medical school, raised a family and, in his spare moments, followed the Toronto Blue Jays around like an extremely well-educated and medically overqualified middle-aged baseball groupie.

"Paul Molitor was my favourite player," he says.

Baseball was it. But there were other games to go to: Soccer World Cups, rugby World Cups, cricket test matches, the physician has seen them all while also visiting 19 Olympic Stadiums - whether the Games were active or not - to simply experience being "there."

Fandom, for Tony Rebuck, does not come with an OFF switch. Not even on Saturdays, at synagogue.

"The personal message you get from reading the Torah depends on your other interests in life. When I read the Torah the message to me is relevant to my family - to medicine - and to sports," says the 74-year-old from Singapore, his current home, where he watches sports, reads about sports, dabbles at sports (scuba diving, running, swimming) and does some consulting.

As a doctor, the good doctor churned out medical papers for journals and, in a recent blaze of creative connection making that could impress Wayne Gretzky, he resolved to wed his passion for sport with his religion - in book form.

The result is A Sportman's Guide to the Torah which is, well, a sports fan's guide to the Torah. Each of the book's 54 chapters - there are sections in the Torah - starts with a bible story.

So, in the beginning we have the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve and the Forbidden Fruit. Biting into its succulent flesh was Original Sin, a fall from grace for humanity that, writes Dr. Rebuck, provides a handy menu on healthy eating for the modern athlete.

"It is hard to imagine a serious athlete who doesn't eat red fruits and vegetables on a regular basis," he writes. "God was unambiguous in encouraging Adam to eat fruit - except the forbidden one."

The guide includes myriad revelations, pulling out sports anecdotes and placing a sacred text on a novel playing field. Chapters range from the quirky, such as tying Original Sin to a winning diet, to the condemnatory - baseball owners are likened to Pharaohs for enslaving the game's great sluggers through multiple plagues (translation: labour stoppages) - to the instructive.

We have Moses on the Mount with the Ten Commandments in the Book of Exodus, and Jethro beseeching him to appoint arbiters and judges.

"Why are you sitting here doing this by yourself," Jethro said.

Moses needed help. And so, apparently, do soccer referees, since they famously miss calls and tilt the outcomes of games because the sport doesn't employ instant reply.

"Moses accepted and implemented Jethro's plan," Dr. Rebuck writes. "Why can't FIFA do what Moses did: listen to advice and implement change."

A self-published effort, Dr. Rebuck's guide will not be appearing on any bestseller lists anytime soon. Even so, close to 300 copies have been sold and it is creating a buzz in rabbinical circles.

"The rabbis are very enthusiastic about the book," he says.

With the Sportman's Guide under his belt, the budding Old Testament interpreter is itching for new material.

"I already have an idea," he says. "The Frequent Flier's Guide to the Torah. The first chapter would be about the Garden of Eden and where it really was.

"My best guess is in Israel. I think that's a logical choice, don't you?"

joconnor@ nationalpost.com