Tom Gamboa

 Tom Gamboa played baseball professionally, coached, scouted, managed in the minors and in Puerto Rico and coached in the majors with the Cubs and Royals. Scouring the country for talent, he discovered Jesse Orosco and helped develop Doug Glanville and Jose Hernandez in Puerto Rico and in the Cubs organization. Before Jim “The Rookie” Morris made it to the majors, Gamboa coached him on a title team in the Brewers organization. Sammy Sosa promised him a fist-bump for each home run Sosa hit—Tom didn’t suspect he was due 60 of them over each of the next two seasons. With a lot of humor, Gamboa takes his readers well inside the dugouts and clubhouses.

In a landmark book as shocking as it is vital, a renowned expert explores the widespread, contagious violence that is triggered by our media and popular culture.

Sosa helped put the spotlight back on Major League Baseball in the summer of '98. His record-setting season made him a media magnet, and his charm has made him a celebrity. Clearing the Vines is a paperback biography that takes sports fans from the Dominican streets, where Sosa grew up, to his days in Wrigley Field, where he has developed into a national hero.

The 2006 Baseball America Directory is the definitive reference guide for the upcoming season. The Directory features major, minor, and independent league schedules, ballpark directions, and how to get in touch with anyone in the game-by phone, fax or on the web. From schedules to personnel to addresses to phone numbers and websites, the Directory is the guide to finding information in baseball, from the majors to the minors to college, high school, and amateur baseball.