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.

David Russell is a graduate of St. John’s University and Queensborough Community College. He lives in Forest Hills, New York.

Tom Gamboa with David Russell
Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 216
Bibliographic Info: 14 photos, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6741-6
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2871-4
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Foreword by Doug Glanville 1
Introduction 5
A Childhood in Baseball 7
Scouting 17
Brewers Years 38
Tigers Years 63
Puerto Rico 75
Doug Glanville 96
Jose Hernandez 107
The Padres Years 114
Coaching Third at Wrigley 126
Managing in Albuquerque 154
Kansas City 165
Attack 171
After the Attack 182
Ejected in Final Game 194
World Baseball Classic 195
Epilogue 200
Index 201

• “Tom Gamboa has been one of the most influential baseball teachers in my life. I was lucky to have him as my manager in the Tigers’ minor league system. He dedicated his life to our sport, and some of my best memories as a young player were listening to his amazing stories. He is a man who makes a lasting impression on every person he meets. I’m so grateful he has taken the time to share his incredible journey with all of us.”—Billy Bean, Major League Baseball, VP, Social Responsibility & Inclusion
• “In a game that is absolutely a business, Tom Gamboa was a manager, coach, father and friend. Tom took athletes from all walks of life and made us not only a team, but champions.”—Jim “The Rookie” Morris
• “I never had the privilege to actually play for Tom Gamboa, but I’ve been witness to the legacy he has left both on and off the baseball field for decades. He scouted me at age 17, played golf as a friend at 23, swapped stories from the coaches box through my 30’s and will soon become my father-in-law at 52. His passion, integrity, sense of humor and love of family has made him an amazing teacher and leader on the field and in the clubhouse, as well as man I admire outside of baseball altogether.”—Todd Zeile, Major League Baseball 1986–2004
• “I first met Tom Gamboa in 1987. He was the manager of the Glens Falls Tigers, and I was playing for the Pittsfield Cubs of the old Eastern League in Double-A. I met him there. He was very respectful to me as an opposing player. Then a few years later he became a coach with the Chicago Cubs, developed a great friendship with him. He’s a great baseball man, knows the game, and is an even nicer guy. He always had time to try to help you out with anything you needed and was always available. He was a very good third base coach and seemed to always make the right decisions – whether to send you or hold you. The relationship moved on after that, and he had to go on to other teams, but I always look back at Tom Gamboa as one of the favorite coaches I ever had.”—Mark Grace, Diamondbacks pre- and post- game analyst, Fox Sports Arizona, Major League Baseball 1988-2003.