Palm Springs POWER Baseball President and Owner Andrew Starke held a press conference today at Palm Springs Stadium announcing Tom Gamboa as the 2010 POWER Field Manager.
Gamboa spoke of his plans for the upcoming season, along with his newly forged coaching friendship with 2009 POWER manager, Harry Gurley. Gurley, who will fill his new post as the 2010 Pitching Coach for the team, was also in attendance for the press conference.
The 2010 POWER season will begin June 4th and run through July 24th, with games beginning at 7:05pm five days a week at Palm Springs Stadium.
“I am extremely excited to bring a guy like Tom Gamboa out to manage our ball club,” said Starke. “I like his views on teaching baseball, and expanding players’ capabilities, and I have no doubt that he will continue our tradition of winning here in Palm Springs.”
Gamboa began as a major league scout for the Baltimore Orioles in 1973. Gamboa was a manager in the Milwaukee Brewers chain, managing the Paintsville Brewers in 1983, the Beloit Brewers in 1984, and the Stockton Ports in 1985. In 1986 he moved to the Detroit Tigers, managing the Bristol Tigers. He then became the Field Coordinator for the Tigers, returning to the field as a manger in 1987 and 1990. He reached the majors as the Chicago Cubs third base coach in 1998 and 1999 and served on the Kansas City Royals coaching staff from 2001 to 2003. In 2005, he managed the Arkansas Travelers in the Los Angeles Angels chain. Most recently, Gamboa was the San Diego Padres Minor League Field Development Coordinator in 2009.
He has managed pennant winning teams throughout minor league baseball, from rookie league through Triple A. Gamboa has managed ten years of winter baseball in Latin America, six years in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico and one year in Manati, Puerto Rico. His clubs went to the Caribbean World Series three times; he managed in six Puerto Rican All-Star games, was twice manager of the year, and is the only non-Latin inducted in the Latin American Hall of Fame.
