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A great collectors item for any Cubs/ Sosa fan. Pictures in the book come alive as you hold the corner and flip the pages quickly, creating a life like scene of one of Sammy's home runs. Book has 32 pages w/ full color photos that spring to life as you rapidly flip them.Measures 4 inches long by 2 1/2 inches wide by 1/2 inch thick. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from The Sporting News, published by Sporting News Publishing Co. on February 11, 2005. The length of the article is 830 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: A Sammy sanctuary: protected in the lineup and free of the baggage that piled up on him in Chicago, Sammy Sosa will have no excuses if he fails with the Orioles.
Author: Ken Rosenthal
Publication: The Sporting News (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 11, 2005
Publisher: Sporting News Publishing Co.
Volume: 229Issue: 6Page: 49(1)

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Hit a home run with these biographies! The sports heroes featured have gone through both setbacks and successes, pereservering because of their drive and determination. Make kids the #1 fans of reading with these books! ... Read more

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Just when baseball was in danger of being demoted in the eyes of American sports fans, the grand old game stepped up to the plate in 1998 and re-earned its title as the National Pastime. In Home Run! The Year the Records Fell, baseball fans can celebrate the remarkable home run assault by the Cardinals' Mark McGwire and the Cubs' Sammy Sosa. This 144-page reflection of the 1998 long-ball battle -- compiled from the files of The Associated Press -- chronicles every one of McGwire's amazing 70 home runs as well as all of Sosa's 66 blasts. Accompanying the stores are AP photographs that recapture the magical moments of "the year the records fell." From Big Mac's dramatic grand slam on opening day to his record-breaking 62nd to hitting home run No. 70 in his final at-bat, the colorful details are all re-created in Home Run! From Sammy's inauspicious start to his explosive month of June to the home runs that led his Cubs to the playoffs, fans will recall the excitement generated by the Dominican Republic's most famous celebrity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Mark McGwire Home Run Hero
If you love baseball, you'll love this. Just one problem, doesn't include 70 HR season. ... Read more

Product Description
This Special Collector's Edition features stories,quotes, statistics and photographs that highlight Sosa's race forbaseball's most revered record. Slammin' Sammy Sosais sure tobe a home run with fans of all ages--and a treasured piece of sportsmemorabilia for years to come. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Fun & Inspiring!
Sports fans will have a good time with this book! How did they find all those tidbits to put in here? The sports trivia experts in my family are already fighting over who looks at the book next. Fear not, baseball fans -- until baseball season is back in full swing, you've got this book tokeep you company during the cold winter months. ... Read more

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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 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. ... Read more

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A quality card from the 1990 Topps Baseball card set. ... Read more

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Throughout the 1998 baseball season, two names made the headlines more than any others: Mark McGwire, the eventual home run king, and Sammy Sosa, the runner-up in a race that won the hearts of baseball fans worldwide. Yet at the end of the day, it was Sosa who walked away with the National League's MVP award, not McGwire. Why? Because Sosa had dug the dismal 1997 Chicago Cubs out of the cellar not just with his home runs, but also with his spectacular all-around play. Yet Sosa's contributions off the field, both in the States and in his native land, the Dominican Republic, are even more impressive. In this powerful biography of one of the most admired sluggers in baseball, Matt Christopher, the number one sports series for kids, traces Sosa's life from his poverty-stricken childhood-when shining shoes put food on the table-to his professional career. For more information on the Matt Christopher Sports Bio Bookshelf, please see the last pages of this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Terriblious!!!!!!!!this book sucks
This book is terrible. He is 1 of the worst players in the MLB!!!!!

In thehome run derby he corked his bat and they found out!!!!and then they let him use that bat they r stupid!!!!!!!!!!

They should have kicked him out of the MLB for life!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At the plate with Sammy Sosa
I think this book is very good because it's very educational for us kids.I really recommend this book to other kids because it gives an authur's message of hard work really pays off.

Excellent
This great book on Sammy Sosa is superior in every way to most of the "cash-in" paperbacks written on baseball superstars. Well-written, engaging and full of information, Sosa may not be baseball's Superman, but he is an interesting guy profiled in this interesting book. Buy it[...]

RECOMMENDED
This is a fun book that looks at a great superstar whose legacy will get better over time.

STEVEN TRAVERS(...)

Sammy Sosa review
I liked the biography that I read because I learned that he has turned into one of the most homerun hitters of all time.
This book has some interesting facts about his life I was especially surprised to learn that when he was seven he wanted to help his mother inside the house instead of playing with his brothers and sisters.
I would highly recommend it to people who like to read about other people and sport books. I loved this book!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Winnipeg Free Press, published by Thomson Gale on February 24, 2007. The length of the article is 471 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Sosa raring to go again; Dodges steroid issue, just wants to make Rangers.(Sports)
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication: Winnipeg Free Press (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 24, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: d8

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This digital document is an article from Semana, published by Spanish Publications, Inc. on May 31, 2002. The length of the article is 764 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: El "jonroneo" invade las Mayores.(béisbol)(TT: The "home runs" invade the Major Leagues.)(TA: baseball)(Artículo Breve)
Publication: Semana (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 31, 2002
Publisher: Spanish Publications, Inc.
Volume: 8Issue: 483Page: 16(1)

Article Type: Artículo Breve

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The lives, on and off the baseball field, of the two athletes whose battle for the home run record dominated sports headlines in 1998. ... Read more

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After Babe Ruth erased Buck Freeman’s record in 1919, the new mark stood for 34 years before Maris bettered it, defying as he did an incredulous sporting public. And just as fans’ anger grew old and Maris was grudgingly credited—or discredited—with an unrepeatable hot streak, along came Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, two goliaths who in 1998 and the years just after proved fans wrong again. But when in 2001, only three years after McGwire seemed to put the record beyond reach, Barry Bonds topped him by two. This time fans were staunch in their disbelief, and while many celebrated Bonds’ achievement, others questioned its significance.

This revised edition of Bill McNeil’s Ruth, Maris, McGwire, and Sosa ("libraries especially will want this"—Library Journal) reviews the careers of each home run titan, with special attention to the record-breaking seasons. The cultural and social changes that may have affected both the players’ season totals and fan reception are also considered. ... Read more

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SLAMMIN' SAMMY!

From the streets of San Pedro de Macorís to home plate in Wrigley Field, Sammy Sosa has slammed his way to the top of the majors, and his triumphant 1998 season -- when he and Mark McGwire chased Roger Maris's home run record -- has been one of the best things to happen to baseball in years! Sosa!, illustrated with eight pages of photos, is an up-to-the-minute look at his life, from his humble beginnings in his native Dominican Republic to his 66th home run, and his contributions to a season that Chicago Cubs fans will never forget. It's also a look at how Latinos have left their stamp on professional baseball, why Roger Maris's record was untouchable for more than 35 years, and how the 1998 home run derby captured the hearts of fans and non-fans alike. But most of all, this is the story of Sammy Sosa, a man who is almost as famous for his kindness and generosity as he is for the talent that made him into a home run hero, and a winning athlete who put the excitement back into the game of baseball! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

What an inspiration!
Sosa's determination, hard work and gratitude make for a great journey and a great read.Buy this for any young boys especially.They'll be out practicing (whatever sport or activity they happen to do) as soon as they put the book down. ... Read more

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Discusses great home run hitters in the history of baseball and focuses on the significant accomplishments of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in the 1998 season. ... Read more

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Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco--the Bash Brothers--ushered in a new era of muscle-bound power hitters in baseball in the late 1980s. Suddenly balls were flying out of the parks like never before, and the rest of baseball stood up, took notice, and followed suit. Baseball's bodybuilding revolution, with its resultant steroid infestation, was here to stay, and many experts today point to these two players as a large reason why.

Author Dale Tafoya has interviewed more than 150 teammates, coaches, scouts, and friends who knew McGwire and Canseco during that era, including former A's general manager Sandy Alderson, former team president Roy Eisenhardt, former commissioner Fay Vincent, Hall-of-Fame closer Dennis Eckersley, and 2004 Ford C. Frick award-winning legendary broadcaster Lon Simmons. They provide first-person commentary on what living and playing with the larger-than-life duo was like, and relate the shock and awe that followed both players and the team as well.

Tafoya also investigates the players' pre-Oakland careers, how they exploded upon reaching the majors with the A's, and what happened when the two moved on. While Canseco has admitted his steroid use, McGwire ducked the question when Congress asked about his use by saying, "I am not here to discuss the past." Tafoya investigates the claims of each.

The Bash Brothers revolutionized baseball; Tafoya discusses whether it was for better or for worse and paints a colorful portrait of the duo's rise to popularity and their ensuing exposure and shame. Bash Brothers: A Legacy Subpoenaed is the first book to fully investigate how these two players helped shape baseball for years to come. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

WORTH READING
THE BOOK COVERS THE CAREER OF MCGWIRE AND CANSECO ALONG WITH THE INVESTIAGATION AND SCANDAL OF THE STEROID ERA. THE BASH BROTHERS WERE BIG NEWS AND GAVE BASEBALL A MUCH NEEDED SHOT IN THE ARM (NOT IN THE BUTT) IN THE LATE 1980'S. THE A'S PLAYED IN 3 CONSECUTIVE WORLD SERIES AND WERE A GREAT GATE ATTRACTION. JOSE WAS VERY BRASH AND FLAMBOYANT. MARK WAS THE OPPOSITE, QUIET AND DID NOT ENJOY THE SPOTLIGHT. BOTH TURNED TO THE NEEDLE TO HELP THEIR CAREERS AND MADE THEM HUGE AND HULKING. BUT THEIR QUICK TRANSFORMATION MADE IT SO OBVIOUS THAT STEROIDS WERE INVOLVED. THEN JOSE WROTE A BOOK AND NAMED NAMES AND CREATED WAVES OF CONTROVERSY. WITH BOTH THEIR CAREERS OVER, THE BALCO INVESTIGATION OPENED THE DOOR INTO STEROID INVESTIAGTION. JOSE WHO ADMITTED TO USAGE IN HIS BOOK WAS CALLED UPON ALONG WITH MCGWIRE AND MANY OTHERS TO DISCUSS THE STEROIDS PROBLEM. MCGWIRE PRETTY MUCH DID HIMSELF IN WITH PLEADING THE 5TH ON ALMOST EVERY QUESTION THAT CAME HIS WAY. RECENTLY HE ADMITTED TO USING ROIDS. THIS IS A NICELY WRITTEN AND INTERESTING BOOK AND WELL WORTH READING. I AM GLAD THAT MCGWIRE CAME OUT OF SECLUSION AND HAS BECOME THE CARDINALS BATTING INSTRUCTOR. HOPEFULLY JERKS LIKE AND CLEMENS AND BONDS WILL BE CAUGHT AND WILL SERVE JAIL TIME FOR PERGERY.

A compulsively readable obituary of the steroid era
I just received this for Christmas and couldn't put this down once I started it. I was initially suspicious of the content, because from judging the cover, I assumed this would be a rehash of everything I've read in the papers or in Canseco's "Juiced," but I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of reporting the author has done with key officials and players in baseball. Due to the breadth of this reporting (the story starts before the "Bash Brothers" were even born), by the end of this book you definitely have some sympathy for Canseco, McGwire and anyone else who pumped up their body with these exotic and toxic chemicals to turn baseball into a new type of WWF/WTF spectacle we've never seen before. More than than, there's just a lot of greatbaseball in this book -- from clubhouse stories from their minor league days to what was really going on behind the scenes with those '80s A's teams. This won't be the last book to be written on this era, but what a meaty, well-written addition to the canon.This one goes right next to Bouton's "Ball Four" on my shelf.

The Bash Brothers and beyond
McGwire and Canseco were the poster boys for the recent era of performance-enhancing drugs in MLB.Towering home runs blasted by hitters with hulking physiques became the order of the day, with the `Bash Brothers' leading the charge.This book provides an excellent account of their careers while demonstrating the impact they had on the game as a whole.

The amount of research Tafoya has conducted is impressive and the many contributions from former team mates and coaches really enable him to add something new to the ever-growing mound of books and articles on this subject.When first approaching the book, there were three main questions I was hoping to be answered:what really did fuel McGwire and Canseco's incredible power feats?How big an impact did their exploits have on the rest of baseball, both directly and indirectly?And finally, but most importantly, how many people knew what they were up to?All three questions are answered by Tafoya, while leaving plenty of thinking space for the reader to consider the subject further.

The front cover is, for once,quite a good starting point.The images of McGwire and Canseco in mid-swing are juxtaposed by images of their solemn faces at the 2005 Congress hearings.Their stories, from coming through the minors to being Major League stars and their ultimate falls from grace, are certainly good ones to tell.

What makes the book for me though is the way that those individual stories are put into the context of the issue as a whole.Central to this is the fact, made clear in this book if any doubt existed, that there was widespread knowledge within the game of players using performance-enhancing drugs. Nothing was done about it by MLB and, in truth, it has largely been due to the intervention of other bodies (e.g. the criminal investigation of BALCO) that the subject is being looked at now.While it's hard to feel too much sympathy for the likes of the Bash Brothers, we have to remember that they played during a time when MLB didn't have a proper drug-testing programme and there is little evidence that players were discouraged from taking a similar route.

Overall, this is a well-written, detailed book that greatly helps to inform the debate on how we should perceive the so-called `steroids era'.

A Valuable Contribution
For those interested in the pedigree, upbringing, and grooming of Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco both in their personal and professional lives, this book is a great wealth of information.A bulk of the book - the first 192 pages - deals with the Bash Brothers through high school, college, the minors, and breaking into the majors before being marketed as "The Bash Brothers" up until 1992.The remainder of the book picks up with the Bash Brothers being quickly reunited in 1997 and the litany of players who started bulking up, hitting record homers, and signing giant contracts.Steroids rumors in baseball slowly gained attention until Canseco's expose Juiced was written in 2005 and MLB was subpoenaed before Congress to testify.

Having grown up with the Bash Brothers and finding them the most exciting players to watch in my lifetime, I appreciated the amount of work the author went through to talk with so many people surrounding them and uncovering details from their personal lives as they made their way to the majors.Canseco is portrayed as having raw talent and explosive power, but a very lazy work ethic.He was frequently being disciplined, getting in trouble with the law, having a hard time with authority, always loved fast cars and women, and always seemed to like to party and have a swagger about him.His father is portrayed as coming down on his sons and yelling at them whenever they failed to perform.McGwire, in the opposite, is portrayed as a shy, kind, well-mannered, well-disciplined person from a well-off family who was very involved in the community and was generally very supportive and encouraging.He married his college sweetheart who was very well liked by the other player's wives.

McGwire and Canseco were never close off of the field and generally didn't share the same interests though they were marketed together and made into national stars as the Bash Brothers.Jose Canseco showed that having muscle actually helped baseball players.Being taboo at the time, the Oakland A's started baseball's first weight training program which would become a norm in baseball over the next decade, transforming the game.Canseco was obsessed with working out and wanted to sculpt his body, seemingly being more interested in body building than baseball, whereas McGwire enjoyed working out every day as a way to unwind.

By the time Canseco was traded from the A's in 1992, he had the reputation of not wanting to work hard or play.He wanted to DH and hit homeruns.Coming off of the worst season of McGwire's career, he returned in 1992 looking like a football player and had a comeback year.He worked out with his brother J.J. in the off season and put on 20 lbs. of muscle, who was a body builder and steroid user.

Eventually McGwire became the game's symbol of power while Canseco found it hard to find to work even after putting up the best numbers of his career in 1998.With so many players getting big and breaking records as well as suspicion of cheating looming, Canseco believes he was blackballed from the game as a liability to MLB who would soon have to pretend to be ignorant of it all to save their public image.He claims to have written Juiced to protect the players from being victimized and blackballed by MLB to protect their image the way he was, wanting the players to side with him against MLB who turned a blind eye to prevalent drug use and encouraged the culture to continue for profit at the players' expense. (Though most see Canseco as being desperate for money and selling trash at the expense of his peers for profit).

The final chapters of the book race through a lot of the events that transpired which exposed illegal drug use in the game and eventually landed some of baseball's biggest stars before Congress, and ends a little too abruptly for my liking.The author rightly mentions Operation Equine (An FBI sting on steroids dealers in the early 1990's) but only a short paragraph's worth.I would have liked him to have pointed out that an FBI informant actually sold McGwire steroids and that the very formula was described in detail as being for "hardcore users."It would have served the book well to mention that the FBI went to MLB in the early 1990's and told them they had a drug problem, naming Canseco as the prime suspect, which elicited little more than an ignored memo sent to clubhouses.This information is important for Canseco's case that MLB knew and endorsed the steroid use at every level, filling ballparks and making the game exciting, and now is attempting to bar and blackball "cheaters" to save their public image.Canseco compares MLB to the mafia, asking players to perjure themselves before Congress and destroy their lives and images for the sake of the game.

Though the book ends mentioning McGwire being snubbed from the Hall of Fame, I would have liked to see more of a discussion on the reasons people believe he should be in and the reasons people believe he should be kept out.I would also like to see more on whether or not Canseco should be appreciated for what he is doing or despised.Lastly, I would have liked to see discussion on whether or not these players should be treated as if they have committed the unforgivable sin or shown a level of grace, given the vitriol spilled at both McGwire and Canseco looks more like an irrational witch hunt than having a reasoned understanding or understandable disappointment.A nice epilogue touching on these issues in the paperback version would make this a five star book for me, but it is still a great and appreciated effort.

In the end, this book is well worth the purchase if you are a fan of McGwire and Canseco.

BUY THIS BOOK! YOU WILL BE GLAD YOU DID !
It's hard to believe that "Bash Brothers: A Legacy Subpoenaed," is Dale Tafoya's first book because he writes with the polished style and investigative savvy of a seasoned author and journalist. Mr. Tafoya's preocious writing skills may be due to his previous career as an investigative journalist, and "Bash Brothers" is filled with scoops that will impress some journalists while filling others with envy.

I have no interest in sports, but something made me pick up Mr. Tafoya's book, and I was hooked! Normally a slow reader who takes a week or longer to read a book, I consumed "Bash Brothers" in one sitting because Mr. Tafoya's work is such a page-turner.

Sensational but never sensationalistic, candid but never sleazy, "Bash Brothers" is a compelling look at how anabolic steroids and other alleged athletic performance enhancers have corrupted what has been called "America's Favorite Past-Time."

Sadly, after reading Mr. Tafoya's masterful account, pro baseball may no longer be America's favorite anything.

But there's a silver lining to the ugly cloud that permeates not only baseball but so many other sports as well. I hope that Mr. Tafoya's work will serve as a warning for impressionable high school (and even middle school!) students who are tempted to emulate their sports heroes by using illegal steroids. Despite those quacks who claim that steroids do NOT enhance athletic performance or add lean, rippling muscle to their users' physiques, the sad fact is that steroids DO give athletes an (unfair) advantage over their drug-free competitors.

Young people think they are immortal simply because no one their age has died. However, in years to come, Mssrs. Canseco and McQwire may find that for a brief period of glory as baseball superstars, they have blown their livers and end up on a long liver transplant list that by the time it comes for them to get their transplant, they will no longer need one because...they're dead. (Remember Mickey Mantle?)

If you are thinking of sticking a syringe into your hip to improve your athletic prowess, first read "Bash Brothers" and think again. You may decide to toss the hypodermic and its poisonous contents into the trash, where steroids belong. The trash, however, may be full because it already contains the reputations of the Bash Brothers and any hopes they had of landing lucrative product endorsement deals. And forget about the Hall of Fame, unless they're thinking of applying for a janitorial job there.

My disapproval of using chemicals to turbocharge athletic ability does not reflect the ravings of a crank since I am considered a knowledgeable writer on the subject of drug abuse as the author of "The Opium Wars: The Addiction of One Empire and the Corruption of Another," about the two 19th century wars fought between China and Britain when China tried to stop British merchants from importing opium into China because it was devastating Chinese society and its economy. I'm also the author of "Tweakers: How Crystal Meth Is Ravaging Gay America." I am currently writing "Nice People Can Be Addicts Too: The Epidemic of Prescription Pain-killer Abuse."

I would love to get feedback from other readers on the subject of substance abuse. They are invited to email me at FSanello@aol.com. Thank you for hearing me out. I'll get off my soapbox now.

Frank Sanello ... Read more