Why Gabe Ross is Important and Who Da Heck is Ralphie?

Every day, most sports fans take in a lot of news. You might think that it starts at MLN or ESPN or your local fishwrap, but there are guys like Gabe Ross that front all of that. He's the AGM and Director of Media Relations for the Sacramento River Cats, the biggest-drawing baseball club in the minors, and the winner of this year's Ralphie Award for the Media Director of the Year.

He is one of four outstanding media and PR people whom we have honored at MLN this year with the 2007 round of the Ralphie Awards. We started it a couple of years back to pay tribute to the guys and gals who get to the ballpark well before you do, get the background and stats to the reporters, and put up the game summaries long after you're tucked in bed with that nice Bud glow.

For the rest of the winners, and the major league media guy who walks away with his first Ralphie, check out the article at SZ.