As one of the gaijin (foreign) baseball players of Whiting's earlier book, You Gotta Have Wa ( LJ 5/1/89), Cromartie tells of his seven tempestuous years with the Tokyo Giants. "Cro," as they called him, fought the Wa --the demanding team discipline Japanese baseball teams expect from their players--and in return was resented as a highly paid foreigner and an independent black. Finally coming to terms with the Japanese methods, he won acceptance and learned to appreciate the nation's way of life. Recommended where You Gotta Have Wa attracted adult and YA readers.