Nomore

To be honest Nomie had kind of fallen off my radar screen. Now, the first thing I think of when I thinkn of Nomar Garciaparra was his trade in '04 which has to go down as one of the greatest trades ever - almost the opposite of the Babe Ruth trade/sale if you think about it. There was all this talk of Nomar being unhappy his role was already changing and the rumours were starting to fly that not all was right with the club's chemistry. So finally, in what has to be one of the ballsiest trades ever pulled off by a GM running a professional sports team that's treated more like a public trust, Theo pulled the trigger on the Nomar trade that sent him packing to the Cubs in a 3-way deal that netted the Sox Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mankiewicz. Ironically, I don't feel like the Sox have had a rock at the position since they traded him 6 years ago. For some reason they let Cabrera go after '04 and tried to make Edgar Renteria fit (not possible as Tony Larussa prophetically predicted) and tried Alex Gonzales, Jed Lowrie and Julio Lugo with some success - obviously a World Series in '07 - but did not find anyone who proved to be able to handle the duties for the long term.

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/mlb/news/story?id=4981701

But from like '97 to '00 or '01 he was among the top 5 in the league and the face of the Sox franchise. I'll never forget that year he hit .372 - his average topped .400 that year as late as August! Amazing stuff. He became best buds with Ted Williams before he died and I think was even been inducted in Williams' Hitting Hall of Fame in Florida. When Ted Williams died it was Nomar who led the grieving franchise and fanbase in the "wake" that was held at Fenway in the days after Williams' death. In '99 again it was Nomie as the face of the franchise as all of baseball looked at Fenway during All-Star weekend.

But I'll also remember his "Cut Above" Sports Illustrated cover that shows him completely ripped. There was of course no mention of 'roids in the article. How clueless we all were back then. I remember reading the article and noting that the writer also couldn't help but notice how big Nomie's friend Lou Merloni was. 'Roids were everywhere. Then once baseball began an actual drug testing program Nomar like many other suspected users (Giambi, McGuire) saw their productivity plummet.

But without a doubt he's NOT in the HOF. Not even close. His two grand slam 12 RBI game against the Mariners was HOF stuff. But for his career, too many injuries. Not enough quality seasons. His wrist injury from the end of the '00 season that he didn't have surgery on until opening day of the following year limiting him to like 21 games for the rest of '01 was a killer since '00 was the season of his .372 average. But his first game back from the injury of course he hits a HR. But after he was traded to Chicago in '05 he head a vicious hamstring injury that looked like his thigh was bifurcating in two. He was writhing on the ground in pain after that. With a World Series ring to call our own, Sox fans just felt bad for him at that point.

Above all else, at his prime he was nearly untouchable. He came through in big games and in big moments. His drive and ability to push himself were unmatched. I think his duty as the face of the franchise eventually weighed down on him too much such that he needed to leave in '04. There was simply no other way for either party to move forward. His theoretical back was broken - the burden had become too big for him to bear after 7 seasons.

Can't wait for one of his daughters to win the gold in Olympic softball in 2024 when Boston hosts the Olympics.