It has been leaked this week that Nomar Garciaparra will be announcing his retirement. One of the more interesting names in Red Sox history with an origin from his fathers first name turned backwards and his last name is a combination of his parents last names. He was not only an elite athlete, but with a 4.0 GPA in high school and majored in business management at Georgia Tech. He was then drafted 12th overall by the Boston Red Sox in 1994 with the 12th overall pick.
After three years in the minors he made his first full season in 1997 with the Red Sox. He led the league in AB, hits and triples. He won the rookie of the year award and was voted 8th in the MVP award voting. His season would only be a taste of what was to coma as over the next 6 seasons he would total 40.6 WAR according to Sean Smith’s WAR calculations.
This amazing 7 year span even includes his forgettable 2001 season including the Sports Illustrated cover, a wrist injury and only 21 games played. That’s how great he really was and comparing him to Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez he was right in the middle with Rodriguez totaling 54 WAR in his first seven full years and Jeter with 35.1.
While in Boston he was often known for his first pitch swings and infield pop ups, but that never hurt his production. He was not much for taking walks with a career BB% of 6.6%, but much like Dustin Pedroia he could hit most anything around the plate. He only struck out 10% of the time on average.
As for his pop ups we don’t have pre-2002 numbers, but from 2002-2009 he averaged 12.5% infield fly balls. That is putting him in the same area as Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas and Ryan Braun. That and with a BABIP over .310 six out of the eight years in Boston he was never dragged down by it or unable to effectively get on base.
After 2003 with 40.6 WAR he was headed for the Hall of Fame and a fan favorite in Boston. His seasons after the wrist injury were not as good, but he was still a top player with two 6.7 WAR seasons. Then in 2004 in his 38 games with the Red Sox his defense had fallen to a -7.2 UZR and his offense wasn’t making up for it.
Then came the big deal bring Orlando Cabrera and Doug Mientkiewicz to the Red Sox and sending Garciaparra to the Chicago Cubs. This drew a huge reaction from the fan base and quite a few thought this was a horrible move. In the end Cabrera totaled 1.2 WAR in his time with the Red Sox and Garciaparra 1.3 in Chicago.
After that though Garciaparra was never the same player again. He played one more season in Chicago and three seasons in Los Angeles. This past season he also tried to come back with the Oakland A’s. In the seasons from 2005 to 2009 he only totaled 1.7 WAR. He went from Hall of Fame level shortstop to replacement level infielder.
Currently ranked 252 all time on the WAR list for Position Players he ranks right above Jim Rice. As someone who was introduced to the Red Sox in 1997 I grew into a Red Sox fan with Pedro Martinez, Mo Vaughn and of course Nomar Garciaparra. It was the right time for the Red Sox to move Garciaparra, but that didn’t make it any easier on the fans. Now that his time is officially over we can finally look back over his career and remember the best moments. What was your favorite Nomah!!! moment?