Batting 6th at shortstop ...

Nomar Garciaparra (1996-2004)

1997 AL Rookie of the Year

2 time AL Batting Champ (1999,2000)

5 time AL All Star

Let's get this out of the way, Nomar was my favorite Red Sox player during his tenure in Boston. Roger Clemens left at the end of 1996 and Nomar took his place as the player that was the most beloved in my eyes. This selection may be quite biased but after researching the candidates for the shortstop position only two other players that are worthy of even mentioning are Joe Cronin and Johnny Pesky. Nomar was (yes, I used past tense on purpose) better than both.

Nomar led the league in batting in 1999 (.357) and 2000 (.372) and was a five time All Star. His career numbers in what amounts to seven seasons with Boston are outstanding; 1281 hits, 178 home runs, 709 runs scored, 690 runs batted in and a batting average of .323 which is fourth best all time in Sox history. Defensively, Nomar was very athletic at shortstop getting to many balls that others did not. His defensive numbers compare favorably to both Cronin and Pesky. Nomar (named after his dad Ramon) was electric.

It was not that long ago when one of the great debates in these parts was who was the better shortstop Jeter or Nomar. My opinion was always that Alex Rodriguez was better than both of them but that Nomar had Jeter's number regardless of the rings that Jeter got seemingly every year. (Wow, that must seem like eons ago for Yankee fans. BTW -- Jeter isn't even the best shortstop on the Yankees right now.) That all changed in early July 2004.

Nomar started the season on the DL and was in a contract dispute with management. By July, he was back playing and hitting above three hundred. With the Red Sox needing to win a game at Yankee Stadium, Nomar for whatever reason was not in the line up. This is the one game I will watch on "Yankee Classics" because it was an all out battle. As the game wore on Nomar did not leave his spot on the bench. Meanwhile, Jeter made a catch I will never forget on Trot Nixon's flare down the left field line. Jeter caught the ball in full stride and went face first into the stands. He was removed from the game with a bruised face that was also bloodied. Moments later the camera showed Nomar still sitting in his spot. The Yankees went on to win the tense extra inning game and Nomar was traded two weeks later.

We all remember how that season ended. The time was right to get rid of Nomar and change the "culture" of the club. This did not diminish my memory of the best shortstop the Red Sox have ever had.