No More Nomar
One of Boston's greatest players ever was traded on Saturday. Nomar represented everything that was good and pure in baseball. He was a class act that will difficult to replace. He did however harbor a major resentment towards Boston after he was almost traded for Arod. I think he needed to go just for the fact that he is way overpaid and a major injury concern. Here are some snippets from the paper:
"We just traded away Mr. Boston, a guy that meant so much to the city, and just like that, he's gone," Johnny Damon said.
Garciaparra, who was the 1997 American League Rookie of the Year, never made it to the World Series with the Sox. But no one suggested it was for a lack of effort. If anything, Garciaparra was criticized for trying so hard that his habits seemed to border on compulsive, from his quirky batting routine to his highly regimented pregame routines and a wide array of superstitions. Yet he insisted to the end that he relished his relationship with the Sox, which began when they selected him in the first round of the 1994 draft out of Georgia Tech.
"They can take the shirt off my back, but they can't take away the memories I got," he said. "They can't take away the standing ovation that I got when I came back this season when I walked up to the plate. Or the standing ovation I got when I hit the grand slam this year. Or when I hit three home runs on my birthday [in 2002]. Every time I stepped up to the plate, the fans cheered for me. When I went deep in the hole to make a play, they'll never be able to take away that. What it's meant to me, they all know that every single day I went out there and I was proud to put that uniform on and what it represented."
"I didn't think it would happen," Pedro Martinez said. "But if he's going to be happy, I'm happy for him. If it's going to work out OK for the team, it's going to be OK. It's always sad to see a guy, a superstar, a gentleman, leave like that, especially knowing that me and him and [Tim Wakefield] were probably the last old goats to survive.
"For some reason, I just feel like Nomar's part of the tradition in Boston," Martinez said. "I'm so used to seeing `Nomah!' and hearing the people go, `Nomah!' and No. 5 all over everybody's back. For some reason, I just framed him as a Bostonian, as part of the team. I think a lot of people are going to be sad in Boston."
Garciaparra's message to his teammates: "Goodbye, I love them, I miss them, good luck, and hopefully we see them in the World Series."
Then, after shaking hands with every reporter before him, he headed for Chicago. No. 5 was gone.
He was the face of the Red Sox, a superstar in the mold of the legendary Ted Williams whose indelible achievements will endure in the memories of generations of New Englanders. And now he is gone.
"We just traded away Mr. Boston, a guy that meant so much to the city, and just like that, he's gone," Johnny Damon said.
Garciaparra, who was the 1997 American League Rookie of the Year, never made it to the World Series with the Sox. But no one suggested it was for a lack of effort. If anything, Garciaparra was criticized for trying so hard that his habits seemed to border on compulsive, from his quirky batting routine to his highly regimented pregame routines and a wide array of superstitions. Yet he insisted to the end that he relished his relationship with the Sox, which began when they selected him in the first round of the 1994 draft out of Georgia Tech.
"They can take the shirt off my back, but they can't take away the memories I got," he said. "They can't take away the standing ovation that I got when I came back this season when I walked up to the plate. Or the standing ovation I got when I hit the grand slam this year. Or when I hit three home runs on my birthday [in 2002]. Every time I stepped up to the plate, the fans cheered for me. When I went deep in the hole to make a play, they'll never be able to take away that. What it's meant to me, they all know that every single day I went out there and I was proud to put that uniform on and what it represented."
"I didn't think it would happen," Pedro Martinez said. "But if he's going to be happy, I'm happy for him. If it's going to work out OK for the team, it's going to be OK. It's always sad to see a guy, a superstar, a gentleman, leave like that, especially knowing that me and him and [Tim Wakefield] were probably the last old goats to survive.
"For some reason, I just feel like Nomar's part of the tradition in Boston," Martinez said. "I'm so used to seeing `Nomah!' and hearing the people go, `Nomah!' and No. 5 all over everybody's back. For some reason, I just framed him as a Bostonian, as part of the team. I think a lot of people are going to be sad in Boston."
Garciaparra's message to his teammates: "Goodbye, I love them, I miss them, good luck, and hopefully we see them in the World Series."
Then, after shaking hands with every reporter before him, he headed for Chicago. No. 5 was gone.
He was the face of the Red Sox, a superstar in the mold of the legendary Ted Williams whose indelible achievements will endure in the memories of generations of New Englanders. And now he is gone.
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