Shortstop
Nomar Garciaparra
(1996-2009)
Career Stats: .313/.361/.521, 229 HR, 936 RBI, 95 SB, 41.4 WAR
With Red Sox: .323/.370/.553, 178 HR, 690 RBI, 84 SB, 38.9 WAR
Thanks to three World Series championships after 86 years of torture, it is easy to forget how different the Red Sox were before the 2004 season. Of course we had 1999 with Pedro Martinez’s Cy Young campaign, but Nomar Garciaparra was one of the players who always knew how to make a Red Sox fan happy.
Nomar won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1997 and finished in the top five in MVP voting while he was with the Red Sox. Known for his offensive power, Nomar won back-to-back batting titles in 1999 and 2000, becoming the first American League hitter to accomplish that feat since Joe DiMaggio. His .372 batting average in 2000 is the fourth closest to Ted Williams’ team record of .406 in 1941 and while Williams himself was alive, he thought that Nomar had the skills to become his successor as a .400 hitter.
Even though the shortstop was traded at the deadline in 2004, his former Red Sox teammates voted for him to receive a World Series ring that year. Even Curt Schilling has said that if not for Nomar, the Red Sox might not have been in a position to finally win the World Series.
After playing for the Cubs, Dodgers and A’s, Nomar signed a one-day contract with the Red Sox in 2010 so that he could retire as a member of the team. Until this day, it is common to see Nomar whenever the Red Sox are holding a ceremony at Fenway Park. Recently he sent a congratulations video to Pedro the day the Red Sox retired his number.
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