It’s hard to name more than a handful of athletes more beloved by the City of Boston than Nomar Garciaparra. If you lived in the New England area in the late 90s/early 2000s, you probably heard the name Nomar more than your own name. For a time, before David Ortiz became Big Papi, before the Curse Of The Bambino was broken, and hell, well before Brady even started, Nomar was the man in Boston sports. It seems ages ago or a forgotten time that this was the case, so let’s look into the numbers behind the reason for his elite place in Boston sports forever.
1997-1998
The shortstop played a little over eight years for the Red Sox, but Nomar won the Sox fans over before his first full season even ended. Winning Rookie Of The Year in 1997 and leading the league in hits with 209, there was no slow build up to his connection with the fans. He became a celebrity overnight. Instant admiration. In the 153 games Nomar played that year, he had a multi-hit game in 68 of them. More than either of his two Batting Titles in 1999 and 2000, which we’ll get to in a minute. But nevertheless, a stat that symbolizes just how quickly Nomar became Boston’s lineup cornerstone.
Not only was there no slow build up to Nomar’s connection with the fans, but there wasn’t a “sophomore slump” as they say either. Nomar’s 1998 campaign saw him to a runner-up finish for the AL MVP. While it was a famously crowded MVP race, Nomar’s performance instantly put him up there with the biggest names in the game at the time. Hitting .323 with career bests in homers (35) and RBIs (122), he fascinatingly enough was not an All-Star selection. Despite again, finishing runner-up for MVP. It only seemed to add to his aura. “NomarMania” had hit Red Sox Nation. And hard.
A little before the Monster Seats, Coke bottles and endless advertisements. Hell even before John Henry, Nomar Garciaparra was the owner of the Green Monster. in just two years of hammering balls off of or over it, Nomar had become a complete phenomenon in Boston.
Back-To-Back Batting Titles
Mind you he’s only 24 going on 25 for the 1999 season. Becoming a big piece of what is referred to as a “Golden Era” of shortstops. Garciaparra, Jeter, A-Rod, Larkin, Ripken, Tejada etc… Nomar would prove he belonged right up there with those names with a Batting Title in 1999.
With a fat .357 AVG, Nomar took the Batting Title home. Staying well above .300 from the last day of April on through. From April 26th to August 4th in that season, he only had 8 hitless games. Including a 3 homer, 10 RBI day on May 10th vs Seattle.
With “NomarMania” in full force at the turn of the century, He wasn’t finished. Nomar would end up repeating as the AL Batting Champion in 2000. This time hitting a towering .372 AVG. and finishing the season on a 20-game hitting streak, with 11 of them being multi-hit games.
Between Nomar’s back-to-back Batting Title winning seasons in 1999 and 2000, a handful of numbers caught the eye over that two year span:
- more doubles (93) than strikeouts (89)
- .365/.426/.601 slash line
- 387 hits in 275 games
- 207 runs scored and 200 RBIs
- 118 multi-hit games
- 40 3+ hit games
Regardless of the hitting advantages Fenway Park has, the Green Monster has turned guaranteed doubles into long singles if hit hard enough. So, for Nomar to still amass more doubles than strikeouts in that span is particularly phenomenal. It wasn’t too farfetched at the time to say Nomar was the best young hitter in baseball. Over Jeter. Over A-Rod. All of them.
Only 25, just getting better, and could’ve run for mayor of Boston at this point and win in a landslide. It could be argued that the Boston sports world hadn’t loved a player this much since Larry Bird retired. The best word to describe it was a ‘phenomena’ in the region. Immensely popular. Hulk Hogan to Americans in 1986. That level. People in New England who knew nothing about baseball, or even hated baseball, knew who Nomar Garciaparra was. Even his name fit perfectly with the Boston accent. A complete phenomenon.
2001-2004
During Spring Training in 2001, Nomar’s wrist began to aggravate him to the point where he didn’t think he’d be ready for Opening Day. Little did everyone anticipate; Nomar would end up missing much of 2001 from the injury. Only playing 21 games near the end of the year, Nomar would still post a respectable .822 OPS. despite more than likely not being 100%.
Not that Nomar wouldn’t bounce back. He did. However, later on in his career post-Boston, it became noticeable that Nomar would never quite hit that special, 1.000+ OPS level productivity again due to the injury.
Nomar certainly did bounce back in 2002, although it funnily enough could be considered as a “down year” for him in a Red Sox uniform. He only had an OPS of .880. Still though, Nomar batted .310, 120 RBIs, 197 hits, and a career high 56 doubles. Perhaps most importantly, playing 156 games right after the wrist injury. The injury prone tag than often gets associated with Nomar wasn’t necessarily a thing until his post-Boston career. Further evidence of that can be found in the following year, playing 156 games again in 2003.
Nomar’s final full season in a Red Sox uniform in 2003 was again a great one. On top of the forementioned 156 games played, he still hit .301, an OPS of .870, 120 runs scored, driving in 105, 28 homers and a sneaky 19 stolen bases, If Nomar was perhaps playing through the pain of his wrist injury, he certainly performed as if he wasn’t bothered by it. Nomar would finish 7th in MVP voting, and despite how the Red Sox season ended in 2003,
Heading into the 2004 season, it would be Nomar’s final year on his original contract signed in 1998. John Henry had taken control of the club by this time, and infamously enough, there was a lot of speculation as to what Nomar’s future with the club entailed. To add to it all, yet another injury prevented Nomar from being ready for the start of the season. This time it was his ankle.
Not making his season debut until June 9th, Nomar quickly got back to doing Nomar things for the Red Sox. In the 38 games he played for Boston in 2004, 14 of those were multi-hit games.
Then, at the trade deadline, July 31st, The Red Sox traded Nomar to the Chicago Cubs as part of a massive four-team deal. While it may have been inevitable to some, it shocked Red Sox fans nonetheless. Just as quickly as he showed up on their doorstep, Nomar was out the door in a flash. We could have gone down the rabbit hole of the behind-the-scenes business that was done that resulted in Nomar’s departure from Boston, but the intent was to spotlight his performance in the batter’s box, and that alone.
Nomar’s Legacy in Boston
With the embarrassment of riches in great athletes that Boston sports has had after Nomar left the Red Sox, the impact he left on the area can be forgotten at times. Nomar emerged ever so quickly as Boston’s next hero in shining armor to lead them past the curse and beyond, and in hindsight, he really was exactly that.
The 86 years of pain relieved. The fantastic run of trophies the Red Sox took home in the following decade or so. Nomar Garciaparra himself is the symbol of the shift in favor and start of the Red Sox monumental success in the 21st Century. Pedro would of course clear his throat loudly here wearing half a smile, Nomar was out there nearly every single night though of course. In some spans, an almost certainty for a multi hit game. Most of the time the critical factor in a Sox win. A legendary pure hitter in the modern era which, at his peak, was on a straight shot to Cooperstown. We shouldn’t ever forget that.
