Nomar Garciaparra

Played For
Boston Red Sox (1996-2004)
Chicago Cubs (2004-2005)

All-Time Rankings
Nomar Garciaparra ranks #20 among the Top 50 all-time at SS. Rankings ⇒

Best Season: 2000
Nomar won his second straight batting title, with a .372 mark, the highest mark by a right-handed hitter since Joe DiMaggio hit .381 in 1939. He also scored 104 runs and drove in 96 in 140 games, with 51 doubles and 21 homers among his 197 hits.

Factoids
Nomar Garciaparra's 30-game hitting streak in his 1997 rookie season is an American League record.

Full Bio
Born in Whittier, California, on July 23, 1973, Anthony Nomar Garciaparra was a star athlete at St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California, excelling in football, soccer, and baseball. Despite being drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers out of high school, Garciaparra elected to go to Georgia Tech University on a baseball scholarship. With the Yellowjackets, Nomar was voted ACC Rookie of the Year, made the All-ACC team three times, and led the team to their first College World Series appearance. In his junior year, the right-handed hitting shortstop batted .427 with 16 homers, while becoming the first player in school history to reach 100 hits in a season. While in college, Garciaparra was part of the USA Olympic team, which played in Barcelona. He was drafted as a junior by the Boston Red Sox in the June 1994 draft, as the 12th overall selection.

After signing a lucrative $895,000 bonus, Garciaparra's first stop in the Boston farm system was Single-A Sarasota in the Florida State League. Playing shortstop, Garciaparra got his fill of baseball in his first pro season, hitting .295 for Sarasota, and .328 in the Arizona Fall League for Scottsdale. In 1995, at AA-Trenton, Garciaparra continued his rise, leading his team with 35 stolen bases, 77 runs scored, and eight triples, while batting .267 and earning an All-Star selection.

The following season, Garciaparra was bit by the injury bug for the first time in his professional career — something he would struggle with at the major league level later on. In spring training in 1996, he injured his ankle, missing the first three months of the season, before reporting to AAA-Pawtucket. In two months for the Paw Sox, Garciaparra hit .300 and earned a late-season call-up by Boston. On August 31, he made his major league debut at The Coliseum in Oakland against the A's, entering the game as a defensive replacement at second base. The next night, starting at shortstop in Oakland, he collected three hits, including his first home run, a two-run shot off John Wasdin. Playing regularly the remainder of the '96 season, Garciaparra hit .241 and showed good power, collecting four homers and three triples in 24 games, with 16 RBI and five steals.

The starting shortstop job was Garciaparra's to win in the spring of 1997, and the 23-year old made it clear by outplaying John Valentin, who was switched to a utility role, amidst grumbling. Settled in at short for the BoSox, Garciaparra enjoyed an historic rookie season, hitting .306 with 209 hits, 122 runs scored, 44 doubles, 11 triples, 30 home runs, 98 RBI, and 22 stolen bases. On July 26, he started a hitting streak that didn't stop until August 30, reaching an AL rookie-record of 30 games. For his efforts, Nomar was unanimously named American League Rookie of the Year. Following the 1997 campaign, Boston quickly moved to sign their new star to a five-year deal.

That deal reaped dividends immediately in 1998, when sophomore Garciaparra had a season which led him to a second place finish in Most Valuable Player Award voting. Helping the Red Sox to the post-season as a wild-card team, Nomar hit .323 with 35 homers, 122 RBI, 111 runs scored, 195 hits, 37 doubles, and a .584 slugging mark, all while being bounced from the leadoff spot, to third, to cleanup. In the AL Division Series loss against the Indians, Garciaparra did his part — belting three home runs in four games, and batting .333 with a Division Series record 11 RBI. In 1999, he won his forst batting title, despite sopending time on the disabled list for the second straight year. Garciaparra hit .357, again scoring and driving in more than 100 runs as the Sox won the wild-card. Healthy in the post-season, Nomar battered Cleveland pitching in the ALDS, hitting .417 with two home runs in four games. In the AL Championship Series against the hated Yankees, he out-played New York shortstop Derek Jeter, hitting .400 with two more homers. Despite his herculean performance, the Sox lost.

In 2000, Garciaparra again battled injury in the regular season, spending time on the DL with a back injury. But when he was in the lineup, he hit. Winning his second straight batting title, Garciaparra's .372 average was the highest by a right-handed batter in the AL since Joe DiMaggio in 1939. Despite missing almost a month to his injury, Garciaparra collected 197 hits, scored 104 runs (his fourth straight 100-run season), and had 51 doubles.

Hoping to follow up his two batting titles with another big season, Garciaparra hit a bump in the road in 2001. In late April, hitting .289, he broke his wrist and missed the remainder of the season, following surgery. Without their All-Star shortstop, the Sox failed to make the playoffs for the second straight season. In 2002, Nomar was healthy all year for the first time since his rookie season. Once again he eclipsed the .300 mark — hitting .310, with 197 hits, 101 runs scored, a career-high 56 doubles, 24 homers, and 120 RBI. He mad ethe All-Star team for the fourth time, but Boston could not get past the Yankees, finishing second to their rival for the fifth straight season.

In 2003, Garciaparra challenged for his third batting title for much of the season, before fading in September, as teammate Bill Mueller won the crown. The Red Sox fielded one of the greatest offensive teams in history, breaking the 1927 Yankees team slugging record, scoring more than 900 runs, and hitting 237 homers. Nomar stayed healthy and posted big numbers: 28 homers, 105 RBI, 120 runs, 198 hits (his sixth season with 190 or more), 37 doubles, 13 triples, and 19 stolen bases. Behind their potent offensive attack, the Red Sox won a wild-card berth. Following the '03 season, Garciaparra planned to wed his longtime girlfriend, soccer star Mia Hamm.

Highest Batting Average, RH Batter, Post WW II Era
(minimum 400 at-bats)

Nomar Garciaparra (2000 Bos) .372
Andres Galarraga (1993 Col) .370
Jeff Bagwell (1994 Hou) .368
Rico Carty (1970 Atl) .366
Joe Torre (1971 Stl) .363
Mike Piazza (1997 LA) .362
Alex Rodriguez (1996 Sea) .358
Roberto Clemente (1967 Pit) .357
Nomar Garciaparra (1999 Bos) .357
Albert Belle (1994 Cle) .357

Spiderman
From the Associated Press, October 12, 2005:

BOSTON -- Former Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra rescued two women who had fallen into Boston Harbor late last week, his uncle and a witness told the Boston Herald. Garciaparra, traded to the Chicago Cubs on July 31, 2004, was with his uncle in his Charlestown condominium at about 10 p.m. Friday when they heard a scream and a splash, said the uncle, Victor Garciaparra.

As soon as the All-Star shortstop and two-time American League batting champ ran out the door to help the woman, her friend also fell in, hitting her head on the pier, said Victor Garciaparra, who oversees his nephew's business and charitable ventures.

Victor Garciaparra jumped from the balcony to the water 20 feet below.

"I swam towards them and by the time I reached them, Nomar was already there holding the girls up," he told the newspaper. "But he couldn't get them up without help."

One woman had a large lump on her head and appeared to be unconscious, he said. When she came to, the first thing she said was: "Are you Nomar?" Victor Garciaparra said.

The two men pulled the women from the water. Their husbands arrived and whisked them off to the hospital before the Garciaparras even got their names, he said.

Johnny O'Hara of Natick, Mass., witnessed the incident from his boat.

"A bunch of us came running over and sure enough, pulling the two girls from the water was Nomar," he told the newspaper. "It was crazy. Nomar was like jumping over walls to get to the girls and the other guy leaped off the balcony. It was unbelievable."

Most Game-Ending Grand Slams
Alex Rodriguez... 3
Vern Stephens... 3
Cy Williams... 3
Bob Aspromonte... 2
Albert Belle... 2
Bobby Bonds... 2
Steve Finley... 2
Ruppert Jones... 2
Ralph Kiner... 2
Davey Lopes... 2
Mark McGwire... 2
Jim Presley... 2
Nomar Garciaparra... 2
David Eckstein... 2

Where He Played
Apart from one game at second base in his rookie season, Nomar has never played any other defensive position than shortstop in his major league career.

Born
Anthony Nomar Garciaparra was born on July 23, 1973, in Whittier, CA.

Batted:  Right
Threw:  Right

Primary Position:  SS

Primary Team:  BOS

College:  Georgia Tech

Major League Debut
August 31, 1996

Nine Other Players Who Debuted in 1996
Edgar Renteria
Andruw Jones
Jason Kendall
Scott Rolen
Bobby Abreu
Vladimir Guerrero
Nomar Garciaparra
Livan Hernandez
Luis Castillo

Nicknames
Nomah, Glass, Spiderman

Nomar's unique first name (which is actually his middle name) is his father's name (Ramon), spelled backwards. His nickname in the minor leagues was "Glass," because he was so often injured. With the Sox he has been called "Spiderman" for his athletic prowess.

Uniform Numbers
#5 (1996-)

Similar Players
Paul Molitor, Joe DiMaggio

Related Players
Derek Jeter, Miguel Tejada, Alex Rodriguez

Post-Season Appearances
1998 American League Divisional Series
1999 American League Championship Series
1999 American League Divisional Series
2003 American League Championship Series
2003 American League Divisional Series

Awards and Honors
1997 AL Rookie of the Year

Feats
Garciaparra set a major league record in 1997 with 98 RBI from the leadoff spot... His 30 homers in 1997 were an AL record for a shortstop (since broken)... Hit three homers and had 10 RBI on May 10, 1999... Belted three homers on July 23, 2002.

Batting Feats

• May 10, 1999: 3 HR...


• May 10, 1999: 10 RBI...


• May 10, 1999: 2 Grand Slams...


• June 21, 2003: 6 Hits... Extra-inning game

Hitting Streaks
30 games (1997)
26 games (2003)
24 games (1998)
20 games (2000)

Transactions
June 3, 1991: Drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 5th round of the 1991 amateur draft, but did not sign; June 2, 1994: Drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 1st round (12th pick) of the 1994 amateur draft; July 31, 2004: Traded as part of a 4-team trade by the Boston Red Sox with Matt Murton (minors) to the Chicago Cubs. The Minnesota Twins sent Doug Mientkiewicz to the Boston Red Sox. The Montreal Expos sent Orlando Cabrera to the Boston Red Sox. The Chicago Cubs sent Brendan Harris, Alex Gonzalez, and Francis Beltran to the Montreal Expos. The Chicago Cubs sent Justin Jones (minors) to the Minnesota Twins; October 29, 2004: Granted Free Agency; December 7, 2004: Signed as a Free Agent with the Chicago Cubs.

All-Star Selections
1997 AL
1999 AL
2000 AL
2002 AL
2003 AL

Replaced
John Valentin had been playing shortstop for the Sox in 1996, and was pushed to second and then third in 1997, when Nomar was made a regular. Valentin made a big stink about losing his shortstop job, but after Nomar got off to a hot start in 1997, his whining subsided.

Replaced By
The Red Sox replaced him with Orlando Cabrera.

Best Strength as a Player
Offense

Largest Weakness as a Player
Durability. Garciaparra has been on the disabled list in six of his ten big league seasons, through 2005.

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