Boston Red Sox: Nomar Garciaparra’s epic run revisited
Rookie of the Year
The 1997 Boston Red Sox were terrible, finishing fourth in the AL East behind the Orioles, Yankees, and Tigers. The starting pitching was mostly to blame.
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The rotation had a collective 5.09 ERA and the rest of the staff chipped in for a 4.81 ERA. But the Sox added Garciaparra as a full time shortstop that year, and your boy went OFF. He led the league in almost every offensive category.
Only Mo Vaughn had better collective numbers that Nomar. He ripped 30 homers, scored 122 runs, knocked in 98 runs primarily from the lead off spot, and hit .306. He led the league in at-bats (684), triples (11), and hits (209). He led the Sox with a 6.6 WAR. He unanimously won the AL Rookie of the year with 28 first place votes and garnered some MVP votes as well (he finished 8th).
Off the field, Bostonians had a new hero amongst the greats that graced the diamond on Yawkey Way (sorry…Jersey Street). He had the perfect name for Sully from Dorchester or Murph from Southie to pronounce: “Nomah Gahciaparrahhhhhhhh.”
He was young and explosive, had a quick bat, good range, and did wierd stuff with his batting gloves between every pitch. We all knew we had something special moving forward.