Former Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra had an epic run of success from 1997-2000. But which year was his best?
Former Boston Red Sox shortstop Anthony Nomar Garciaparra was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the fifth round of the 1991 June MLB amateur draft out of St. John Bosco High School in Bellflower, California a suburb of Los Angeles.
Electing to go to college over signing with the Brew Crew, Nomar played his college baseball at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. Upon graduation, he was drafted in the first round of the 1994 draft by the Red Sox. He debuted in the majors two years later as a September call up for the third place squad.
Nomar hit .241 with four home runs and 16 RBIs in twenty four games with the Red Sox that season, but the next four years would see the young infielder tear up the American League.
Look, let’s address the elephant in the room before we continue.
When Nomar was shipped out of town at the trade deadline in 2004, he had become a grouchy, reticent, mope for a couple of seasons, and it left a sour taste in fans’ mouths. He had become bitter and distrustful of the media, and the once wide smile was replaced by guarded eyes.
Nomar’s troubles began after a wrist injury shortened his 2001 campaign, and no Red Sox fan can forget the game against the Yankees when Derek Jeter went headlong into the stands and bloodied his face while Nomar was seated squarely on the Sox bench after requesting the night off. Bad look.
But from 1997-2000, Namar was a fan favorite and one of the most productive players in the majors. He hit at a .337 clip with 113 homers, 420 RBIs, 53 stolen bases, and boasted a .963 OPS with a .386 OBP. He won the 1997 Rookie of the Year award (a year after Jeter nabbed the same hardware at the same position) , but was that his finest season during this epic run?
Let’s investigate.
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.
Two Grand Slams
The date was Monday, May 10, 1999 and the Boston Red Sox were hosting the Seattle Mariners in front of a thin crowd of around 21,000 people. Those people who did show up saw a sporting event that they shall never forget.
On this day Nomar was batting cleanup, and a more fitting description of what he did this night could not be had. Pat Rapp started for the Sox and promptly gave up a run in the top half of the first. The Sox would answer back in a big way.
Jeff Frye and John Valentin singled and Brian Daubach was plunked. Up stepped Nomar who delivered an opposite field line drive grand slam to right field. In his next at bat, he drove in another two runs with another oppo shot.
After popping out his third plate appearance and walking in his fourth , Nomar stepped up with the bases juiced AGAIN, and AGAIN delivered a grand salami. He finished the night going 3 for 4 with three home runs and 10 RBI.
He finished the season with the batting title hitting .357 with 27 homers and 104 RBI.
An RBI machine
The 1998 season was arguably Nomar Garciaparra’s best. He hit a career high 35 home runs, had a .362 OBP to go along with a slightly lower .323 batting average and a .946 OPS.
But the most impressive part of Nomar’s stat line that year was his 122 runs batted in. The average major leaguer with Garciappara’s plate appearances in an RBI situation had 76. He boasted a 24 game hit streak and a 27 game on-base streak. He also led the team with 25 go-ahead hits. He was second in MVP voting, losing to Juan Gonzalez who clocked 10 more homers for the Texas Rangers.
Other than the home run discrepancy, the two had similar averages, OBPs, and OPS. In my opinion, Nomar should have won the MVP. He had a 7.1 WAR to Gonzalez’ 4.9. But the Rangers finished in first place that season to the Red Sox’ second.
1998 also saw the Boston Red Sox reach the post season for the first time since 1995. It was also Nomar’s first October dance. He hit .333 with 3 homers and 11 RBIs in the ALDS against the Indians.
The Sox lost the series, but Nomar showed he wasn’t afraid of the big stage.
Flirting with .400
Nomar Garciappara definitely started trending downward in some offensive categories in 2000. He failed to drive in 100 runs for the first time in his career. He had his lowest number of home runs up to that point in his career with “only” 21. He seemed to have lost a step as well.
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After averaging 15 stolen bases in his previous three campaigns, Nomar only attempted seven steals and was caught twice. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t getting on base. He would eventually win the AL batting crown, hitting at a .372 clip. But the most impressive part about his 2000 season was that Nomar was flirting with a .400 average for most of the summer.
On July 14th, the Boston Red Sox had a Friday night inter-league matchup with the Mets. Nomar entered the game with a .391 average. He then went 4 for 4 that night, with a walk thrown in to boot. He hit two singles and two doubles to raise his average to a cool .400.
The prospect of a young Red Sox player hitting .400 for the first time since Ted Williams‘ infamous .406 season was the talk of the summer. Five games later against the Orioles, Nomar would fall a homer short of a cycle to raise his average to .403. This seemed like it might actually happen.
But after that rainy Thursday night showdown at Camden Yards Nomar hit .339 and fell 28 points short of a milestone. 2000 was arguably Nomar’s last great season as a Red Sox. He played in only 21 games in 2001, which ultimately proved to be a challenging part of his career.
What do you fans think? What was Nomar’s greatest season with the Boston Red Sox?