Nomar Sticks It To The Sox

[BigPapi]

Multiple sources have confirmed to Boston Dirt Dogs that former Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra went to see Red Sox trainers Jim Rowe and Chris Correnti four days ago and informed them that his tendonitis "was bothering him" and he would not be able to play in the crucial series in Minnesota. Garciaparra then added "I'll probably have to go on the DL in August to be ready for the end of the year."

After a full examination of Garciaparra's heel, the trainers concluded that Nomar was indeed fit to play, telling the disgruntled shortstop that the heel "looks fine to us."

Nomar then sat out Friday's game in Minnesota. On Saturday, when the trade opportunity with the Chicago Cubs heated back up, Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino approached Nomar Garciaparra and informed him that there was a strong possibility that he would be moved to the Cubs by the 4:00pm deadline in the spirit of full disclosure. Lucchino then asked Garciaparra how his Achilles' injury was doing. Nomar replied "It's fine now."

I've read this in all the Boston papers today and heard it on the radio but it was just confirmed on the Sox broadcast a few moments ago. I also did find it strange that he sat out on friday , I had tremendous respect for him and always wanted him to have that #5 put up in right field but now I could really care less about him and I hope for the cubs sake they don't resign him.

[Hurls]

Wow, what a bone job. Kinda pulled a Ricky Williams, hurting his team.

[BigPapi]

Nomar's case is much worse as he was so angry at ownership he lied to his teammates and to the fans all b/c he turned down a 4yr 60 mil extension prior to last season then the attempt for A-Rod was made. Message to Nomar,Get Over Yourself!!! Your a pro baseball player who was an icon in the town you played. The fans always supported you (up until now, and still some do) and b/c ownership insulted you with a 15 mill a yr offer then tried to upgrade at the position, you took it out on your teammates and the fans! You are a clubhouse virus and I am glad you are gone.

[BigPapi]

He had to go. He was more miserable than any athlete I have ever seen. In the Sox clubhouse, he was as happy as Michael Moore at a Bush family reunion.

His misery dates back to before this season. After the Sox beat the Oakland A's in the fourth game of the 2003 Division Series, the Sox boarded the team bus for the first leg of their journey back to Oakland for the series finale. Everyone was buoyant and gripped with the prospect of going to Oakland and winning Game 5 . . . everyone except for the star shortstop. He got on the bus, turned toward the excited throng, and said, "Why is everyone so happy? As soon as we lose, everyone's just going to rip us."

That was Nomar. The ultimate downer. The wonderful talent who hated playing in a place where people cared too much.

In the end, general manager Theo Epstein talked about upgrading the Red Sox defense and CEO Larry Lucchino talked about getting some value for a player who had no intention of re-signing with Boston. But the real reason that Nomar had to go was because he was dragging everyone down. He was an angry athlete who wanted nothing to do with his teammates and nothing to do with the cause. The Red Sox lost a great bat yesterday, but they liberated 24 players who can move forward with the traditional understanding that everyone in the clubhouse is working toward a common goal.

[John]

This is exactly why I wonder whether he will be good for the Cubs. They have a bunch of out of control players and need some leadership - sulking Nomar may make the situation worse.

Maybe the change in scenery will get Nomar going, but zebras don'tr change their stripes too often . . .

[Merk]

Nomar's case is much worse as he was so angry at ownership he lied to his teammates and to the fans all b/c he turned down a 4yr 60 mil extension prior to last season then the attempt for A-Rod was made. Message to Nomar,Get Over Yourself!!! Your a pro baseball player who was an icon in the town you played. The fans always supported you (up until now, and still some do) and b/c ownership insulted you with a 15 mill a yr offer then tried to upgrade at the position, you took it out on your teammates and the fans! You are a clubhouse virus and I am glad you are gone.

What? Your in denial. Lets remember who stab who in the back first. I'm surprised Nomar lasted this long in Boston after the way the Red Sox managment and his teamates completely disrespected him in the off season. If I were him I would have demanded a trade before the season. You can talk about the 15mil per contract offer but it was only for 4 years he was looking long term and the Sox were the ones who didn't want to commit. Your team just traded away what should have been there cornerstone for the next 7-9 years. This also stands as another example of how the Boston front office is inept

[Hurls]

ouch

[BigPapi]

What? Your in denial. Lets remember who stab who in the back first. I'm surprised Nomar lasted this long in Boston after the way the Red Sox managment and his teamates completely disrespected him in the off season. If I were him I would have demanded a trade before the season. You can talk about the 15mil per contract offer but it was only for 4 years he was looking long term and the Sox were the ones who didn't want to commit. Your team just traded away what should have been there cornerstone for the next 7-9 years. This also stands as another example of how the Boston front office is inept
Did the fans stab him in the back! HELL NO!!!! They were always behind him and if he does end up playing the season out that means not only did he lie to management but he lied to the fans. I feel for the Cubs as the "sultan of sulk" will spread the virus through thier clubhouse.

[BigPapi]

Question how do all you think Jeter would react if he were in Nomar's situation? I think it would be much different as Jeter is not a sulking whiny punk but a professional who knows how the buisness goes.

[BigPapi]

The Truth from Theo Hurts More Than Nomar's Lies

8.2.04: Red Sox GM Theo Epstein on WEEI with Dennis & Callahan: "The way we were thinking about Nomar is, well, what do we have the next two months? We reached the conclusion, given what we know from prior negotiations that we weren’t going to sign him, that it had stopped being a consideration, we were looking forward to the next two months and said ‘well, what do we have here?’ We have a situation where we’re likely to have Nomar Garciaparra and Ricky Gutierrez playing short and we don’t think that’s going to be enough, we haven’t been playing well, and Nomar’s likely to play less over the next month than he’s played the last month, so what are we trading here?

"In the end it was a straight baseball decision given the rather difficult situation we were in. (John Dennis: Theo, would you have been less likely to make that trade had Nomar told the trainers last Thursday, and by extension you and the rest of the organization that ‘the Achilles is fine, I’m 100%, I don’t think I’ll be taking any days off between now and the end of the baseball season?) Oh absolutely, that was the major impetus for the trade. It made a trade necessary, and difficult. We had to look at it from two standpoints. One, what if we don’t do anything? If we don’t do anything, then it’s Nomar, who says it’s really hurting, says he’s going to need significant time off, perhaps the DL in August, in order to finish the year healthy, so then it’s a significant amount of Ricky Gutierrez at short, and Nomar playing when he can. Or, if we do move him, now all of a sudden we have to tell the team that we’re talking to that this player is telling us that he feels like it’s going to blow out if it keeps playing the field. So, instead of being able to negotiate, we have to keep them that ‘make sure you know what you’re getting here, make sure you know this player’s going on the DL, because the only way we can make a trade with a player who is saying things to us that he was saying, was if we went out of our way to make sure the other team went in with eyes wide open. So not only did the health situation as reported by Nomar to us make it, in our mind, necessary to make a trade, but it made it much more difficult for obvious reasons... if that’s the case (that the Cubs were told that Nomar really wasn’t about to head on the DL) and that’s really what they believe, that’s odd, but, I won’t make any accusations of course, but perhaps they’re in a better position to take that gamble, with their depth in the middle infield, perhaps they can make the gamble a little bit more, I don’t know.

"We do shoulder some blame in what basically became a doomed marriage, but I don't think he handled it very well this year, he wasn't quite the same guy in the clubhouse, he wasn't really a positive force in there. (Gerry: Do you think his unhappiness, his state of mind affected the team?) Umm, Yes... Was it different this year and did his teammates notice that? Yeah, that's probably the reality of this year."

"Let's be honest, there are two months to go, and we're in an absolute dogfight for the wildcard. We're in an absolute dogfight just to get into the post-season... it's going to be an absolute dogfight and this is a year in which just about everything has gone wrong, and we need every single person associated with the organization needs to fight and scrap and find a way to have a really good two months, and not just 30 wins the rest of the way, 'cause that's not going to get it done, but to have a really good two months and salvage this season, and get into the post-season. And once the post-season starts, I really like this team, but we gotta scrap and fight and find a way to get in. That's a large part of what this trade was about, because the safe thing to do, for a lot of people, and the safe thing for the organization, was to probably not make a trade here and just say 'oh well, we're not sure how much we're gonna have Nomar but this team looks good on paper, let's just see how things go the rest of the way,' you know that would have been the safe thing for my career too, but I don't think we could have lived with that, because if we don't do anything and then Nomar goes on the DL and it's 30 games with Nomar the rest of the way, and 30 of Ricky Gutierrez, and we don't get in... I couldn't have lived with that. So instead, we do something that's not ideal (couldn't get the pitching he wanted), but I think we do something that we felt, gives us a better chance to salvage this season in a year where just about everything has gone wrong, including Nomar being largely unavailable the rest of the way."

[bad radio]

OK, I'm a die hard Cubs fan, so I'll try to be as fair as possible...

I don't blame Nomar one bit for acting the way he did this year in Boston. He gave 110% every game, every year. He battled back through injuries, he was a leader in the lockerroom and what did he get for it? He was traded to the White Sox for someone better. Traded. Done deal. The only reason he ended up in Boston at all is because the Red Sox front office is a bunch of cheapskates (the whole reason he wanted out in the first place) and wouldn't pay A-Rod.

Would Derek Jeter behave the same way? No, because that situation would never happen with Jeter and the Yankees. The Yanks, as much as I hate them, recognize who the core players are on their team, both in production and leadership. Jeter would never be given a raw deal like that by the Yankees.

Nomar knows just as much Jeter or A-Rod or anyone else in the league that it's a business, and when you do good business and you give yourself to your team you get rewarded. It's just that the Red Sox organization prefers to treat their players like cattle.

[Merk]

Did the fans stab him in the back! HELL NO!!!! They were always behind him and if he does end up playing the season out that means not only did he lie to management but he lied to the fans. I feel for the Cubs as the "sultan of sulk" will spread the virus through thier clubhouse.


I don't blame Nomar for trying to get put on the DL. I wouldn't want to play for a team or a city(including it's fans) that turned there back me. I couldn't find a single Boston fan(I live w/ 2 of them) that didn't want that ARod deal to go down during the winter. They were willing to ship him out and not even think twice about it and then it blew up in the Sox's face because they couldn't close the deal. I will give Boston credit for reconizing that they had no chance what so ever to resign him and therefore shipped him out.

I'm not tryin to start a fight here robtherock, your obviously a very dedicated Sox's fan. But you can't tell me honostly that you are glad to see Nomar go for a couple of above avg to sometimes good players.

[Merk]

OK, I'm a die hard Cubs fan, so I'll try to be as fair as possible...

I don't blame Nomar one bit for acting the way he did this year in Boston. He gave 110% every game, every year. He battled back through injuries, he was a leader in the lockerroom and what did he get for it? He was traded to the White Sox for someone better. Traded. Done deal. The only reason he ended up in Boston at all is because the Red Sox front office is a bunch of cheapskates (the whole reason he wanted out in the first place) and wouldn't pay A-Rod.

Would Derek Jeter behave the same way? No, because that situation would never happen with Jeter and the Yankees. The Yanks, as much as I hate them, recognize who the core players are on their team, both in production and leadership. Jeter would never be given a raw deal like that by the Yankees.

Nomar knows just as much Jeter or A-Rod or anyone else in the league that it's a business, and when you do good business and you give yourself to your team you get rewarded. It's just that the Red Sox organization prefers to treat their players like cattle.



Nicely stated

[BigPapi]

I don't blame Nomar for trying to get put on the DL. I wouldn't want to play for a team or a city(including it's fans) that turned there back me. I couldn't find a single Boston fan(I live w/ 2 of them) that didn't want that ARod deal to go down during the winter. They were willing to ship him out and not even think twice about it and then it blew up in the Sox's face because they couldn't close the deal. I will give Boston credit for reconizing that they had no chance what so ever to resign him and therefore shipped him out.

I'm not tryin to start a fight here robtherock, your obviously a very dedicated Sox's fan. But you can't tell me honostly that you are glad to see Nomar go for a couple of above avg to sometimes good players.
I am not glad to see Nomar go but it had to be done. The Sox did screw up the A-Rod deal but put it in perspective for a second, Nomar 30 yrs old previosly injured and turned down a 15 mil a yr deal. A-Rod best ss in baseball best player period and only 27 yrs old. I had tremendous respect for Nomar prior to the series in early July with the Yanks where he was caught sulking on the bench as the rest of his team was standing on the edge of the dugout. He just didn't want to be part of the Red Sox anymore and HAD to be moved, on top of that he was out of the lineup at least 2 if not 3 games a week and how can you help the team if your not on the field. Also he was talking about taking a trip to the DL this month so he can get ready for september. In the end BOTH sides are to blame and if anyone thinks Nomar got a screwjob well that's being nieve he gave as good as he got. He is in Chicago now and maybe he'll resign with them as the fans and especially the media are alot easier on the players than in Boston or New York.

[Hurls]

The fans and media aren't that much better. But when you have Sammy, you're second fiddle.

[BigPapi]

Please read this it's very interesting snipet from sportingnews.com


The body
Nomar had so completely transformed his physique from his days as a skinny collegian at Georgia Tech that Sports Illustrated had him pose with his shirt off as "the toughest out in baseball" (an inaccuracy given Jason Giambi's higher OBP in both 1999 and 2000) for a March 2001 feature.

This, as we all know, is when things started going terribly wrong and everyone in New England learned what a longitudinal tendon was. On Sept. 25, 1999, Nomar had been hit in the wrist by Baltimore's Al Reyes. The injury forced him to miss one game in the '99 postseason but didn't diminish his awesome prowess with the bat as he hit over .400 with four home runs in nine playoff games. He played 140 games in 2000 and hit .372. But apparently the sheath around the injured tendon had begun to fray and a trauma that had occurred 18 months earlier finally landed Nomar on the DL in the spring of 2001.

After missing the first half of 2001, he returned with a bang, hitting a game-winning home run in his first game back. But the Sox faded quietly out of contention and Nomar shut it down after just 21 games.

In 2002, Nomar played in a career-high 156 games and Sox fans breathed a huge sigh of relief that the split longitudinal tendon was a thing of the past. He hadn't returned to his freakish 1999 and 2000 form, but no one was complaining about getting 56 doubles, 24 home runs and 120 RBIs out of their shortstop, though he did lead the league in errors with 25.

Garciaparra was having another outstanding season in 2003 before the late-season swoon that included going homerless in 49 playoff at-bats. Something just seemed wrong, like he'd been solved.

Then, on the heels of the A-Rod drama, came news that Nomar had another tendon problem, this time it was his Achilles and he would again be sidelined for a long time. When he returned in July, he looked like a guy who had never played shortstop before. He would practically trip over the bag. Instead of diving for balls he would just sort of lay down awkwardly. He looked blocky and completely immobile at short and the stats back that up. The biggest knock on range factor is that it is difficult to compare players on different teams because the makeup of those pitching staffs might be so different — strikeout pitchers hurt a shortstop's fielding range, sinkerballers help it. But Nomar has no such alibi this year because he and Pokey Reese have played short behind the same pitching staff. Pokey has a 4.86 range factor, while Nomar's is 3.84, meaning Pokey averages over a chance per game more than Nomar. And, on top of that, Pokey has a .977 fielding percentage while the range-challenged Garciaparra posted a .957 mark before being dealt.

While Nomar's attitude may have been the true catalyst for the trade, GM Theo Epstein wasn't kidding when he said he didn't think the team could win the World Series with the defense that had allowed the most unearned runs in baseball.

Of course I'm cynical and I've heard all the whispers, but regardless of how Nomar got his body to where it is now, it just isn't a body that makes a very reliable shortstop.

The soul

Nomar's relationship with the Red Sox has and will continue to be compared to a once-glorious marriage gone bad. But there is an important distinction that should be made regarding this largely appropriate analogy. When a husband and wife join in connubial bliss in the eyes of God, society and the state, they do so with the understanding that they should not be constantly looking to upgrade. A baseball team and a player have no such compact. To the contrary, the team, in this case represented by Epstein, has an obligation to its fans to be vigilantly searching out ways to improve. When Epstein tried to land Alex Rodriguez this past off-season, he was honoring the team's commitment to Red Sox fans to put a team on the field with the best opportunity to win a World Series. Nomar took it personally, like a wife betrayed, a woman scorned and, well, we learned hell hath no fury like a petulant Nomar.

He became completely toxic. His malice, once reserved only for the baseball, would spill out at any time. He went from being the guy who came out of the dugout to applaud the fans after the Sox were eliminated in the '98 playoffs to the guy who couldn't bring himself to the top step to support his teammates as they battled in extra innings in Yankee Stadium.

Now many have come to Nomar's defense (though not defense of Nomar's defense), arguing that he was treated shabbily by the team and had every right to be furious. But what of Manny Ramirez? Wasn't he treated even worse in the off-season, being placed on waivers and shopped in almost every deal that involved Nomar? But look how he's responded. Manny has been a model of maturity and professionalism, showing genuine admiration for his teammates and respect for the fans. Nomar, meanwhile, looked like an Enron exec in front of Congress, indignant, hostile and wishing he were anywhere else.

He got his wish. And we got ours — right up until Orlando Cabrera booted away his very first game in a Red Sox uniform.

As Al Pacino says at the end of The Insider, "What was broken here doesn't go back together."

The good news, for Rick Burleson anyway, is the Rooster is still No. 1.

[Hurls]

Actually, I believe the latest Sporting News issue. All great athletes who suffer a downfall usually have 1 thing in common coinciding with their slide. WOMEN!!! Sampras gets married, sayonara. Tiger with his blonde bomb, no majors in 25 months, been with her for 24. Nomar gets Mia Hamm, see ya!


Bitches! :Grr:

[BigPapi]

:toast:

[BigPapi]

OK, I'm a die hard Cubs fan, so I'll try to be as fair as possible...

I don't blame Nomar one bit for acting the way he did this year in Boston. He gave 110% every game, every year. He battled back through injuries, he was a leader in the lockerroom and what did he get for it?

http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2004/08/04/no_room_for_neutrality/

Everybody who was a little bit of interest in this whole uproar over Nomar should read this as it is very telling and if you live in the Boston region you probably heard this before BUT if not please read this.

[John]

It's messy, and sad. I never like to see a team trash a player it has just traded - it seems so low class. Obvoiusly the Sox felt they needed to do it for thier fan base, or whatever. Its a bad story all the wat around.

[BigPapi]

I think it is a bit odd as Nomar has not missed a game with the cubs. He has played 5 games in a row strange.