| Nomar Garciaparra | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Garciaparra in 2010 | |
| Shortstop | |
| Born: (1973-07-23)July 23, 1973 (age 52) Whittier, California, U.S. | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| August 31, 1996, for the Boston Red Sox | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| October 4, 2009, for the Oakland Athletics | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .313 |
| Home runs | 229 |
| Runs batted in | 936 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Anthony Nomar Garciaparra (/ˈnoʊmɑːrɡɑːrˌsiːəˈpɑːrə/; born July 23, 1973) is an American formerMajor League Baseball player and currentSportsNet LA analyst. He retired after nine seasons inMajor League Baseball, spending most of his career as anAll-Starshortstop for theBoston Red Sox and later playingthird andfirst base with theChicago Cubs,Los Angeles Dodgers, andOakland Athletics. Garciaparra is one of 13 players in Major League history tohit two grand slams during a single game, and the only player to achieve the feat at his home stadium.
Garciaparra is a six-timeAll-Star (1997,1999,2000,2002,2003,2006), and was theAL Rookie of the Year[1] and ALSilver Slugger Award winner at shortstop in 1997. In 2001, he suffered a wrist injury, the first in a series of significant injuries that plagued the remainder of his career. Known for his ability to hit for average, Garciaparra is a lifetime .313 hitter. He had the highest single-season batting average by a right-handed batter in the post-war era, batting .372 in 2000, and won theAL Batting Title in 1999 and 2000, the first right-handed batter to accomplish this in consecutive seasons sinceJoe DiMaggio.
Garciaparra was also famed for his long and quirky batting stance, which he claimed helped him focus and get comfortable before each pitch.
Garciaparra, who is of Mexican-American descent, was born inWhittier, California, and attendedSt. John Bosco High School inBellflower, California. His middle name comes from his father, Ramon; Nomar is "Ramon" spelled backwards. When Nomar was a young boy, his father stressed the importance of not striking out, offering him 25 cents for each hit in tee ball and fining him 50 cents for every strikeout.[2] When Nomar was 13, Ramon once put him in a batting cage against a college pitcher who could throw 90 miles per hour (140 km/h). After missing the first pitch, Nomar proceeded to hit solid line drives on the next two pitches.[2] As a boy, Nomar was nicknamed "No Nonsense Nomar" for his methodical and tireless preparation as an athlete.[2]
TheMilwaukee Brewers selected Garciaparra in the fifth round of the1991 draft, however, he did not sign. Instead, he enrolled at theGeorgia Institute of Technology, where he playedcollege baseball for theGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Garciaparra helped the Yellow Jackets reach theCollege World Series title game in 1994; they lost toOklahoma. Garciaparra was anAtlantic Coast Conference All-Star and a first team All-American twice in 1993–94. He batted .427 in his final season at Georgia Tech. In 1992 Garciaparra played on the United States Olympic Baseball team in the Summer Olympics in Barcelona.[3] In 1993, he playedcollegiate summer baseball for theOrleans Cardinals of theCape Cod Baseball League (CCBL). Garciaparra batted .321 and led Orleans to the league championship. He was inducted into theCCBL Hall of Fame in 2002.[4][5]
 | This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Nomar Garciaparra" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Following his career at Georgia Tech, Garciaparra was afirst round draft pick of theRed Sox in 1994, and entered the Red Sox farm system. He began his professional career in Class A Advanced, as a member of theSarasota Red Sox following hisNCAA season. Since the season was already well underway by the point Garciaparra joined the team, he only appeared in 28 games. However, he batted .295 and hit his first professional home run. In 1995, Garciaparra moved up to join the Double-ATrenton Thunder. In 125 games, he batted .267 with eight home runs and again walked more than he struck out. He also showcased his speed, stealing 35 bases, and continued gathering experience at shortstop. After the 1995 season, rather than go home, Garciaparra embarked on an ambitious off-season training regimen to add 15 pounds of muscle.[2] In 1996, he found himself at the highest level of the minors playing for the Triple-APawtucket Red Sox. That season, Garciaparra batted .343 with 16 home runs and 46 RBI in just 43 games and earned a late-season call up to the Major Leagues.
| This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Nomar Garciaparra" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Garciaparra made his Major League debut on August 31, 1996, as a defensive replacement againstOakland, going 0-for-1. His first Major League hit was a home run off Oakland pitcherJohn Wasdin on September 1, a game in which Garciaparra recorded three hits. Garciaparra batted .241 with four home runs, 16 RBI, and five stolen bases in his initial stint with the club at the end of 1996. On September 18, 1996, Garciaparra stole his first major league base against the Tigers, which happened on the same night where Roger Clemens tied his own MLB record for striking out 20 batters in a game.[6]
When he returned in 1997, Garciaparra set the league on fire in his rookie season. He hit 30 home runs among his 209 base hits (a Red Sox rookie record), and drove in 98 runs, setting a new MLB record for RBIs by a leadoff hitter and most homers by a rookie shortstop.[7] He also batted .306, and his 30-game hitting streak set an A.L. rookie record.[8] Garciaparra also stole 22 bases, and his 11 triples led the league. He was namedRookie of the Year in a unanimous vote, competed in theHome Run Derby as well as his firstMLB All-Star Game, finished eighth in MVP voting, and captured theSilver Slugger Award for AL Shortstop. He also won the immediate admiration of Red Sox fans, who referred to him in Boston accents as "NO-mah!".
.jpg)
In the spring of 1998, Garciaparra and the Red Sox signed a five-year contract worth $23.25 million. The deal also included two team options (for 2003 and 2004) that, if exercised, would boost the deal to $44.25 million. At the time, it was unprecedented for a team to sign a player who had just completed his rookie season to a long-term contract.[9] Once the 1998 season started, Garciaparra moved down in the batting order, typically batting third or cleanup. He finished with 35 home runs and 122 RBI in 1998, and was the runner-up for AL MVP. His batting average of .323 was good for sixth in the AL among qualifiers.
Both he and teammatePedro Martínez were instrumental in leading the Red Sox to the postseason. Though the team lost to theCleveland Indians in the1998 American League Division Series, Garciaparra had an outstanding postseason debut in the series, batting .333 with 3 homers and 11 RBI in the four-game loss. He hit a memorable three-run home run in the fifth inning of Game 1, the only game in the series the Red Sox won.
.jpg)
Garciaparra then continued to come into his own in 1999, winning the batting title by hitting .357 (including .400 against left-handed pitchers). He reached the century mark in RBIs once again, with 27 home runs and 104 batted in over the course of only 135 games. On May 10, he hit three home runs, including two grand slams, and drove in 10 RBI in a game against theSeattle Mariners.[10] He was named anMLB All-Star in 1999, earning the right to start at shortstop and bat second for the game which took place in front of his hometown fans at Boston'sFenway Park. Again, he led the Red Sox to the postseason, where they defeated the Indians in five games in the1999 American League Division Series, and Nomar was again a key cog, despite battling injury as he hit .417 in the four games he was able to appear in. Garciaparra became the first player in MLB history to hit safely and score a run in the first five games of his post-season career (1998–99), a feat completed in Game 1 of the 1999 ALDS. He is since joined byIan Kinsler (2010) as the only other player to start his post-season career in that manner.[11] Against theNew York Yankees in the1999 American League Championship Series, Garciaparra was again at his finest, hitting .400 with two home runs, but the team lost in five games. After the season, he finished seventh in MVP voting.
The year 2000 was a year of transition for the Red Sox, but very little changed for Nomar. By the end of June, his average was sitting at .396, prompting some to speculate he might be the first batter to hit .400 sinceTed Williams. Indeed, Garciaparra did reach the mark, batting .403 as late in the season as July 20. However, as the summer went on, Garciaparra's batting average slipped from those lofty heights. He finished the season with a .372 batting average, which was the highest batting average by a right-handed batter in the post-war era. Garciaparra also easily won the American League batting title, becoming the first right-handed batter to win consecutive titles in theAmerican League sinceJoe DiMaggio. He also homered 21 times and drove in 96 runs. Despite the strong individual play, the Red Sox missed the postseason in 2000.
In February 2001, a shirtless and muscular Garciaparra appeared on the cover ofSports Illustrated, with the headline "A Cut Above... baseball's toughest out".[12]Sports Illustrated later described the cover photo as "controversial", adding that it "forever fueled the inevitable speculation of steroid usage".[13] Baseball fans looked forward to see if he might challenge the .400 mark, and Red Sox fans hoped he would lead them back to the postseason with new acquisitionManny Ramirez. However, the week after the issue hit newsstands, Garciaparra aggravated an old wrist injury[14] and had to start the season on the disabled list.
He did not play in his first game during 2001 until July 29, though he hit a memorable home run on his return in that game. However, by the end of August, the wrist acted up yet again, and Garciaparra missed the rest of the season due to the injury. He only saw action in 21 games, batting .289 with 4 homers and 8 RBI during the shortened campaign. Many[who?] believe that the wrist injury not only ruined his season, but altered the trajectory of his career. Before the 2001 season,Scott Boras had run a statistical study of Garciaparra for his own client (Alex Rodriguez) predicting that by age 40, Nomar would hit 513 home runs, have 3,581 hits, and have .336 career batting average.[2]
By the start of the 2002 season, Garciaparra had recovered from his wrist injury. He posted a .310 mark in 2002, homering 24 times, and driving in 120 runs. His 56doubles led the league. On July 23 (his 29th birthday), he homered three times and drove in eight runs in the first game of a doubleheader against theTampa Bay Devil Rays. On September 2, Garciaparra recorded his 1,000th hit in his 745th game, becoming the fastest Red Sox player to the milestone, in a game against theNew York Yankees. Garciaparra was recognized by baseball in making his fourthMLB All-Star Game, and he finished 11th in AL MVP voting at the end of the season. That season, Garciaparra played in 156 games, the highest single season total of his career. However, even with Nomar helping the team win 93 games during the season, the Red Sox did not qualify for the postseason.
Before the 2002 season, a new ownership group led byJohn W. Henry purchased the Red Sox. Contract extension negotiations between Garciaparra's agent (Arn Tellem) and Red Sox brass went on during the offseason, but an agreement could not be reached. Though the sides agreed on a four-year, $60 million deal, the sticking point was the $8 million signing bonus Garciaparra requested. Garciaparra entered the 2003 season without a new pact.[15] In 2003, Garciaparra had another productive All-Starseason. On April 20, he hit awalk-off home run to give the Red Sox a 6–5 win over theToronto Blue Jays. He batted .319 over the season's first half, earning yet anotherAll-Star selection, but a late season slump caused him to finish at .301. His 28 home runs were the most he had hit in a single season since 1998, and he drove in 105 runs. He appeared in 156 games again, tying his career high from the previous year. The Red Sox returned to MLB's postseason for the first time since 1999, largely due to a potent lineup that featured Garciaparra,Manny Ramirez, andDavid Ortiz.
Additionally, new stars and cult heroes, led byKevin Millar, began to emerge inBoston. Garciaparra's September slump (he batted .170 during the month) followed him into the postseason. While he hit .300 in the2003 American League Division Series against theOakland Athletics, he did not drive in a run. The Red Sox won the series in five games to face the rivalYankees in theALCS, where Garciaparra fared even worse. In the tense seven-game series, Garciaparra batted only .241 with just one RBI and an uncharacteristic eight strikeouts. However, he did record a memorable hit in Game 6, tripling and scoring on an error in the top of the seventh inning. At the time, Boston was down 6–4 and facing elimination, but the hit started a rally that saw the Red Sox come back and win 9–6 to force a Game 7. However, the Red Sox lost that game and the series onAaron Boone's infamous extra-inning walk-off home run.
With Garciaparra's contract situation still not settled, Red Sox management explored tradingManny Ramírez to theTexas Rangers for shortstopAlex Rodriguez after the 2003 season. Simultaneously, the team had exploratory talks with theChicago White Sox about trading Garciaparra forMagglio Ordóñez if the Alex Rodriguez trade was finalized. The Nomar talks had been intended to be covert but quickly leaked out, angering Garciaparra and his agent. In the end, theMLB Players Association objected to Rodriguez' willingness to sacrifice a huge amount of his $250 million contract to facilitate a deal to Boston, so both deals were shut down. After Aaron Boone injured his knee playing off-season basketball, it was the rival Yankees who instead acquired Rodriguez. Garciaparra thus returned to Boston for the start of the 2004 season in the final year of the old contract from March 1998, without an extension, and it quickly became clear that he was displeased with the team's handling of the situation. It was believed by Red Sox brass that Nomar would not return to Boston when his contract expired after the 2004 season.
The 2004 season began with Garciaparra's future in Boston unresolved. Complicating matters was an Achilles' injury that kept him out until June. When he returned, Garciaparra continued to hit well, batting .321 with five home runs and 21 RBI in 38 games. On July 10, 2004, in a 14–6 win over theRangers, Garciaparra went 4-for-5 with three runs batted in and fell a triple shy of the cycle. However, his defense saw a significant decline, primarily in his fielding range, which was believed to be due to the effects of his injury. General ManagerTheo Epstein believed defense was the team's weak point, and felt he needed to improve it for Boston to have any shot at winning aWorld Series. Additionally, the nature of Garciaparra's injury required him to get frequent days off, which meant his bat was not even guaranteed to be in the lineup every day (and thus the weaker bats of the backup players would be during a pennant race). Finally, at the July 31, 2004, trading deadline, Boston decided to trade away Garciaparra.[16] Garciaparra finished his Red Sox career with a .323 average, 178 home runs, and 690 RBI over parts of nine seasons. Boston would go on to win the 2004 World Series.
| This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Nomar Garciaparra" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
On July 31, 2004 (the MLB trading deadline), Garciaparra was the key player involved in a four-team deal that sent him andMatt Murton to the wild-card-leadingChicago Cubs. The Red Sox received shortstopOrlando Cabrera from theMontreal Expos and first basemanDoug Mientkiewicz from theMinnesota Twins. Nomar expressed his appreciation to Red Sox fans in a speech to the media and left forChicago. At first, Garciaparra was assigned jersey number 8, because Cub catcherMichael Barrett wore number 5, but a few days later, they switched numbers. Garciaparra drove in three runs in his first three games as a Cub.[17] However, he continued to battle his Achilles' injury down the stretch, and in 43 games after the trade, he hit .297 with 4 home runs and 20 RBI in Chicago. Combined, his 2004 totals were a .308 average, nine home runs, and 41 RBI.
TheCubs led the wild card until mid-September, but finished the 2004 season with 89 wins and out of the playoffs. Meanwhile, theRed Sox finally overcame theYankees en route to aWorld Series sweep of theSt. Louis Cardinals, after which Garciaparra's former teammates voted to give him aWorld Series ring and three-fourths of aplayoff share ($167,715).[18]Curt Schilling noted that if not for Garciaparra, the Red Sox might not have been in a position to win at all, clearly referencing the role Garciaparra's ascension as a player had in drawing talent likePedro Martínez,Manny Ramirez, and even himself to Boston.
After the season, Garciaparra was unable to get the long-term contract he had hoped for. His injury was the most significant reason why, as it was apparent he could still hit when healthy. So in the offseason, Garciaparra signed a 1-year deal worth $8.25 million to remain with the Cubs.[18] Once the 2005 season began, a torn left groin forced him onto thedisabled list in late April for more than three months. At the time of the injury, Garciaparra was hitting just .157. On April 23, 2005, following the publication of an op-ed in whichBoston Globe columnist Bob Ryan speculated that Garciaparra's many injuries might be caused by steroid use,[19] Garciaparra "flatly denied" having used steroids and called the speculation "ridiculous".[20] Garciaparra resumed play on August 5, 2005, and almost immediately began raising his batting average. In late August, when Cubs regular third basemanAramis Ramírez went on the disabled list for the remainder of the2005 season, Garciaparra volunteered to play third base, and Cubs managerDusty Baker agreed. Aside from his first game in the Majors, where he played second base, Nomar had played shortstop in all of his other Major League games up to that point in his career. Garciaparra finished 2005 with a .283 average, nine homers, and 30 RBI, and again became a free agent.
| This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Nomar Garciaparra" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
In 2006, Garciaparra returned to his hometown, signing with theLos Angeles Dodgers, near Garciaparra's childhood home inWhittier. The contract was again a one-year deal that Garciaparra hoped would lead to a multi-year offer following a strong season. The contract was worth $6 million, with another $2.5 million in performance bonuses.[21] Also part of the lure of the Dodgers was that formerRed Sox playersBill Mueller andDerek Lowe, and former managerGrady Little, were already with the team. Though he was able to retain his original jersey number (5), he moved to first base, as the Dodgers had also signedRafael Furcal from theAtlanta Braves to step in for the recoveringCésar Izturis at shortstop.
Healthy for the first extended period of time since 2003, Garciaparra regained his offensive stroke. On June 6, while facing theNew York Mets Nomar hit a two-runhome run on the first pitch he ever saw against former teammate and fellow Boston iconPedro Martínez. Coincidentally,Derek Lowe was the starting pitcher for the Dodgers that day. Just days later, on June 9, Garciaparra's batting average stood at .370. On June 25, he hit his 200th career home run against thePittsburgh Pirates. By theMLB All-Star Break, Nomar was tied with Pittsburgh'sFreddy Sanchez for the lead in batting average among all MLB infielders and allNL batters with a .358 batting average, to go along with 11 home runs and 53 RBIs, and carrying a 21-game hitting streak into the break. It was the second highest batting average entering the All-Star Break by a Dodger since they moved intoDodger Stadium in 1962, with the only higher mark being held byMike Piazza (.363 in 1996). Garciaparra was rewarded for his strong first half with his sixthAll-Star selection. The selection came as the National LeagueAll-Star Final Vote winner, as he received about six million fan votes to earn the honor. It was his first All-Star appearance since 2003, and his first selection at any position other than shortstop.
Nomar adjusted well to playing first base, only committing one error through his first 588.2 innings played, and finishing with four for the entire season. However, his lofty batting average steadily declined to .303 by the end of the season as nagging injuries returned. Despite this, he prevailed in the clutch for the Dodgers during their playoff race with two game-winning home runs. The first capped off one of the most remarkable games of the season on September 18, as the Dodgers hit four consecutive home runs in the ninth inning against theSan Diego Padres to tie the game. After the Padres scored a run in the tenth inning, Garciaparra hit a game-winning, two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to win the game 11–10.[22] Six days later on September 24, Garciaparra hit a game-winning grand slam against theArizona Diamondbacks to give the Dodgers a 5–1 victory with one week left in the regular season. The Dodgers went on to win their last seven games of the regular season, qualifying for the postseason. For the season, Garciaparra batted .303 with 20 home runs and 93 RBI, and struck out only 30 times, in 122 games. On October 7, Garciaparra was named theNational League's Comeback Player of the Year for 2006. He received 72,054 votes. Ultimately, the Dodgers were swept by theNew York Mets in the2006 NLDS. Garciaparra batted only .222 in the series, but did drive in 2 runs. On November 20, 2006, the Dodgers re-signed Garciaparra to a two-year contract worth $18.5 million, keeping him with the team through the 2008 season.[21][23]
Garciaparra got off to a strong start in 2007, batting .307 in April, but did not hit for power as he usually did, with only 1 home run during the first two and a half months of the season. On June 25, 2007, Garciaparra volunteered to move fromfirst tothird base in order to make room for rookieJames Loney.[24] He missed time in August and September due to injury, but still appeared in 121 games. His numbers were down, however, as he batted .283 with just 7 home runs and 59 RBI.
During 2008spring training Garciaparra suffered a microfracture to his hand after a hit-by-pitch. That forced him to start the2008 MLB season on the Disabled List. RookieBlake DeWitt played third base in the meantime. On April 16, he started his first game against thePittsburgh Pirates, only to suffer a strained left calf muscle nine days later, resulting in another trip to the DL.[25] He returned July 4, playing at shortstop for the first time since 2005 due to an injury toRafael Furcal. On August 1, Garciaparra was placed on the DL to make room forManny Ramirez, who had been acquired in a trade. Garciaparra had sprained his knee in a July 27 contest against theWashington Nationals after being slid into spikes-first at third base as Garciaparra had attempted to field a throw and tag the runner,Lastings Milledge.
He returned on August 12, and continued seeing time at shortstop through the end of the month. On August 13, he hit a walk-off home run against thePhiladelphia Phillies, giving the Dodgers a 7–6 win. Garciaparra actually saw more time at shortstop during 2008 than any other position to accommodate other players on the Dodgers. But by September, he was back to seeing time at first base and third base, and being used as a pinch hitter. Despite the return to the position he enjoyed the most success in his career, it was a difficult season for Nomar. He hit .264 for the year, with 8 home runs and 28 RBI, as he appeared in only 55 games. The Dodgers met the Phillies in the2008 NLCS once the postseason started, and Garciaparra hit well, going 3-for-7 (.429) with 1 RBI in the series. However, he did not appear in Game 1, and subsequently did not play the entirety of any game in the series, as he was either used as a substitute, or was replaced as the game went on in Games 2–5. The Dodgers were defeated in the fifth game by the Phillies, who eventually moved on to win the2008 World Series.
| This section of abiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Nomar Garciaparra" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(May 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
On March 6, 2009, Garciaparra signed a one-year deal with theOakland Athletics.[26] With the acquisition ofMatt Holliday from theColorado Rockies in the off-season, Garciaparra was not granted his accustomed number 5, instead wearing number 1. Immediately after Holliday's trade to theSt. Louis Cardinals,Eric Patterson was called up and given number 5. Garciaparra and Patterson subsequently switched numbers. In his final season, Garciaparra batted .281 with three home runs and 16 RBI in 65 games with Oakland.
In 1,434 games over 14 seasons, Garciaparra posted a .313batting average (1,747-for-5,586) with 927runs, 370doubles, 52triples, 229home runs, 936RBI, 95stolen bases, 403bases on balls, .361on-base percentage, and .521slugging percentage. He finished his career with an overall .975fielding percentage. In 32 postseason games, he was productive, batting .321 (36-for-112) with seven home runs and 24 RBI.[27]
.jpg)
On March 10, 2010, Garciaparra signed a one-day contract with the Boston Red Sox to enable him to retire as a member of the Red Sox. Garciaparra took a position atESPN, contributing analysis for the programBaseball Tonight as well as selectWednesday Night Baseball telecasts.[28] He has also been one of the lead analysts on ESPN's coverage of theCollege World Series.
On May 5, 2010, the Red Sox hosted "Nomar Garciaparra Night," honoring Garciaparra before a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He was given two official seats from Fenway byJohnny Pesky, one bearing Garciaparra's own number 5, and the other bearing Pesky's number 6.
Garciaparra threw out the first pitch on Nomar Day, with his signature off-balance sidearm throw, to his former teammate,Jason Varitek.[29]
On December 2, 2013, theLos Angeles Dodgers announced that Garciaparra would be part of their broadcast team beginning with the 2014 season. He served as a pre-and-post game analyst for the Dodgers' telecasts onSportsNet LA,[30] and also teamed withRick Monday to call most of the team's road games onKLAC and theDodgers Radio Network. However, a few months into the season he was promoted from the radio broadcasts and added to the television crew, working withCharley Steiner andOrel Hershiser on road games.
On Wednesday, February 5, 2014, it was announced that Garciaparra would be inducted into theBoston Red Sox Hall of Fame, along with former pitchersPedro Martínez andRoger Clemens, as well as longtime radio announcerJoe Castiglione.[31]
In a rare non-sports appearance, he had a gag cameo as himself on the October 14, 2000 episode ofSaturday Night Live. The show itself had referenced Garciaparra during 14 sketches calledThe Boston Teens starringJimmy Fallon andRachel Dratch who played a pair ofLexington, Massachusetts teenagers. The duo were avid fans of theBoston Red Sox; in particular their favorite player, who they called: "Nomah" and sported team shirts.[32]
In 2016, he still lived in Whittier with his family, and was doing commentary for localLos Angeles Dodgers broadcasts.[33] By 2020, he and his family were based out ofManhattan Beach in California.[34]
.jpg)
Garciaparra's younger brother, Michael, was selected by the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the2001 MLB draft and played inMinor League Baseball until 2010.[35][36]
On November 22, 2003, Garciaparra marriedOlympian andWorld Cup Champion soccer starMia Hamm. The couple has twin girls, Grace Isabella and Ava Caroline, born on March 27, 2007, inLos Angeles. The couple also welcomed their first son, named Garrett Anthony, in January 2012.[37] Hamm and Garciaparra originally met at a 1998 promotional event in Boston, where Hamm defeated Garciaparra in a soccer shootout. Hamm, married at the time, later stated that she was impressed with Garciaparra's passion for the game, and the two kept in touch as friends. Sometime after Hamm's 2001 divorce, the two began dating.
Garciaparra is known for his elaborate routine between pitches when batting. This includesbatting glove adjustments and alternating toe taps on the ground prior to an ensuing pitch.[38]
On October 7, 2005, Garciaparra and his uncle Victor Garciaparra were alerted to the screams of two women who fell intoBoston Harbor outside his condominium. One woman sustained injuries to her head after hitting the pier on her way in. Garciaparra quickly jumped into the harbor and saved both women who were later taken to the hospital.[39]
In November 2014, Garciaparra became a minority investor inLos Angeles F.C. ofMajor League Soccer (MLS),[40] In 2022, LAFC won theMLS Cup, thus making Garciaparra an MLS champion as part owner.[41]
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Derek Jeter | Baseball America Rookie of the Year 1997 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by Derek Jeter | Sporting News AL Rookie of the Year 1997 | Succeeded by Ben Grieve |
| Preceded by Derek Jeter | Players Choice AL Most Outstanding Rookie 1997 | Succeeded by Ben Grieve |
| Preceded by Derek Jeter | Baseball Prospectus Internet Baseball AL Rookie of the Year 1997 | Succeeded by Ben Grieve |
| Preceded by | American League Player of the Month May, 1999 | Succeeded by |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
