Nomar Garciaparra
- Boston Red Sox (1996-2004)
- Chicago Cubs (2004-2005)
- Los Angeles Dodgers (2006-2008)
- Oakland Athletics ( since 2009)
- 2x AL batting title (1999 .357) (2000 .372)
- 6x MLB All- Star Game (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2006)
- Silver Slugger Award ( 1997)
- AL Rookie of the Year 1997
- NL Comeback Player of the Year 2006
Anthony Nomar Garciaparra ( born July 23, 1973 in Whittier, California, USA) is a former American professional baseball player of Mexican origin. Garciaparra was active as an infielder for the Oakland Athletics last. Previously, he played for many years as a shortstop and third baseman for the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs. Garcia Parras unusual first name Nomar is the backward read name ( ananym ) his father Ramon.
Garciaparra is married to soccer Olympic and World Champion Mia Hamm. The couple has twin girls 2007 since 27 March.
Major League Baseball career
Boston Red Sox (1994-2004)
Garciaparra was selected in the first round of the draft in 1994 by the Boston Red Sox and should good 10 years left in Massachusetts. At the beginning Garciaparra had the then - Star shortstop the Red Sox John Valentin ago and came to a few uses, this changed during the 1996 season, was allowed to occupy the position in the Garciaparra due to his talent. Valentin renounced in favor of the young talent on the shortstop position and played in sequence at second base (later third at that). In the 1997 season, which was his official rookie season, it brought Garciaparra at least 30 home runs and 98 runs batted in, which earned him a new MLB record in the category of a leadoff - hitters RBIs. He was duly elected at the end of the season for the Rookie of the Year. In addition, he was eighth of the MVP voting. Quickly Garciaparra could play in the hearts of Red Sox fans and was a crowd favorite.
In the period from 1998 to 2000, Garciaparra has developed into an above-average hitter. In 1998, he finished the season with 35 home runs and 122 RBIs. In the following two years, he led the statistics of Schlagdurchnitts ( Batting Average ). Specifically, he brought it in 1999 to .357 ( 35.7 %) and 2000 to .372 ( 37.2 %).
In February 2001, Garciaparra appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated. This is true in the U.S. as one of the greatest honors for a sportsman. In the same year he had to cancel the season due to a wrist injury. At the start of the 2002 season, Garciaparra was then convalescent and brought it to 120 runs and led the statistics of the doubles with 56. However, he had problems with his defensive play. In addition, the services took the batting average steadily.
Garcia Parras end in Boston
Before the 2002 season took on a new group of owners the Red Sox. The leaders in sport saw significant improvement in both batting average and on the defensive. These were the two areas where Garciaparra had previously degraded significantly over the years. During the contract negotiations between Garciaparra and the Red Sox already circulated credible rumors that the player would get a new four-year deal worth 60 million U.S. dollars. However, this deal fell during the year 2003.
The 2003 season, in the Garciaparra delivered a solid but unspectacular performance ended with a miserable September in which he came close to its negative records. With a batting average of .301 ( 30.1 %) it was well short of what you can do in it. In the playoffs Garciaparra then gave no homerun and a single RBI. In addition, he suffered in twelve games ten strikeouts.
New cult stars of the Red Sox as David Ortiz and Kevin Millar took over responsibility and demanded a more team-oriented baseball sport without the big stars. These leading figures, including Garciaparra scored, were increasingly isolated.
After the 2003 season, an impending change of Garciaparra to the Texas Rangers had already become public. However, the deal fell through, as the Major League Baseball Players Association ( MLBPA ) not approved the contract of the proposed as a replacement shortstops Alex Rodriguez. Garciaparra returned to Boston in 2004. This was the final season of the contract he had signed in 1997.
Garciaparra missed three months of the 2004 season due to a hamstring injury after he had hit a foul ball in Spring Training. Many critics accused him to have the severity of the injury exaggerated and his time-out artificially dragged out because he was angry about the fact that Boston wanted to get rid of him necessarily and now offered instead of 15 million, only 12 million U.S. dollars per year. Garciaparra announced not to be available also August and September. The management then decided to undertake a new shortstop for the ailing Red Sox.
Short career with the Cubs
On 31 July 2004, on the last day of the transfer period, Garciaparra moved from Boston to the Chicago Cubs. In an address to the media Garciaparra calculated again from the leaders of the Red Sox. In the same year the Red Sox won the World Series then, without Garciaparra.
In the 2005 season, Garciaparra was again hit by injury problems. A hernia made it impossible to play. Only on 5 August 2005 he was back in the active cadres of the Cubs. Due to an injury to third baseman Aramis Ramirez Garciaparra played temporarily at the third base. This was only the second time in his career that he did not play shortstop. This was previously only in his very first MLB game of the case when he played at second base.
Los Angeles Dodgers (2006-2008)
In 2006, Garciaparra returned to his hometown and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers. There he met many old companions from Boston, as the players Bill Mueller and Derek Lowe or the manager Grady Little.
To minimize the risk of injury, he now played at first base. Garciaparra was the first time since 2003, a long time without injury and was able to regain his offensive strength. His defensive performance at first base were impressive. In 588.2 innings he created only one error. In addition, he was elected for the sixth time in the All- Star team in 2006. In the second half of the season Garciaparra, however, was once again thrown back from minor injuries and his statistics went downhill.
On October 7, 2006 Garciaparra was voted Comeback Player of the Year. The Treaty of Garciaparra was then extended until 2008 on 20 November 2006. The value of the contract is 18.5 million U.S. dollars.
Oakland Athletics (2009-2010)
For the 2009 season, Garciaparra signed a one-year contract with the Oakland Athletics. There he is said to strengthen a very weak offensive in the preseason. On the other Garciaparra is very versatile in the entire infield, will allow injury -prone players like Eric Chavez breaks there.
Resignation
On March 10, 2010 Garciaparra signed a one-day contract with the Boston Red Sox to step down as the team's players. He has since worked for the TV station ESPN.
Trivia
- Garciaparra always wears the number 5 exception was his first game for the Cubs, where he wore the 8 because catcher Michael Barrett already wore the 5 on the jersey. He and Barrett then exchanged numbers.
- Garciaparra is a six-time All-Star (1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2006).
- Garciaparra received a World Series championship ring as a member of the Boston Red Sox in 2004, although he joined the club during the season.
- Garciaparra holds the unofficial record for most home runs and a player of the highest stroke average on his birthday.
- On November 22, 2003 Garciaparra married the women's soccer legend Mia Hamm.
- His brother Michael Garciaparra is also baseball player. He plays at the Tacoma Rainiers, a farm team of the Seattle Mariners.