[MrAndMrsFish]

Quote

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Longtime Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra retired from baseball on Wednesday morning, signing a one-day contract with the Red Sox in order to retire as a member of the team.



"I've always had a recurring dream, to be able to retire in a Red Sox uniform," Garciaparra said at a press conference at City of Palms Park. "Thanks to Mr. [John] Henry, Mr. [Tom] Werner, Mr. [Larry] Lucchino and Theo [Epstein], today I get to fulfill that dream and retire as a Red Sox.

"Earlier today, I did sign a minor league contract to be a part of the organization once again. I was getting choked up then, and I'm getting choked up now. I've got the chills.

"But to be able to have that dream come true, I really just can't put into words because of what this organization has always meant to me, meant to my family, the fans. I always tell people Red Sox Nation is bigger than any nation out there, and to be able to tell people that I came back home to be back to Red Sox Nation is truly a thrill."

Garciaparra will join ESPN as a baseball analyst. He will be seen primarily on Baseball Tonight but will also serve as an occasional game analyst.



The 36-year-old Garciaparra spent the first nine seasons of his 14-year career in Boston, where he developed into a fan favorite, a perennial All-Star and the best shortstop in team history. He won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1997 and won batting titles in back-to-back seasons in 1999 and 2000.



His career average with the Red Sox stands at .323, with 178 homers and 690 RBIs.

Garciaparra was famously traded to the Chicago Cubs by general manager Theo Epstein at the trade deadline during the 2004 season, a controversial move that resulted in the addition of Doug Mientkiewicz and Orlando Cabrera, who helped to spark the team to its first World Series title in 86 years.

Garciaparra re-signed with the Cubs in 2005, but injuries limited him to just 62 games that season. He played with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2006-2008 and was a part-time player with the Oakland Athletics last season.

Red Sox manager Terry Francona's experience with Nomar bookends the beginning and end of Garciaparra's time with the Red Sox. Francona managed Garciaparra in the Arizona Fall League in 1994, after Garciaparra's first season with the Sox organization, and was managing the Sox when Nomar was traded in 2004.

"The time I had him in the Fall League was one of the highlights of my career,'' Francona said Wednesday. "[In 2004,] I think he was kind of Boston'd out. It kind of wore on him for whatever reasons. Sometimes it's just time to move on.''

The biggest thing that caught Francona's eye in the Fall League? "A 20-year-old kid personally passing out Christmas cards three weeks early. I hadn't even bought my family presents yet.

"He wasn't pulling the ball yet, everything was to right-center, but you could see it coming.''

Francona recalled a meeting he had with Kevin Kennedy, who was managing the Red Sox at the time, and Tim Johnson, one of his coaches, and being asked whether he thought Garciaparra could play second base.

"I said I don't know who you have at short, but whoever it is you might want to move him.''

In 1997, when Garciaparra made it to the big leagues, new manager Jimy Williams did just that, prompting a brief walkout from camp by John Valentin, who reluctantly gave up short and played second and third.

Francona, who was in his first season as manager with the Red Sox, said he didn't fully realize how iconic Garciaparra was in Boston until after the trading-deadline deal that sent Nomar to the Cubs.

"When it was over, I remember laughing with Theo [Epstein], 'I was behind you every step of the way, not in front of you.'''

Nomar retires as a Red Sox

[fanofthefish]

Just think if the Marlins had taken Nomar in the 1994 draft we would be reading about Josh Booty's retirement JK
A shame Nomar didn't get to win a championship with the Sox, good luck to him with ESPN

[gizmo]

fanofthefish, on March 11, 2010 - 05:57 PM, said:

Just think if the Marlins had taken Nomar in the 1994 draft we would be reading about Josh Booty's retirement JK
A shame Nomar didn't get to win a championship with the Sox, good luck to him with ESPN

Well he was still with the Red Sox in 2004, just traded at the deadline. Doesn't he still get a ring for being part of the team that year?

[fanofthefish]

gizmo12688, on March 11, 2010 - 07:27 PM, said:

fanofthefish, on March 11, 2010 - 05:57 PM, said:

Just think if the Marlins had taken Nomar in the 1994 draft we would be reading about Josh Booty's retirement JK
A shame Nomar didn't get to win a championship with the Sox, good luck to him with ESPN

Well he was still with the Red Sox in 2004, just traded at the deadline. Doesn't he still get a ring for being part of the team that year?

From what I understand he did get a ring from that year, but I think it would mean more to him to have played in the World Series.

[Mike]

fanofthefish, on March 11, 2010 - 09:09 PM, said:

gizmo12688, on March 11, 2010 - 07:27 PM, said:

fanofthefish, on March 11, 2010 - 05:57 PM, said:

Just think if the Marlins had taken Nomar in the 1994 draft we would be reading about Josh Booty's retirement JK
A shame Nomar didn't get to win a championship with the Sox, good luck to him with ESPN

Well he was still with the Red Sox in 2004, just traded at the deadline. Doesn't he still get a ring for being part of the team that year?

From what I understand he did get a ring from that year, but I think it would mean more to him to have played in the World Series.

Hmm.. Did Mike Lowell get a ring from his...8 game 15 AB stint with the Yankees in 1998?

[el penguino]

I thought I remember hearing back then that the Red Sox did give him a ring.

I think it depends on the team. Nomar wasn't a September call-up, but Lowell was. I would imagine that each team sets its own policies on whether or not September call-ups not on the playoff roster receive a ring or not.