Nomar Garciaparra bids farewell to baseball
with his Red Sox on (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Nomar Garciaparra yesterday signed a one-day contract with the Boston Red Sox and then retired so he could say he left the game wearing the uniform of the club with which he started.
In so doing, the Sox’s last established shortstop and one-time face of the franchise sat at the center of a City of Palms Park scene that was at once heartwarming, surprising, and – to some – (see Shaughnessy, Dan in the Boston Globe) disingenuous. At the very least, it was as described by the Boston Herald’s Ron Borges: “difficult to fathom but kind of cool in an insincere sort of way.”
It cannot be denied that Garciaparra was a special presence in Boston for most of his time here. He was Rookie of the Year, a five-time All Star, five times a Top 10 MVP vote-getter, a Sports Illustrated cover boy, and even a potential life-saver as he rescued two women who had fallen into Boston Harbor. But it is also undisputable that his final months in the Crimson Hose were difficult at best, as ill will surrounding his contract negotiations apparently affected his on-field attitude and play, and led to his now-famous mid-season 2004 trade to Chicago.
Disbelievers in the crowd will say yesterday’s hug-fest was a show designed to ease Nomar’s transition from ballplayer to TV analyst, though it is then fair to wonder why Larry Lucchino, Theo Epstein et al. would have been party to it their relationship with him really was so terrible. My guess is that the spectacle had more to do with contrition than charade, for enough time has passed to allow all parties to appreciate what they had together.
It no doubt helps that Garciaparra never again was a key cog in a pennant contender’s wheel, and that the Red Sox went on to win the championship the year he was traded and again three years later. Each side thus could well afford to be generous and gracious toward the other, and the result was a nicely-staged event at which the prodigal shortstop returned and hatchets were publicly buried.
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