Nomar Garciaparra
Nomar Garciaparra
Anthony Nomar Garciaparrais a former American Major League Baseball player and current SportsNet LA analyst. After playing parts of nine seasons as an All-Star shortstop for the Boston Red Sox, he played third base and first base for the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Oakland Athletics. He is one of 13 players in Major League history to hit two grand slams during a single game, and the only player to achieve the feat at his home stadium...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBaseball Player
Date of Birth23 July 1973
CityWhittier, CA
CountryUnited States of America
He knows how to pitch. He's a guy whose slider looks like he can throw it four times in the dirt and walk you, or he'll throw it three times and hit the outside corner and strike you out.
I knew that going in, ... I never said it was going to be easy, I never said it was an easier position. I said I'll try it, knowing how difficult it will be. There are a lot of guys on our team doing things to get the team where we want to be.
Health is always a factor. Everyone needs to stay healthy and do their job. These guys believe in each other.
These guys never give up, ... Guys are going out there, and they care. We're just playing pretty well right now.
The effort is there. The effort is always there. Everyone is a professional. If you played against us on a Sunday in a park with our families, you're going to see effort there. That's the nature of us. None of these guys would be here in the big leagues if they didn't have that attitude every day.
Just get a ball I can drive and get it up in the air. If you get the ball in the air, you get a guy in. If not, worse-case scenario, you've got a guy in Bill Mueller who will give you a good at-bat.
I think that exacerbated the situation a little bit more. It was a combination of that trauma and my body kind of protecting itself from the (groin) surgery. Every day I'm doing everything I can to try and get loose.
It didn't change him at all. That didn't surprise me. He's a such a great person, a great manager. Something like that - he wasn't going to let it change who he is.
If it was in my control, I'd still be wearing a Red Sox uniform, because it's the place I know, I love. All of those fans, I'll always remember. But I'm also going to another great place. I'm going to a phenomenal city with great tradition as well, phenomenal fans, great organization.
I'm always trying to win, but at the same time I can also appreciate a great, well-fought game. And if it's a tie 'You were great. I was great. Hey, let's go home.' It doesn't mean I'm not as competitive.
Those two games down there definitely helped. It was good to go out there, because you have to test it in a game situation. When you get into this environment, you can't simulate the game. And if I test it here and have a setback, that kind of hurts the team as well. So I didn't want to do that. It's not 100 percent, but I didn't expect it to be.
You go out there and play hard and make plays. That's what this team is about.
Every position is important and has its differences. It takes time to reach the same instinct level at first base that I had shortstop. It is a work in progress, but I'm getting there.
At third, that's still a work in progress. That's what's great, every day I get to work at third, work at hitting, I've got to do everything.