Nomar Garciaparra Retires From The Red Sox

Nomar Garciaparra got to fulfill yet another one of his dreams yesterday. Lucky bastard. As if playing major league baseball for years wasn’t enough.

Nomar was granted a one day contract with the Boston Red Sox so he could retire as a Red Sox team member. He’s retiring after 13 seasons but isn’t going anywhere. Nomar will appear on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight.

Ending his playing career in Boston was an emotional experience that brought him home, he said.

I was getting choked up then, I’m choked up now, and I’ve got the chills. But to be able to have that dream come true, I just can’t put it into words what this organization has always meant to me. It’s my family, the fans — I always tell people Red Sox Nation is bigger than any nation out there. I came back home, and to be part of Red Sox Nation is truly a thrill.

During his career  Nomar was a part of the Chicago Cubs, LA Dodgers and Oakland Athletics baseball franchises, but his heart was always with his first team in Boston.

What a way to go out. He gets to retire from his favorite team and move on to a job at ESPN.  He was able to go full circle and not leave the field littered with regrets.

Nomar said he realized during off-season workouts that he had given baseball all he had and it was time to stop playing.

Everyone has to come to a point where they have to retire. For me, I think, what really hit was working out this offseason, the genetic (leg) condition I have that has limited me over the years, I just couldn’t work out the way I wanted to work out. You know, I had a teammate and friend who once said he knew the last day he played he said, ‘I knew my tank was empty.’ When I heard him say that quote, I thought it was one of the greatest quotes I’ve heard. I thought, I wish someday I could say that. There was one day this offseason where I was getting ready and I came home and told my wife, ‘My tank’s empty.’ ” It truly is. I really just gave everything that I could to this game, and as much as I could.

I totally get that.

I have to admit that I’ll miss his batting ritual of tightening and adjusting his batting gloves. It was fun to watch, especially when Derek Jeter made fun of him.

The Boston Red Sox listed Garciapiarra’s accomplishments from his nine seasons with the team in a press release. Highlights include being fourth in club history in career batting average and fifth in slugging (.553) among players with at least 1,500 at-bats. He also ranks among Boston’s top 15 in career doubles, extra-base hits, home runs, total bases, runs and hits . He is one of six players in Red Sox history to earn American League Rookie of the Year honors and was voted onto six All-Star teams, five with Boston. He has the 19th-highest career batting average in Major League history among players with at least 200 career home runs.

Is he Hall Of Fame material?

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