Happy Birthday Nomar Garciaparra!!!

Happy Birthday Nomar Garciaparra!!!

Nomar Garciaparra turns 41 years old today!!

I have been racking my brain for the last few days trying to remember a rookie that has impressed me as much as Nomar Garciaparra did during his rookie campaign in 1997. And to be honest, if it wasn’t for Jerome Walton’s amazing year in 1989 and Mike Trout’s debut in 2012, I would say that Nomar’s rookie year is the most impressive one I have ever been witness to.

In the ’97 season, Nomar took the baseball world by storm. He collected 209 hits while ending the year with a .306 average. He belted 30 home runs, collected 98 RBI, and scored 122 times. He was also able to amass 44 doubles, steal 22 bases, and amazingly show enough patience as a hot-hitting rookie to strike out just 92 times. That season was certainly Nomar’s most highly decorated one too. He was an American League All-star and he won the Silver Slugger award, finished in 8th place for the MVP, and was the league’s Rookie Of The Year award winner.

The sky was the limit for Nomar and over the next 6 seaons, he finished in the Top 7 for the MVP award five times.

Happy Birthday Nomar!!!

Happy Birthday Nomar Garciaparra!!!

Happy Birthday Nomar Garciaparra!!!

Nomar Garciaparra turns 40 years old today!!

I have been racking my brain for the last few days trying to remember a rookie that has impressed me as much as Nomar Garciaparra did during his rookie campaign in 1997. And to be honest, if it wasn’t for Jerome Walton’s amazing year in 1989 and Mike Trout’s debut in 2012, I would say that Nomar’s rookie year is the most impressive one I have ever been witness to.

In the ’97 season, Nomar took the baseball world by storm. He collected 209 hits while ending the year with a .306 average. He belted 30 home runs, collected 98 RBI, and scored 122 times. He was also able to amass 44 doubles, steal 22 bases, and amazingly show enough patience as a hot-hitting rookie to strike out just 92 times. That season was certainly Nomar’s most highly decorated one too. He was an American League All-star and he won the Silver Slugger award, finished in 8th place for the MVP, and was the league’s Rookie Of The Year award winner.

The sky was the limit for Nomar and over the next 6 seaons, he finished in the Top 7 for the MVP award five times.

Happy Birthday Nomar!!!

Happy Birthday Nomar Garciaparra!!!

Happy Birthday Nomar Garciaparra!!!

Nomar Garciaparra turns 39 years old today!!

I have been racking my brain for the last few days trying to remember a rookie that has impressed me as much as Nomar Garciaparra did during his rookie campaign in 1997.  And to be honest, if it wasn’t for Jerome Walton’s amazing year in 1989, I would say that Nomar’s rookie year is the most impressive one I have ever been witness to.

In the ’97 season, Nomar took the baseball world by storm.  He collected 209 hits while ending the year with a .306 average.  He belted 30 home runs, collected 98 RBI, and scored 122 times.  He was also able to amass 44 doubles, steal 22 bases, and amazingly show enough patience as a hot-hitting rookie to strike out just 92 times.  That season was certainly Nomar’s most highly decorated one too.  He was an American League All-star and he won the Silver Slugger award, finished in 8th place for the MVP, and was the league’s Rookie Of The Year award winner.

The sky was the limit for Nomar and over the next 6 seaons, he finished in the Top 7 for the MVP award five times.

Happy Birthday Nomar!!!

Happy Birthday Nomar Garciaparra!!!

Happy Birthday Nomar Garciaparra!!!

Nomar Garciaparra turns 38 years old today!!

I have been racking my brain for the last few days trying to remember a rookie that has impressed me as much as Nomar Garciaparra did during his rookie campaign in 1997.  And to be honest, if it wasn’t for Jerome Walton’s amazing year in 1989, I would say that Nomar’s rookie year is the most impressive one I have ever been witness to.

In the ’97 season, Nomar took the baseball world by storm.  He collected 209 hits while ending the year with a .306 average.  He belted 30 home runs, collected 98 RBI, and scored 122 times.  He was also able to amass 44 doubles, steal 22 bases, and amazingly show enough patience as a hot-hitting rookie to strike out just 92 times.  That season was certainly Nomar’s most highly decorated one too.  He was an American League All-star and he won the Silver Slugger award, finished in 8th place for the MVP, and was the league’s Rookie Of The Year award winner.

The sky was the limit for Nomar and over the next 6 seaons, he finished in the Top 7 for the MVP award five times.

Happy Birthday Nomar!!!

My First Time – Nomar Garciaparra – August 31, 1996

My First Time – Nomar Garciaparra – August 31, 1996

The setting – Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.  Oakland, CA.

From Garciaparra – “I was fortunate to have debuted in California, where my parents could see me play…  It’s a pretty long drive to Oakland from where I’m from, but they got in the car and made it in time to see the game.”

The Boxscore – Oakland 6, Red Sox 0.  Garciaparra goes 0-for-1.  Willie Adams(a childhood friend and teammate of Nomar’s) pitched the game of his life – a complete game 5-hitter with 9 strikeouts.

Did You Know…

The 2003 Boston Red Sox are the only squad since 1900 to have eight players with 80 or more RBI – Nomar Garciaparra(104), Manny Ramirez(104), David Ortiz(101), Kevin Millar(95), Trot Nixon(87), Todd Walker(85), Bill Meuller(85), and Jason Varitek(85).

**factoid courtey of ‘Big League Trivia’

My take – Man, that is a lot of offensive support.  I am really surprised that they only had 1 pitcher collect more than 14 wins that year!!

Happy Birthday Nomar Garciaparra!!!

Nomar Garciaparra turns 36 years old today!!

I have been racking my brain for the last few days trying to remember a rookie that has impressed me as much as Nomar Garciaparra did during his rookie campaign in 1997.  And to be honest, if it wasn’t for Jerome Walton’s amazing year in 1989, I would say that Nomar’s rookie year is the most impressive one I have ever been witness to.

In the ’97 season, Nomar took the baseball world by storm.  He collected 209 hits while ending the year with a .306 average.  He belted 30 home runs, collected 98 RBI, and scored 122 times.  He was also able to amass 44 doubles, steal 22 bases, and amazingly show enough patience as a hot-hitting rookie to strike out just 92 times.  That season was certainly Nomar’s most highly decorated one too.  He was an American League All-star and he won the Silver Slugger award, finished in 8th place for the MVP, and was the league’s Rookie Of The Year award winner.

The sky was the limit for Nomar and over the next 6 seaons, he finished in the Top 7 for the MVP award five times. 

For his birthday, I would like to give Nomar one more chance in a Red Sox uniform.  I’d love to see a player with his spirit compete in the playoffs and battle against the league’s best teams.  Something tells me that he would do just fine!!!

Happy Birthday Nomar!!!

Modernizing 2 Of Baseball’s Awards

I in no way would do anything to take away from the monumental careers that Cy Young and Jackie Robinson put together. 

But since major leage baseball will be naming their 2008 award winners in the coming weeks, I thought it would be fun to re-name the Cy Young award and the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year awards giving them a more modern twist.

Ready??  Let’s play.  Here are the rules:

1. The player has to have won this award in their career
2. Awards must have been handed out during the 1980 season or after
3. Pitchers are eligible for the ROY award

So, with all that being said here are my picks…

Baseball’s Best pitcher award will be renamed the ‘Greg Maddux Award’.  Over the course or Maddux’s career, he has won the Cy Young Award 4 times.  This award commemorates his excellence during the 1995 season in which Maddux won 19 games and lost only 2.  In that season Maddux pitched 209 innings while only allowing 147 hits.  He struck out 191 batters and walked a mere 23.  Maddux’s ERA for the 1995 season was 1.63.

Other players I considered were: Roger Clemens, Dwight Gooden, Orel Hershiser, and Randy Johnson.

The award for baseball’s best rookie will now be called the ‘Nomar Garciaparra Rookie of the Year Award’.  During Nomar’s rookie season in 1997, he batted an amazing .306 in 153 games.  Nomar also amassed 30 home runs and 98 RBI.  85 of Garciaparra’s 209 hits that season were for extra bases which displays his ability to hit for power and average.  Nomar won the ROY award in 1997 unanimously.

Other players I considered were: Fernando Valenzuela, Mark McGwire, Mike Piazza, and Ichiro.

Now it’s your turn.  Make your picks and let’s see who stands heads and shoulders above the rest of the field…