Nomah!

Before there was the Big Three in Oakland, there was The Big Three. That group consisted of three of baseballs brightest young stars. Three bright young stars that all happened to play short stop. Ah, life was good for The Big Three. Derek Jeter was winning the World Series in four of five seasons. Alex Rodriguez was being compared to the best that ever played the game, and knocking baseballs out of the park like he was the Great Bambino. And then there was Nomar Garciaparra, the toast of the town in one of the greatest baseball cities in America. He won two consecutive batting titles in ’99 and ’00, and Red Sox fans started seeing him as the savior, he was “the one” that would bring the Red Sox their first World Series title in over 80 years.

Then, in 2001, everything went awry for baseball's Big Three. Before the season even began, A-Rod cashed in $252 million over 10 years for the biggest contract sports had ever seen. Then the season started without Nomar in Boston’s lineup for the first time in four years. In fact, he played all of 21 games that season, sitting out most of it as a result of a wrist injury. Then the season ended with a bloop hit by Luis Gonzalez of the expansion Diamondbacks. That hit sent Derek Jeter back to the dugout as a World Series loser. A feat that, to his dismay, he’s since repeated.

So what happened to them? Well, in A-Rod’s case, we found out that $252 million can buy you a lot of things, but it can’t buy a leader. The truth is, A-Rod is one of the greatest talents baseball has ever seen, but eventually, the fans and the team want a return on their investment. Watching a great player on a not so good team can only be so entertaining, see the Los Angeles Lakers if you don’t believe me. And finally, his sideshow caught up to him. Now, it wasn’t all his own doing, but one has to understand that you don’t just sign up for a quarter of a billion dollars and then disappear. All of a sudden, even with limited playoff experience, you are expected to be the veteran, to be the leader in the clubhouse, and the guy that others turn to when the going gets tough. Arlington, Texas is nowhere near the baseball pressure cooker that New York City is. Little did A-Rod know, that his fall from grace had only just begun.

Then Derek Jeter was handed the Yankees, and the key to the City. Only he wasn’t informed that he’d have to go it with a lot less help than he was used to. Suddenly, with the Series loss in 2001 to the Diamondbacks, George Steinbrenner became a madman. Money was no object, winning wasn’t everything, it was the only thing. Hardened veterans like Paul O’Neill, Scott Brosius and Luis Sojo retired. Overpaying for sluggers and pitchers was Steinbrenner’s solution to everything. Brian Cashman’s job suddenly became existent for only one reason, so somebody was there to take the fall. The list of players who went to New York and probably got more money than they would have gotten elsewhere includes, but is not limited to: Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi, Hideki Matsui, Gary Sheffield and Carl Pavano. All this before the whole Yankees vs. Red Sox rivalry turned into a circus. Before the whole A-Rod fiasco, and before they lost to *ghast* the Red Sox in the playoffs. Through it all, Jeter has been the face of the Yankees. He has been the only one that has played every game until there were 27 outs in the book. The only one who hasn’t made excuses for starting out the season with a number for average that would only look good as your RBI total. He even plowed his face into the seats at Yankee Stadium during a regular season game diving for a ball that really should have been caught by his third baseman. All the while, he waits, and plays his game, hoping that someone will realize soon that he needs teammates, not overpriced help.

And then there’s Nomar. The Red Sox have won their World Series, without Nomar. And fans even enjoyed it without him, a thought four years ago that would have gotten you put in a straight jacket anywhere in New England. The last time I saw a professional career plummet this quickly I was watching Kirstie Allie in Look Who’s Talking. How do you go from being the toughest out in baseball to the guy writhing in pain on the first base line, and then carried off the field? Not helped off the field while limping, carried off by two grown men.

It was only 2000 when people around baseball were thinking someone might once again hit .400 in a season. This was a guy who was a lock for the Hall of Fame. He was the closest possibility baseball had to someone entering that elite group of career .350 hitters for the first time since Rogers Hornsby retired after the 1937 season. Sure he popped out a lot. But in the two seasons that he won the AL batting title, he struck out an average of 45 times. The other times you got him out, you had to work for it. You had to catch the seemingly routine pop-up, or toss the groundball across the diamond. As much as Boston fans would make fun of the all too common call of Joe Castiglione saying “a swing and a pop up,” the law of averages told me this was a guy that I wanted on my team, and in my lineup everyday.

Then the wrist injury, limited Nomar to 21 games in 2001. The next two seasons he appeared in 156 games for the Red Sox, but his average dipped to .310 and .301 respectively. He was no longer the tough out he once was. Then, eighteen months ago, Garciaparra was on his honeymoon when he caught wind of a deal that might send him to the Windy City, but not in the uniform he currently dons. Suddenly, as soon as he took it personal, it was as if Nomar’s ticket out of town had been punched.

Nomar finished the 2000 season with a .372 average, and that was about the last good memory Boston fans had of him. That season in the playoffs, he was almost non-existent, until of course, he got plunked on the wrist. Then he missed the next season. And he played the next two, but you could tell he was never really the same player. Then he took the A-Rod trade rumors personal, sulked about it for a while, and refused to even consider returning to Boston as a free agent. Last year he missed most of the season with an “ankle” injury. Then he made the tribute commercial to his wife by ending it with the now infamous line “Thanks Beautiful.” And then when he came back, there was that game in Yankee Stadium where he was on the bench, because he didn’t feel he was healthy enough to play. Oh yeah, that just happened to be the game Jeter plowed the seats by third base…with his face. And finally, Theo pulled the string at the deadline. Nomar was gone. Just like that, an era had ended in Boston. And then general consensus was, “good riddance.”

Then, during last year’s ALCS, A-Rod did something Nomar should be forever thankful for. He showed his true colors, he slapped Bronson Arroyo. In an instant, Nomar was knocked down a peg, A-Rod was now public enemy number one in Boston. Then came the Cardinals, and the rest is history.

The truth is, everything that culminated at the end of last season, made seeing Nomar in Cubbie blue this season all that much easier to bear. A soft spoken, big stick wielding South American has taken over Nomar’s position. But he hasn’t taken Nomar’s place. What Nomar chooses to do with the ring is completely up to him. But deep down, every Sox fan knows, he was the player who got the ball rolling. He showed Boston baseball could go on with out Roger Clemens. He helped draw off season free agents. And he even played a little baseball. Pretty well too I might add.

While Cooperstown might now seem a far way away for Nomar, and that next big contract is resting on his torn groin, and for all the negative things Boston has ever said about him, I’d like to return the favor and say thank you to Nomar. On the behalf of a generation that mimics his foot taps and unforgettable hand movements in the batters box. Thank you for all the charity work you did. Thank you for making baseball fun. Thank you for the sweet Fleet Bank commercials with Jeter. Thank you for leaving everything out on the field. And no matter what anyone ever says, thank you for wearing a Red Sox uniform.