"A New York Treasure" --Village Voice

Another Practice Game

Joba goes for the spring training Bomb Squad this afternoon as the Yanks face the Tigers.

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19 comments

1 rbj   ~  Mar 10, 2010 1:01 pm

And no more Nomar. He retires as a Red Sox.

2 RagingTartabull   ~  Mar 10, 2010 1:08 pm

I've always wondered, is it "he retired as a Red Sox" or "he retired as a Red Sock"?

yeah, these are the kinds of things I wonder about while at work

3 Sliced Bread   ~  Mar 10, 2010 1:35 pm

I always thought Jeter was superior to Nomar, but I'll give him this:
Nomar Garciaparra was an outstanding Bob Sheppard name. I think Shep put a little extra mustard on that one.

[2] I would say Sock, but most say Sox for whatever reason.

4 FreddySez   ~  Mar 10, 2010 1:42 pm

After the way Nomar sulked his way out of Beantown, this final display smells a little desperate for both parties. One short on glory, the other short on heroes.

In other news, I'm old. I can still remember the first time I heard Bob Sheppard announce that name... [Retrosheet pause] possibly in late 1996, but more likely sometime in 1997. And I didn't feel so young then.

5 Alex Belth   ~  Mar 10, 2010 2:00 pm

Funny, it's almost as if Nomar has been retired for years...

6 Yankster   ~  Mar 10, 2010 2:05 pm

Nomar who?

7 Sliced Bread   ~  Mar 10, 2010 2:14 pm

didn't Sox fans pretty much run him out of town? Why would he go out of his way to retire in that organization?

Ewing got run out of NY, but he didn't come crawling back for retirement -- and the Garden eventually gave him the respect and appreciation he deserved. Have Sox fans shown as much to Nomar? Do they remember how happy they were in the weeks and months that followed his bitter departure? This seems a little like Kevin Brown coming back to the Yankees seeking a Bronx embrace on his way to retirement.

8 RagingTartabull   ~  Mar 10, 2010 2:23 pm

[7] I mean to be fair, the guy was the face of the franchise for 7 1/2 years.

Nomar retiring just makes me feel old more than anything, I still remember hearing his name for the first time and thinking "no way I'm gonna pronounce that right."

I also remember the day that Sports Illustrated came in the mail with him on the cover, the same day it came out that he had hurt his wrist and he was never really quite the same.

More than anything Nomar reminds me of a time when the Yankees beating the Sox was a matter of course, just knowing there was no way the Yankees could lose to them in a big spot. For that alone I'll think of him fondly.

9 Sliced Bread   ~  Mar 10, 2010 2:31 pm

[8] and what thanks did he get for being the franchise face for all those years? Maybe he wasn't persona non grata (Kevin Brown) the past 5 1/2 years, but I don't get the impression he's been missed. In fact, his departure has been praised as the brighest feather in Theo's headdress.

10 Diane Firstman   ~  Mar 10, 2010 2:35 pm

[8]
Here is the cover you are speaking of ... from March 2001
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/cover/featured/9782/index.htm

11 RagingTartabull   ~  Mar 10, 2010 2:43 pm

[9] I just don't think the Brown comparison is at all apt, Brown was a journeyman veteran who came here on the back-end and lasted a year and a half...Nomar was "the most popular Red Sock(x) since Ted Williams". Big difference.

I always felt they kinda screwed him with the very public A-Rod courtship and then (IMO the final nail in the coffin) Millar going on SportsCenter and telling Dan Patrick that he'd rather have A-Rod than Nomar. There was just no coming back from that. I understand the fans gave it to him rough at the end, and that sucks, but he did start coming off like he was jaking it with the injuries. People only have so much loyalty.

12 RagingTartabull   ~  Mar 10, 2010 2:46 pm

[10] and yeah Diane, theres the cover. Its funny, because the whole article was about his amazing workout regimen and his training and how that made him "a cut above" Nary a mention of any extra umm..."help" that might've been around.

13 Sliced Bread   ~  Mar 10, 2010 2:59 pm

[11] the Kevin Brown comparison was a joke (that failed apparently). I think we agree Nomar's relationship with the Red Sox ended with bitterness and resentment on both sides - so again I wonder why would he want to retire there? Just because he was the face of the franchise for 7 1/2 years doesn't cut it for me. He might have been as loved as Ted Williams for those years, but he certainly hasn't been the past 5 1/2 years.

14 rbj   ~  Mar 10, 2010 3:10 pm

Via Sam at Lohud

"UPDATE, 2:03 p.m.: Joba, Joba, Joba. That’ll do it for Chamberlain, who trudges off after giving up two singles, a walk, another single, another walk and then a grand slam to Gerald Laird on a 1-0 pitch. Not ideal. Phil Hughes now on to start his work."

Ouch.

15 a.O   ~  Mar 10, 2010 5:05 pm

Anyone seen this?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tom_verducci/03/09/floating-realignment/index.html?eref=sihp&xid=shareDigg

I've long said that a European football-style setup would force the Kansas Cities and Pittsburgs to be more competitive, but this idea might help also.

16 RIYank   ~  Mar 10, 2010 5:15 pm

For six years one of the favorite topics in Red Sox Nation was, who's bettah, Nomah or Jetuh? And much as love Captain, they had some good points on their side (Nomar's range, his power at the plate).
And then there was that game. Nomar was in some kind of dispute with management, kinda thing that Jeter would never, ever do, and he was sitting out the game with a somewhat dubious injury, kinda thing Jeter would never, ever, EVER do. In Yankee Stadium. A meaningless game, really. And, you all remember the rest. And at that moment, when Derek dragged himself out of the stands with that pop foul, the debate was over. That's when they gave up on him. Nobody cried when Theo traded him. And then they won. And that's his legacy.

17 Raf   ~  Mar 10, 2010 7:17 pm

[15] Pittsburgh is on it's way up, KC is hamstrung by bad management.

18 Raf   ~  Mar 10, 2010 7:27 pm

[16] Can't say Nomar's injury was dubious, he had been hurt several times up until and after he was traded.

19 RIYank   ~  Mar 10, 2010 8:20 pm

[18] Well, RSN felt quite confident that a real playah would play through whatevah he had wrong with him.

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