America’s favorite soccer mom’s husband manages to keep the pay checks rolling in for another year, signing a one-year deal with the Oakland A’s yesterday. Nomar’s long, painful descent to retirement – from his one-time pedestal as Ted Williams’ heir apparent – continues, albeit now with a return to the American League.
I would venture that there is no other player in fantasy baseball history who has better played the ever-reappearing ex-boyfriend to my gullible girlfriend as well as Nomar.
Things started out great together, just the two of us. We were batting .300, rounding third about as often as we’re stopping at second. At the very least, we’re getting on base, with an OBP that was rising steadily and peaked above .430. Strike outs weren’t even an issue.
Then we hit our first rocky stretch. He got caught up with “other things”. We weren’t getting out on the field as much. By the end of 2001, we mainly went our separate ways. To be honest, it was him more than it was me. We appeared in only 21 games that year. But by Spring Training 2002, I missed Nomar. I knew we still had potential together. That year and the next were some of our best all-around years. My fantasy team won the league both seasons. I was back in love. He was the one.
Then came the next era, a painful one. Every few months he would pop back into my life. I’d draft him in the 6th round, then drop him by May. I’d pick him up off the waiver wire and keep him in my DL spot. In and out of my life he went.
Then he met Mia. In November 2003, they got married. Now they’re together. His career has never been the same. And I haven’t won a fantasy championship since.
Bowling Outfits
If we had stayed together, things could have been great. I know that. We just couldn’t ever figure out a way to make it work. Our averages per 162 games really are remarkable:
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 162 | 642 | 108 | 201 | 43 | 6 | 27 | 109 | 47 | 62 | 11 | 4 | 0.314 | 0.363 | 0.525 | 0.888 |
Instead, look at how he performed in the post-Mia years (2004-present):
| G | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | SB | CS | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | ||
| AVERAGES | 75 | 276 | 40 | 81 | 16 | 1 | 9 | 42 | 21 | 24 | 2 | 1 | 0.294 | 0.348 | 0.461 | 0.809 | |
| 2004 | Bos | 38 | 156 | 24 | 50 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 21 | 8 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 0.321 | 0.367 | 0.5 | 0.867 |
| 2004 | ChC | 43 | 165 | 28 | 49 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0.297 | 0.364 | 0.455 | 0.819 |
| 2004 | – | 81 | 321 | 52 | 99 | 21 | 3 | 9 | 41 | 24 | 30 | 4 | 1 | 0.308 | 0.365 | 0.477 | 0.842 |
| 2005 | ChC | 62 | 230 | 28 | 65 | 12 | 0 | 9 | 30 | 12 | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0.283 | 0.32 | 0.452 | 0.772 |
| 2006 | LA | 122 | 469 | 82 | 142 | 31 | 2 | 20 | 93 | 42 | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0.303 | 0.367 | 0.505 | 0.872 |
| 2007 | LA | 121 | 431 | 39 | 122 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 59 | 31 | 41 | 3 | 1 | 0.283 | 0.328 | 0.371 | 0.699 |
| 2008 | LA | 55 | 163 | 24 | 43 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 28 | 15 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0.264 | 0.326 | 0.466 | 0.792 |
I, honestly and truly, blame the demise of Nomar Garciaparra not on steriods, or injuries, or high expectations, or big markets, or anything else except Mia Hamm. She ruined us. And now he’s back, playing with my heart again. He’ll be there in the 17th, calling me again for a late-round hook up. Years ago, .300-25-100 was plausible; expected, even. Not anymore. This is the year I finally move on.
