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• Gordon Edes: One-On-One With Normar (Extended Interview)
  

  Gordon Edes: One-On-One With Normar (Extended Interview)

  ESPNBoston.com’s Gordon Edes talks to Nomar Garciaparra about his retirement.Tags: Boston Red Sox, Nomar Garciaparra

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• Nomar Retires As A Red Sox
  

  Nomar Retires As A Red Sox

  Nomar Garciaparra announces his retirement.
  Tags: Boston Red Sox
• Kurkjian On Garciaparra’s Retirement
  

  Kurkjian On Garciaparra’s Retirement

  ESPN MLB analyst Tim Kurkjian on Nomar Garciaparra’s retirement and future.
  Tags: MLB, Boston Red Sox

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Longtime Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra retired from baseball on Wednesday morning, signing a one-day contract with the Red Sox in order to retire as a member of the team.

“

Everywhere I go I get so many [Red Sox fans] come to me and tell me ‘Thank you. We miss you. We still love you.’ And it’s so genuine and the feeling is mutual. Hopefully from my actions throughout my career in that uniform and hopefully my actions today again tell them what it means to me.

”
– Nomar Garciaparra

“I’ve always had a recurring dream, to be able to retire in a Red Sox uniform,” Garciaparra said at a press conference at City of Palms Park. “Thanks to [owners] Mr. [John] Henry, Mr. [Tom] Werner, Mr. [Larry] Lucchino and [general manager] Theo [Epstein], today I get to fulfill that dream and retire as a Red Sox. “Earlier today, I did sign a minor league contract to be a part of the organization once again. I was getting choked up then, and I’m getting choked up now. I’ve got the chills. “But to be able to have that dream come true, I really just can’t put into words because of what this organization has always meant to me, meant to my family, the fans. I always tell people Red Sox Nation is bigger than any nation out there, and to be able to tell people that I came back home to be back to Red Sox Nation is truly a thrill.”Garciaparra will join ESPN as a baseball analyst. He will be seen primarily on “Baseball Tonight” but will also serve as an occasional game analyst. The 36-year-old Garciaparra spent the first nine seasons of his 14-year career in Boston, where he developed into a fan favorite, a perennial All-Star and the best shortstop in team history. He won the American League Rookie of the Year Award in 1997 and won batting titles in back-to-back seasons in 1999 and 2000. His career average with the Red Sox stands at .323, with 178 homers and 690 RBIs.

Photos: Nomar through the years

A look back at Nomar’s career in Boston. Gallery

He stressed Wednesday that fan support was one of the biggest reasons why it was so important to him to retire in a Red Sox uniform.”Everywhere I go I get so many [Red Sox fans] come to me and tell me ‘Thank you. We miss you. We still love you,’” Garciaparra said. “And it’s so genuine and the feeling is mutual. Hopefully from my actions throughout my career in that uniform and hopefully my actions today again tell them what it means to me.”Lucchino echoed those sentiments from the team’s perspective.”We welcome you home,” Lucchino said at the press conference. “It gives us enormous pride to recognize the respect you have to the organization, the connection you feel to the organization, the connection you feel to our fans and Fenway Park, and I’m here to fell you the feelings are mutual. When the history of the Boston Red Sox is written again, there will be a very large and important chapter devoted to Nomar Garciaparra.”Garciaparra said he decided to retire when he realized this offseason that due to a condition that has limited him over the years, he “just couldn’t work out the way I like to work out, and that really was my ultimate decision.”

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Steven SenneNomar Garciaparra said it was “a dream” to be able to retire as a member of the Red Sox.”There was a time this offseason when I was getting ready and I remember coming home and looking at my wife and going ‘My tank is empty,’” Garciaparra said. “And that for me was an absolute thrill to be able to say that. I really just gave everything I could to this game.”Garciaparra’s wife, former soccer star Mia Hamm, attended the press conference with the couple’s twin daughters.Garciaparra was famously traded to the Chicago Cubs by Epstein at the trade deadline during the 2004 season, a controversial move that resulted in the addition of Doug Mientkiewicz and Orlando Cabrera, who helped to spark the team to its first World Series title in 86 years.
“I felt like I was there,” Garciaparra said, referring to the championship celebration. “In Boston there’s something greater than an individual player winning a World Series. When I was there I realized there’s something bigger than us winning a World Series. It’s winning a World Series for these people.”Epstein, who grew up in the Boston area, was responsible for the trade that dispatched Garciaparra.

“We’ve been fortunate over the years to maintain a relationship after the trade,” Epstein said. “I think both of us understood at the time that it wasn’t about Nomar and it wasn’t about me. It was just baseball trades that happen. They’re about what’s going on with the team at the time and certain things that had to happen. But, it didn’t change what Nomar meant to the Red Sox.”Garciaparra re-signed with the Cubs in 2005, but injuries limited him to just 62 games that season. He played with the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2006-08 and was a part-time player with the Oakland Athletics last season. He finished his career with 229 home runs, 936 RBIs and a .313 batting average in 14 seasons.
Red Sox manager Terry Francona’s experience with Garciaparra bookends the beginning and end of the infielder’s time with the Red Sox. Francona managed Garciaparra in the Arizona Fall League in 1994, after Garciaparra’s first season with the Red Sox organization and was managing Boston when he was traded in 2004.”The time I had him in the Fall League was one of the highlights of my career,” Francona said Wednesday. “[In 2004,] I think he was kind of Boston’d out. It kind of wore on him for whatever reasons. Sometimes it’s just time to move on.”
The biggest thing that caught Francona’s eye in the Fall League? “A 20-year-old kid personally passing out Christmas cards three weeks early. I hadn’t even bought my family presents yet.

NOMAH VS. NOMAR

A look at Garciaparra’s numbers in Boston compared with everywhere else.

	with Red Sox	rest of career
Games	966	468
BA	.323	.288
HR	178	51
RBIs	690	246

“He wasn’t pulling the ball yet, everything was to right-center, but you could see it coming.”Francona recalled a meeting he had with Kevin Kennedy, who was managing the Red Sox at the time, and Tim Johnson, one of his coaches, and being asked whether he thought Garciaparra could play second base.”I said I don’t know who you have at short, but whoever it is you might want to move him.”In 1997, when Garciaparra made it to the big leagues, new manager Jimy Williams did just that, prompting a brief walkout from camp by John Valentin, who reluctantly gave up short and played second and third.Francona, who was in his first season as manager with the Red Sox, said he didn’t fully realize how iconic Garciaparra was in Boston until after the trading-deadline deal that sent Nomar to the Cubs.”When it was over, I remember laughing with Theo [Epstein], ‘I was behind you every step of the way, not in front of you.”’”He was a Red Sox for a long time and I think he’ll always be remembered as a Red Sox,” said pitcher Tim Wakefield, who was Garciaparra’s teammate for the shortstop’s entire stay in Boston. “For the organization to sign him to a one-day deal and have him retire as a Red Sox is pretty special. I’m really happy for him. I wish he was still playing but sometimes our careers take different paths.”

NOMAR IN PERSPECTIVE

Highest career OPS+ by players whose primary position was shortstop (minimum 3,000 plate appearances).

Player	OPS+
Honus Wagner	150
Alex Rodriguez	147
Arky Vaughan	136
Nomar Garciaparra	124
Derek Jeter	121

>> OPS+: on-base + slugging pct, compared to league average (100 is average)

Garciaparra threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Wednesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, with Jason Varitek catching. Garciaparra and Varitek were teammates in Boston and at Georgia Tech.Garciaparra was in the thick of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry but always earned the respect of his opponents in New York.”I always enjoyed playing against Boston because of Nomar,” Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter said. “I used to enjoy being mentioned with him.”Added Alex Rodriguez: “I love Nomar. He’s a great player and a friend.”Gordon Edes covers the Red Sox for ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

James
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — LeBron James is expected to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers’ lineup against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, while Antawn Jamison will be a game-time decision.They were just two of six players to miss practice Wednesday for the Cavaliers, who took advantage of a break in the schedule to rest all five of their regular starters.James missed two games after twisting his right ankle last Friday against Detroit, but is likely to play at Philadelphia, Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. James has played the sixth-most minutes in the league this season, averaging 39 per game.Jamison won’t practice the rest of the week after revealing Wednesday he has a cyst behind his left knee that is filled with fluid. Shaquille O’Neal continues to rehab following surgery on his right thumb, while Anthony Parker and Mo Williams also took Wednesday off to rest nagging injuries. Key sub Anderson Varejao also missed practice, but it wasn’t clear if he had an injury or just took the day off.All are expected to play Friday except for O’Neal and perhaps Jamison. An MRI earlier this week showed no damage to the knee and Jamison said it’s the same injury that hampered him early in the season when he was with Washington.”Perfect timing for something like this to happen,” Jamison said, referring to the three days off between games. “This organization is looking at the overall picture to make sure guys are healthy when it counts.”Even if Jamison doesn’t play Friday, he insists he’ll be back on the floor Sunday when Cleveland hosts Atlantic Division leader Boston.He said the cyst is a product of his mechanics and the way he runs. There are certain exercises he must do to keep the knee flexible, but admitted he hadn’t done as much maintenance on it lately because of the trade to Cleveland and trying to get settled in a new city.”They want me to relax and let it calm down this week,” Jamison said. “It feels pretty good. It’s something that occurred earlier in the season. With proper treatment, it went away, so I don’t see this lingering any longer than it has the last couple of days.”
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

Chelios

The 48-year-old defenseman, a three-time Norris Trophy winner, has been called up by the Atlanta Thrashers, general manager Don Waddell told ESPN.com on Wednesday.”Can’t wait. Got to make the most out of this chance,” Chelios said in a text message to ESPN.com.Chelios had 22 points (5 goals, 17 assists) in 46 games with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves this season. He signed an NHL deal with the Thrashers on March 2. The Wolves are Atlanta’s primary AHL affiliate.”Chris has been an outstanding leader and mentor for our young players in Chicago and his level of play has made him deserving of this opportunity,” Waddell said. “He’s a tremendous competitor who strengthens our group of defensemen and instantly adds a veteran presence to our locker room.”The Chicago native, who has played in more games than any other American-born NHL player, last played in the NHL last May 27 with the Detroit Red Wings against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Western Conference finals.Chelios was limited to 28 games with Detroit during the 2008-09 regular season because of a broken leg suffered during an exhibition game. He played in six games during the playoffs.He has 948 points in his career with Detroit, the Blackhawks and Montreal Canadiens. He has appeared in an NHL-record 266 Stanley Cup playoff games and is a three-time captain for the U.S. Olympic team.At 48, Chelios is still three years younger than the oldest man to ever play in an NHL game. Gordie Howe was 51 when he scored 15 goals for the Hartford Whalers in 1979-80.Pierre LeBrun covers the NHL for ESPN.com. Information from The Associated Press was used in this report..