Nomar Garciaparra’s Goodbye

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Six years after he was traded away for the final pieces of Boston's World Series puzzle, Nomar Garciaparra finally got a friendly farewell from the Red Sox.
The rookie of the year, batting champion and All-Star whose trade began a bitter back-and-forth in Boston and, for Garciaparra, an inglorious slide into irrelevance, signed a ceremonial one-day contract with the Red Sox on Wednesday for the purpose of retiring in the uniform of his original team.

"From the first day I had the thrill of putting on a Red Sox uniform and playing in front of all the great fans at Fenway Park, I have felt at home in Boston," Garciaparra said in a statement that belied the ugliness that accompanied his departure. "While I had the privilege of playing with other legendary teams, I always saw myself retiring in a Red Sox uniform."
Garciaparra announced he's leaving baseball at 36 to become an ESPN analyst, ending a 14-year career in which he was a six-time All-Star and two-time batting champion. But the career that started with the 1997 AL Rookie of the Year award began to crumble when the Red Sox tried to acquire Alex Rodriguez after the 2003 season – a deal that probably would have forced them to trade Garciaparra.
Although the Rodriguez deal fell through, the talks upset Garciaparra, and an Achilles' tendon injury that kept him out until June the next season didn't help his mood. It also didn't help that the market for shortstops had plummeted since he rejected a four-year, $60 million offer from the Red Sox.
With the Red Sox struggling at midseason, general manager Theo Epstein traded Garciaparra for shortstop Orlando Cabrera and defensive first baseman Doug Mientkiewicz. Accusations of disloyalty flew, and Red Sox fans were stunned to lose their "No-mah."
But they soon overcame their grief: The Red Sox went 42-18 for the best finish in baseball, capping the season with their first World Series crown since 1918.
Garciaparra watched from afar.
"I felt like I was there," he said. "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."