The courtship of Nomar Garciaparra moves north to Milwaukee on Tuesday as road-tripping Cubs fans show the new kid in town how much they like to travel.
As evidenced by his first seven games at Wrigley Field, fans are putting a full-court press on the veteran shortstop, hoping to persuade him to stick around for a few years and get to know the city.
They’re borrowing the blueprint of St. Louis fans, who showed third baseman Scott Rolen what they were all about after he arrived from the Phillies at the end of July in 2002. Rolen pressed at the outset while trying to impress his new fan base. He went into a 2-for-32 funk and didn’t hit a homer until his 42nd at-bat.
But Rolen was cheered loudly after every at-bat at Busch Stadium, including strikeouts. He quickly decided to forego free agency, signing an eight-year, $90 million deal to stay in St. Louis.
The money obviously had a lot to do with his decision. But the idea he could struggle a bit without any negative fan reaction was most appealing to Rolen. He was coming from Philadelphia, where he had been booed vociferously after breaking off contract talks with the Phillies. Happy in St. Louis, he is a leading contender for the National League’s MVP award this year.
Like Rolen, Garciaparra arrived at the trading deadline. Chicago has treated him like royalty ever since.
There is no doubt Cubs fans want Garciaparra back, and little doubt Cubs management wants him as well. Garciaparra’s intentions are unknown–he prefers to concentrate on the task at hand, which is helping the Cubs win a championship.
Unless Garciaparra is dead set on returning to California, general manager Jim Hendry should have no problem convincing him Chicago is the perfect place for him. Hendry has been able to come up with creative packages to keep Kerry Wood and Derrek Lee around for a few years, and Dusty Baker is considered a players’ manager and great communicator.
If Garciaparra wants to stay, Hendry will find a way to make it work. He has wisely postponed any contract talks until after the season, treating Garciaparra as he would Michael Barrett, Aramis Ramirez, Carlos Zambrano and any other Cub who merits a significant salary increase in 2005.
The best way to keep Garciaparra around is to win games, go to the playoffs and advance.
Garciaparra is not enamored with numbers, as I learned when I first interviewed him at Fenway Park in late July 2000. Garciaparra was hitting .391 at the time, giving rise to speculation about him becoming baseball’s first .400 hitter since Ted Williams in 1941.
He may have been the only one not caught up in the talk.
“Stats are a joke,” he said with a laugh. “Box scores are irrelevant. Looking at them doesn’t tell me anything–not one thing. All that matters is if we win or lose.”
Garciaparra wound up hitting .372 that season, becoming the first right-handed hitter with back-to-back American League batting titles since Joe DiMaggio in 1939-40. He earned the respect of fellow right-handed-hitter Paul Molitor, a future Hall of Famer, who said Garciaparra “must have tremendous vision and recognition because he seems to be on every pitch.”
An admirer of great hitters, Williams took a liking to Garciaparra, and they communicated often over the years before Williams’ death in 2002. Garciaparra was supposed to be the heir apparent to the “Splendid Splinter” and “Yaz,” wearing a Red Sox uniform throughout his career and carrying the torch proudly. “No-mah” became a household name in New England, popularized by a “Saturday Night Live” skit. Garciaparra and Fenway Park seemed like an ideal match.
But things happen. Now Nomar is a Cub, looking more comfortable and relaxed since he got his “r” back.
Keeping Garciaparra in Wrigley Field for the next several years will be Hendry’s biggest task this winter. The rousing ovation Cubs fans extended Hendry at the Greg Maddux 300-wins ceremony on Sunday can be directly traced to his perseverance in obtaining Garciaparra.
Hendry delighted the capacity crowd with his frank acknowledgement that Maddux should have won all 300 games in a Cubs uniform. It was a subtle dig at a past Cubs regime, and only a GM as popular as Hendry could get away with it.
Does this sound like a man who would let Nomar Garciaparra get away?
