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Sports Then and Now



Nomar Garciaparra to Cooperstown? 1

Posted on March 11, 2010 by Don Spieles
Nomar Garciaparra #5

Nomar Garciapara was star from the get-go in Boston.

Yesterday marked the end of the line to Nomar Garciaparra.  He announced his retirement from baseball at the age of 36, after playing 14 14 Major League seasons.  In a twist that will forever endear him to Red Sox Nation, Nomar signed a one day minor league contract so that he officially retire with the team where he began it all back in 1994 as a first round draft pick.

But besides the praise he’ll get from Boston faithful after a teary press conference and after throwing out the first pitch of a Grapefruit League match-up, the question now will be asked whether “Nomah” will be a possibility for Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Pros

Garciaparra has some seriously good statistics in his favor.  He batted .313 for his career.  His 229 home runs seems sort of low, but remember that Garciaparra was predominantly a shortstop.  The AL record for homers by a short stop is Cal Ripken, Jr.’s 345.  In the NL, the record is held by Ernie Banks at 277. Read the rest of this entry →

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      The Sports Then and Now Vintage Athlete of the Month is a former major league baseball player who came into the game as a teenager and stayed until he was in his 40s. In between, Rusty Staub put up a solid career that was primarily spent on expansion or rebuilding teams.

      Originally signed by the Colt .45s at age 17, he made his major league debut as a 19-year old rookie and became only the second player in the modern era to play in more than 150 games as a teenager.

      Though he hit only .224 splitting time between first base and rightfield, Staub did start building a foundation that would turn him into an All-Star by 1967 when he finished fifth in the league with a .333 batting average.

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