I’m sure there were some things that Nomar Garciaparra did yesterday that he didn’t get a standing ovation for. He might have changed the channels on the TV in his hotel room without much fanfare. He might have even successfully brushed his teeth without fan adulation. But once he set foot inside of Wrigley Field, no movement went unnoticed by the Cubs faithful.
I hope Nomar won’t hold it against us that we seemed a little clingy yesterday. I hope, if he sensed the tinge of desperation in the cheers that he forgave us. We’re new to this kind of thing. But if he allowed himself to tell us the truth, he’d admit that he needed the big Cubby group hug he got yesterday. It’s been a miserable season for Nomar to this point. It started last winter when the Red Sox came to him with a new contract extension…that was $12 million less than what they offered him a year before. Then they traded him to the other side of town, only to see that trade fall through when they couldn’t get a deal done for his replacement…A-Rod. The Red Sox tried to make nice with Nomar after that fell through, but then in the spring he hurt his Achilles (sound familiar?) and missed half the season.
The latest controversy is a he said, he said thing between Nomar and the Sox that he told them he was going to need another lengthy DL stay to be healthy enough for September to contribute. Nomar and his agent claim that’s not true.
And so yesterday, when he poked his head out of the dugout for the first time to go stretch he got a standing ovation from the crowd. They went nuts when they read his name in the starting lineup. He got a thunderous ovation before his first at bat, and the place was up for grabs in the seventh when he got his first hit and RBI for the Cubs.
Admit it, when Steve Stone narrated the replay of Nomar’s hit and said, “there’s the first of many hits and RBI’s you’ll see Nomar get in a Cubs uniform” your bumps got a little goosey.
There was a reason beyond just what Nomar’s presence could bring to the 2004 Cubs that Jim Hendry was so fixated on bringing him to town. The Cubs have had a cavernous hole at shortstop for decades. Shawon Dunston, Don Kessinger and of course Ivan DeJesus (just had to see if you were paying attention) have adequately filled the spot from time to time. But just like third base was an abyss, so was short. Nomar’s the now easy answer to “Who’s the best Cubs shortstop since Ernie Banks?” Hendry knew that in the offseason, signing Nomar on his way out of Boston would be a longshot. Anthony Nomar Garciaparra is a southern California born and bred boy. He and his soccer superstar wife were certain to head out to LA or Anaheim to finish up his career. But Hendry knew that if Nomar made a two or three month pit stop in Chicago… If Nomar got to play all of his home games at Wrigley with the fans going nutty every day… If he got to experience what it’s like to play for Dusty, that Nomar wouldn’t make it across the Mississippi.
Nomar’s not a rental. The Cubs won’t come right out and say it, and Nomar and his agent won’t either, but it’s hard to fathom that he won’t be around in 2005. But if he is, it’ll still be worth it.
Because just the mere acquisition of the five-time All-Star, two-time batting title and Gold Glove winner was enough to send the Cardinals into fits on Saturday. Check out this quote from an anonymous Cardinals player… “How does that happen? It seems like someone’s always looking out for the Cubs. I don’t get it.”
Which Mensa member hatched this paranoid delusion? It’s either The Genius, Steve Kline or Matt Moran.
It could be time to alter (as suggested by a reader yesterday) our favorite Cardinals photo from this:
to this:
Forgive the Cardinals if they’re a little testy. They fear nothing more than having a great season spoiled by having front row seats to a Cubs pennant dogpile. You know they dread the thought. Nothing would scar them more than winning 105 games and sailing into the NLCS only to finally run into a healthy batch of Cubs…and their new buddy, Nomar.
Dusty said it on July 20 after the “last” matchup of the year between the two teams. “I have a feeling we’ll play them again this year.”
Things just got even more interesting.
—-
I’m a relatively grown man, and I got goosebumps when WGN first showed Nomar in the home whites. He looks good in pinstripes.
I also posted a nearly hilariously inaccurate Cubs starting lineup. I had heard on the radio as I was flipping around that Todd Walker would play second since he was Nomar’s old running mate in Boston and that Nomar was hitting second. I thought the lineup was going to be:
Walker
Nomar
Sammy
Moises
Derrek
E-ramis
Corey
Gabor
Maddux
Instead, Dusty decided it was time to switch it all around, and he created…a fairly lucid batting order.
Corey
Nomar
Moises
Sammy
E-ramis
Derrek
Grudzielanek
Gabor
Maddux
Corey’s probably not ready to lead off, but he’s more ready than he’s ever been. Does that make any sense? He’s finally embraced the idea of getting some cheap hits by bunting. After one day it was a success, with Corey reaching base three times and stealing a base.
Randy Wolf, all in all did a nice job yesterday and I know that the Cubs to this point have struggled against lefty pitching, but how’d you like to be a lefty and run into the Nomar-Moises-Sammy-E-ramis-Derrek Lee portion of that lineup.
Consider me not surprised that Sammy went yard in Nomar’s first game. Sammy will share the spotlight, but not abdicate it.
Lost amid the hub and the bub of it all was Greg Maddux shaking off a bad, wind blown first inning to turn in another good start. Before he got a little heat stroke in the sixth he had settled in and only an error by a similarly heat addled Sosa had caused Greg to trail in the game.
Greg’s like a Butterball turkey and at some point the game something pops up and says “I’m done!” And so he left what would have been his 300th victory one inning too soon. Oh well. We probably couldn’t have taken all of that in one day anyway.
Thanks to Jim Hendry and Nomar and a four run seventh, nobody left Maddux’s failed bid for 300 disappointed. Nobody except the Phillies.
—
Dave van Dyck stalked Nomar from dawn to dusk.
Nomar’s first visit to Wrigley is one to remember.
Before you get too worried, just remember Dan “Curly Haired Boyfriend” Shaughnessy has been sharpening his axe against Nomar for a while.
This will be the only women’s soccer article ever linked to here. Unless the Brazilian team poses nude again.
Greg Maddux said he was out of gas.
Ryan Dempster’s rehab program apparently didn’t involve a lot of sit ups. He’s a little chunky. Now let’s hope he can out pitch Todd Wellemeyer.
Phil Rogers on Maddux’s selfless act. Yes, this is overblown.
From yesterday, Phil orgasms over the Nomar trade.
Rick Morrissey on the odd feel to yesterday’s game.
Mariotti puts down the doughnut today to get all giddy about the Cubs.
Yesterday he wrote two. One before the Nomar trade…
And one after it…
Oh shaddup. NASCAR legend and mediocre columnist Jeff Gordon is trying to the make the Cardinals the underdogs now.
Dusty thinks Corey could be Lou Brock. I’d settle for Greg Brock. No, wait, I wouldn’t.
More reaction in New England about Nomar.
Nomar and the Sawx will never agree on what happened in the days before he was traded.
Did the Yankees not get the memo about John Olerud not being good anymore?
John Clayton was in Bourbonnais yesterday. Poor guy.
Five things about the Bears.
Peter Gammons on Theo Epstein and Paul DePodesta. If you ask me, they both screwed the pooch at the deadline.
Jayson Stark on the trade deadline’s winners and losers. Here’s my favorite quote: “All of which inspired one NL executive to say, ‘The Cubs kicked everyone’s butt.'”
Peter King’s Monday Morning Quarterback.
I knew there was a reason I liked Dennis Hastert.
Info on why Tom Ridge raised the terror alert. It had nothing to do with Chip Caray’s assclown act yesterday at Wrigley.
The world’s greatest newspaper wonders if Ralph Nader is the Manchurian Candidate?
Nice whining from the Cardinals. This from a team who has had Jim Edmonds, Mark McGwire, Scott Rolen, Edgar Renteria, and Woody Williams HANDED to them in trades in the past several years.
The Score just reported the story about Roger Clemens being booted out of a Little League game in Texas after yelling and spitting sunflower seeds at an umpire. What a douche bag.
Yes, everything’s gone the Cubs’ way! Remember that recent game they won against Milwaukee even though they only got 3 hits total? Oh, wait, that was the Cardinals, who have had a dream season so far in which all has gone just ducky for them, so why are they bitching?
The second caller on Sports Central (WGN-AM) yesterday was a Deadbird fan complaining that Jim Memolo had said, at the top of the program, that the Cubs now MAY HAVE the best shortstop in the NL.
When Memolo said it, I was trying to think who was better. Renteria was the first name that popped in my head, sure, but I didn’t have the numbers in fron of me. Plus, I didn’t care. Nomar’s a stud, regardless.
Then "Frank" got on the phone, absolutely outraged that Memolo would disregard his precious Edgar so quickly.
He admitted to being a Cardinal fan, but that was obvious.
It just got me to thinking how deranged some Cardinal fans really are. This guy–obviously already rattled by the Cubs’ acquisition that he’s absorbing everything Cub-related rather than getting some fresh air outside–was so freaked out about an announcer on the Cub flagship making a case for Nomar, that he gets on the phone to split hairs with him.
The funny thing was, it wasn’t as if Memolo had declared that Nomar WAS the best shortstop in the NL, but he just threw out a thought, which had just occured to him before the show, that Nomar MAY BE the best shortstop in the NL.
The fact that this guy was motivated to call up and rant about a perfectly arguable posit by the host demonstrates the insecurity that Cardinal fans possess.
Truly, sincerely pathetic.
Go Cubs.
When you think about it the Cards fans should be relieved about the Cubs getting Nomar, and should openly root for Nomar resigning with the Cubs, because if he leaves for California the Cubs are just going to outbid the Cards for Renteria.
Yeah, woo, don’t we all just hate income taxes? 35 percent sales tax on everything will work sooooo much better. And them leechey little poor folk will be payin’ their "fair share" at last!
Hastert is a bastert.
From the ESPN article:
"Jones needs to be playmaker in new offense"
That’s like reading a headline that says "Bako key to Cubs post-season chances."
Shoot me now.
Hey did you guys notice that I hit a FLY BALL yesterday?? If the wind had been blowing harder, that could’ve been my first Cub homer! I would’ve totally stolen the spotlight from Greggie and Nomar.
What an ass.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=1850730
Gordon writes in his Post-Dispatch column that the Cubs are displying a "win-at-any cost" attitude and are willing to spend whatever it takes. First, this is just a prepared excuse for Redbird Nation for if/when the Cardinals fall in the post-season (either in the NLDS or to the Cubs in the NLCS). Second, what’s wrong with displaying that kind of attitude? The Cubs have the prospects that the Cardinals don’t. That’s why the Cubs made the trade. And for the past 7-8 years, the Cardinals have consistently had a higher payroll than the Cubs (and among the top 10 in baseball), so they have no room to bitch about spending.
I was at the I-Cubs game in Des Moines Friday night when Francis Beltran came in. We were sitting about two rows behind several scouts, and they got a good chuckle when I hollered at them to "put your radar guns away, this guy sucks". I also mentioned his hanging slider (which a player promptly deposited over the left field wall) and straight-as-an-arrow fastball. They also laughed when I was yelling "Don’t blow our trade, Francis!". Had I known he was going to be part of the Nomar deal, I would have been a little kinder.
I cross the line from dirty young man to dirty old man tomorrow. Time is growing shorter on my seeing a Cubs World Series in my lifetime. I really hope Nomar is the missing link, I truly do.
Just don’t think so, though.
What are the long-term prospects of keeping Nomar beyond this year?
I think Renteria would be a better answer, as he’d be cheaper and also hurts the Cardinals.
When does the pool begin about what date I will be singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame?
Probably not until after me, Mia.
All you need to know about the plans for Nomar beyond 2004 are this: At 3:45 PM Saturday, Jim Hendry went on the air to discuss the trade.
He then specifically mentioned Arn Tellem, Nomar’s agent and what a great guy Tellem is.
Public buttering is only for one purpose — to send a message. And the message is, let’s talk good buddy.
Mia will be singing during the my seventh inning.
The chances of me resigning goes up exponentially if I’m still getting those standing o’s at Wrigley come October.
you don’t have to be me to have noticed the dramatic drop-off in Comments recently.
it’s all part of a sustained, yet paradoxical, effort by Desipio’s readers to keep the site from falling under the weight of its current financial burden.
since Andy frequently claims that the more popular the site gets, the more cash he has to shell out – this dramatic reduction in hits should actually keep Desipio around a helluva lot longer…
re-signing?
or
resigning?
We’re on a new "unlimited bandwidth" plan. You can post until your arses fall off all at the same low, low price.
Ha!
I is a writer!
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Aug-01-Sun-2004/sports/24440798.html
The real reason I made the trade for Nomar was to reward the Cubs fans who’ve had to deal with Chip these past years. Even though I’d put the over/under on 3 games before Chip starts talking about how much better Renteria is.
Honesty compels me to point out the Edgar Renteria has more than 1300 National League hits more than Nomar Garciaparra.
Besides, he keeps Lassie Edmonds happy while on the road.
Tony LaRussa told me that Edgar Renteria might win a Gold Glove someday.
Wait…he’s already won one? I meant he said that Tony Womack will win one someday.
Wow, I’m an ass.
Speaking of me, why is there nothing but silence on my contract? And why hasn’t Comcast, which just spent a ton of moolah on Dan Jiggets publicly negotiating with me?
Why am I asking you?
My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives.
I’m still an ass. Check this out.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/sports/9299908.htm?1c&ERIGHTS=-1694925675066161953miami
LOCKER PROTOCOL
Shortly after Brad Penny cleaned out his oversized locker in the Marlins clubhouse Friday, pitcher Josh Beckett moved in.
But his stay was a short one. When the Marlins came off the field after that night’s game, a number of the team’s veterans, led by Mike Lowell and Carl Pavano, let Beckett know that, with fewer than three seasons in the majors, he hadn’t earned a premium locker spot.
By Saturday, Beckett had moved out, clearing the space for Lo Duca.
Penny, by the way, harbors no hard feelings toward his former team and said the Marlins improved themselves by trading him.
”I think they will be better,” he said. “We needed a couple of bats over there. They had to trade someone. I figured it would be me or Pavano.”
However, first baseman Hee Seop Choi, who appeared to have found a home in Miami after a difficult rookie season with the Chicago Cubs, was shocked after being dealt to the Dodgers.
”I tried to explain to him that it was a business move, and it wasn’t because he did something wrong,” McKeon said. “I think everybody hated to see him go. I almost had tears in my eyes when he said goodbye. He’s just such a great kid.”
Of course, Jack thought he was telling Jet Li he’d been traded.
Hey buddy! I let Nomar have Alex Gonzalez’s locker, buddy! It’s a nice one!
I even let him put a CD in my boom box, buddy! He like Anita Bryant, too! Oh, buddy, we’re new pals, me and Nomar!
His wife is a sweetie, buddy! She promised to help my wife figure out the proper Advil dosage, buddy!
I never let punk assed kids like Beckett get away with that crap.
I’m an ass because I wanted a "premium" locker (what the hell does that mean, anyway?) but then promptly gave it up when someone asked me to? Sure I’m an ass, but that’s not much of a reason why.
Am I gonna give Nomah #5? I should really hurry up and decide so everyone can buy their accurate Garciaparra jerseys.
I’m an ass for constant splitting open my blister and then complaining about the trainer, who is paid to help me heal.
We just posted a 20-5 record in July. Can we keep it up in August?
We’re going 5-20 in September. Of course, we’d still be comfortably in first.
I’ve done such a swell job at helping the President balance the budget, I might as well eliminate the IRS.
I’m not sure what’s bigger – the deficit or my waistline.
Hey did you see Michael Sneed’s column in Tuesday’s Sun-Times:
Gag ’em . . .
Sneed hears an item in this column last month about the divorce of Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry and his wife, Andrea, has resulted in Circuit Court Judge Anthony Young issuing a temporary restraining order enjoining Andrea’s attorney, David Pasulka, from talking to the press.
*The shocker: "It’s shocking and it’s outrageous," said Pasulka … who obviously is still talking to the press.
———————————
So my soon-to-be ex-wife’s husband is still talking. Maybe that’s because an ineffective Anthony Young is the judge.
I meant my soon-to-be ex-wife’s lawyer is still talking. Forgive me. I’ve been on a non-stop celebratory bender after raping Teddy Greenstein… I mean Theo Epstein.
Yeah, my old Boston teammates are lining up and calling me a cancer, aren’t they?
http://redsox.bostonherald.com/redSox/view.bg?articleid=38318
It’s probably Schilling who was spreading those rumors. That’s OK, because I couldn’t stand the prick myself.
Wow, I’m starting rumors and stupid gossip? I can’t imagine!
Anyway, ask Randy Johnson what a great teammate I am! I’d ask him myself but that little restraining order thingy prevents phone calls.
I no longer believe Mrs. Jason Kidd needs to be smacked.
Today, I believe the Red Sox management and Boston media (me excepted) deserves it.
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2004/08/03/who_was_hustling_in_all_this/
We’re really fckin’ bitter, man.
NOMAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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