Nomar Garciaparra

Guide Note

All-Star Major League Baseball player Nomar Garciaparra currently plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has played shortstop, first base and third base.

Garciaparra was originally drafted on June 3, 1991, by the Milwaukee Brewers, but declined to sign to attend college instead. Garciaparra attended and played for Georgia Tech.

He was drafted again in the first round of the 1994 MLB Draft, signing with the Boston Red Sox on July 20, 1994. He spent his first couple seasons with the Red Sox' minor league affiliates, before he was called up to make his MLB debut on August 31, 1996, playing 24 games with the Red Sox that year.

Garciaparra earned a full roster spot with the Red Sox in 1997, playing in 153 games, hitting 122 runs and finishing with a .306 batting average. He was selected for his first of six MLB All-Star Game appearances that year, as well as selected as the MLB Rookie of the Year and the given a Silver Slugger Award.

In 1998, Garciaparra played 143 games with the Red Sox, hitting 111 runs and placed second in voting for the MLB Most Valuable Player Award. He also made his first post season appearance with the Red Sox in 1998, where they lost the American League Divisional Series to the Cleveland Indians.

Garciaparra continued with the Red Sox for the next several years, missing the majority of the 2001 season with a wrist injury. On July 31, 2004, he was sent to the Chicago Cubs as part of a four team trade. He completed the 2004 season and the 2005 season with the Cubs, then entered free agency at the end of the year.

On December 19, 2005, Garciaparra signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he was moved to first base. In 2006 he was awarded the National League Comeback Player of the Year Award, after recovering from oblique and knee injuries he suffered in 2005.

In 2007, Garciaparra moved positions yet again, this time to third base.

Fast Facts

1. Full name: Anthony Nomar Garciaparra
2. Born: July 23, 1973
3. Birthplace: Whittier, California
4. Drafted: 1994, Boston
5. All-Star selections: 6
6. 1997: AL Rookie of the Year
7. AL Batting titles: 1999, 2000
8. Married soccer player Mia Hamm in 2003