A Postscript For A-Rod

The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract Excerpt

Since A-Rod's retirement, I fished out my copy of 'The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract', which has the following write-up on Alex Rodriguez:

17 - Alex Rodriguez
(1994-2000, 70G, 189 595 .309)
 The best seasons ever by a 20-year old player. 

1. Ty Cobb, 1907
2. Silver King, 1888
3. Alex Rodriguez, 1996
4. Dwight Gooden, 1985
5 Mickey Mantle, 1952
6. Bob Feller, 1939
7. Ted Williams, 1939
8. Mel Ott, 1929
9. Al Kaline, 1955
10. Noodles Hahn, 1899

Of the other nine players on the list, six went on to have Hall of Fame careers. The three who failed to do so were all pitchers - Silver King, Doc Gooden and Noodles Hahn

Then right below it, he has a section that goes:

XXX - Nomar Garciaparra and Derek Jeter
It is too early to rate Nomar garciaparra and Derek Jeter; the same is true of A-Rod, of course. I have nothing to add to the constant hype that accompanies all three men, except that I will observe that it seems likely that all three men will rate amongst the Top 20 at the position and that I would regard any stronger statement as speculation. We do not know whether any of these men will eventually have better seasons than they have already had. 

Pretty careful avoidance-of-prognostication there. For the record, the final tally for these guys were:

• Alex Rodriguez: 114.9 oWAR, 9.5dWAR from BRef, and 112.9 WAR from Fangraphs.
• Nomar Garciaparra: 42.6 and 6.0dWAR from BRef and 41.4WAR from Fangrpahs.
• Derek Jeter: 95.5oWAR, -9.5dWAR from BRef and 71.7WAR from Fangraphs.

Baseball Reference seems to think all three were better than what Fangraphs has them pegged as having been.

By our contemporary reckoning and ignoring the PED issue, A-Rod clocks in at about the 14th best player of all time, while Derek Jeter sits at about no.50. If you think about the value to the franchise, A-Rod delivered about 60-odd WAR to the Yankees. That's pretty remarkable lump of performance. Eyeballing the Shortstops in the HOF, and again ignoring the PED issue, A-Rod and Jeter would be a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame, but Nomar falls short (50WAR is about the cut off for HOF consideration for Shortstops).

Ravaged by injuries, Nomar really didn't get to rack up the counting stats. A-Rod moved off Shortstop in favour of Derek Jeter, which is going to be one of those stories they'll be talking about a hundred years from now. So A-Rod's value at Shortstop ceases at 2003; even so A-Rod did rack up 52WAR as a Shortstop to that point in time, so if he dropped dead at the end of 2003 instead of playing for the Yankees, he still did better than Nomar's entire career and still would be worthy of being a Hall of Famer.

As it is, it is most certain that only Jeter will make the Hall of Fame out of these three men. Not something Bill James might have predicted given what was in front of us in 2000. Things played out much more strangely than one might have predicted back then. I was asked his week if I went soft on PED cheats because all these Yankees like A-Rod, Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens and Jason Giambi got caught. It's most likely true that I did. Taking those drugs sure didn't make those teams win the World Series more. For all the personal records and even the numbers in the seasonal win columns, the Yankee dynasty after 2001 was more notable for how fruitless it was given how much money was being invested. A-Rod was the poster boy even for that.

Yet if it really gets down to the brass tacks, A-Rod was trying to win each year. I'm not going to fault him for something like that given that half of professional sports is about the entertainment value. The numbers might be tainted by PEDs, but at the end of the day there's only the championships and flags fly forever. We were mightily entertained by A-Rod, and that's the truth. I can't fault him for trying to entertain us more. Pretending that simple relationship doesn't exist in spectator sports is exactly what makes lesser sports boring.

Nomar Retires A Red Sox

Saying Goodbye Is Hard

The holy trinity of Shortstops from the late 1990s was something to behold. In the early part of 2000s, Miguel Tejada worked his name into the lofty company of shortstops who seemed to hit OPS120+. Then, A-Rod moved to 3B to play for the Yankees when Aaron Boone (he of that magic homer in 2003) busted his knee in a pick-up game and the Rangers dumped salary on the Yankees, and the next thing you knew, Nomar was traded away for Orlando Cabrera and moved off short for 3B that was that.

Now Nomar's retiring.

Epstein, who grew up in the Boston area, knew the risk he was taking by trading away the shortstop who had been the most popular player on the team.

“We’ve been fortunate over the years to maintain a relationship after the trade,” Epstein said. “I think both of us understood at the time that it wasn’t about Nomar and it wasn’t about me. It was just baseball trades that happen. They’re about what’s going on with the team at the time and certain things that had to happen. But, it didn’t change what Nomar meant to the Red Sox.”

Terry Francona, who led the team to a World Series title in his rookie season as Red Sox manager, saw just the last few months of Garciaparra’s time at Fenway Park.

“His last part in Boston was tough,” Francona said. “He was kind of Boston-ed out. It had kind of wore on him for whatever reasons. Sometimes it’s time to move on. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad person. I think the fact he’s come back kind of shows that.”

Garciaparra’s teammates—the beneficiaries of his acrobatic defense and clutch hitting—found it appropriate that he retired in a Boston uniform.

“He was a Red Sox for a long time and I think he’ll always be remembered as a Red Sox,” said pitcher Tim Wakefield(notes), who was Garciaparra’s teammate for the shortstop’s entire stay in Boston. “For the organization to sign him to a one-day deal and have him retire as a Red Sox is pretty special. I’m really happy for him. I wish he was still playing but sometimes our careers take different paths.”

Garciaparra threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Wednesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, with former Red Sox and Georgia Tech teammate Jason Varitek(notes) catching.

“Nomar will always hold a special place in Red Sox history and in the hearts of Red Sox Nation,” owner John Henry said. “His accomplishments on the field and in the community place him among the greatest players to wear a Red Sox uniform. We are very appreciative that Nomar is ending his career where it began.”

Garciaparra spent the past five seasons with the Cubs, Dodgers and A’s. He had a .313 career average with 229 home runs and 936 RBIs.

Garciaparra was in the thick of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry but always earned the respect of his opponents in New York.

“I always enjoyed playing against Boston because of Nomar,” Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter(notes) said. “I used to enjoy being mentioned with him.”

Added Rodriguez: “I love Nomar. He’s a great player and a friend.”

At last he got his weish and retired a Red Sox. Let the Hall of Fame discussions begin. Good peak, not enough duration. I can just see it now.

It's a shame, really. I would have preferred an alternative universe where Nomar stayed on with the Red Sox and the Red Sox never won the World Series... but I'm a Yankees fan, what do you expect?

Now that he's gone, it's feeling really quite empty. It's hard to get worked up about Dustin Pedroia versus Robinson Cano. Dice-K versus Kei Igawa was a no contest and there's really not much to the rest of it. Time just keeps flowing, I guess.

So Much For That Idea

Nomar Is A Dodger
Can't blame him really. He rejoins his old team mates Derek Lowe, Bill Mueller and manager Grady Little from the 2003 Bosox. So much for that really cool 'supersub' idea. It also makes Torre's calls 1 for 4 this year.

The Yankees had wanted to sign Garciaparra, floating the idea of a $3 million deal, plus incentives. They would probably have increased that offer, but talks never intensified and the Yankees came to believe that Garciaparra would choose the Dodgers, the team he rooted for as a child growing up in Southern California.

Garciaparra has a home near Los Angeles with his wife, Mia Hamm, and he apparently did not relish the idea of returning to the East Coast, where the news media's scrutiny sometimes bothered him in Boston.

Now that Garciaparra is off the market, the Yankees may sign Miguel Cairo to be a backup infielder. Cairo, a free agent who played well for the Yankees in 2004, said last week that the Yankees were his first choice.

The Yankees also hope soon to complete a one-year contract for about $2 million, plus incentives, with center-fielder Bernie Williams, who wants to return to the Yankees in a lesser role.

Garciaparra played in 81 games in 2004, and just 62 games for the Chicago Cubs last season, when he missed three months because of a torn left groin. The successive injury-marred seasons reduced his marketability, and Garciaparra sought a short-term deal in the hopes of reestablishing himself as an elite hitter.

Well, my sourgrape-o-scope tell me he's still a big injury risk to play as a starter these days. :)

Nomar Saves 2 Women And...

I Must Be Bored

In fact I have a sneaking suspicion the world is bored.

First of all, Nomar Garciaparra dived into the water to save two drowned women

Former Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra rescued two women who had fallen into Boston Harbor late last week, his uncle and a witness told the Boston Herald.

Garciaparra, traded to the Chicago Cubs on July 31, 2004, was with his uncle in his Charlestown condominium at about 10 p.m. Friday when they heard a scream and a splash, said the uncle, Victor Garciaparra.

As soon as the All-Star shortstop and two-time American League batting champ ran out the door to help the woman, her friend also fell in, hitting her head on the pier, said Victor Garciaparra, who oversees his nephew's business and charitable ventures.

Victor Garciaparra jumped from the balcony to the water 20 feet below.

"I swam towards them and by the time I reached them, Nomar was already there holding the girls up," he told the newspaper. "But he couldn't get them up without help."

One woman had a large lump on her head and appeared to be unconscious, he said. When she came to, the first thing she said was: "Are you Nomar?" Victor Garciaparra said.

The two men pulled the women from the water. Their husbands arrived and whisked them off to the hospital before the Garciaparras even got their names, he said.

Johnny O'Hara of Natick witnessed the incident from his boat.

"A bunch of us came running over and sure enough, pulling the two girls from the water was Nomar," he told the newspaper. "It was crazy. Nomar was like jumping over walls to get to the girls and the other guy leaped off the balcony. It was unbelievable."

Nomar Garciaparra was unavailable for comment, his uncle said.

Earlier in the season, of course, Alex Rodriguez saved a kid from certain death.

So naturally the comparison turned into a joke and there's this massive thead at the Baseball Think Factory which goes out to 500+ comments.
It's pretty funny, but it''s strictly for baseball fans. Here's the Blog Entry version... make sure you hit "Show Entire Post" button.
My favorite is this one:

79. Ozzie Guillen would have sacrificed one, left the other stranded, and been hailed for his use of the productive death.

Priceless fun.