Any thoughts?-----------------------

Sunday, September 15, 2002
Nomar and Boston a corrosive mix
John Tomase
Staff Writer

BOSTON -- It is time for the Red Sox to find a new leader.

Or more accurately, a leader.

Nomar Garciaparra should be that guy. He's the most talented player
on the team. No one plays harder. He never cheats the paying
customers.

But some guys just aren't cut out to play in Boston. And the onion-
skinned Garciaparra is one of them.

This has become abundantly clear over the last couple of weeks,
though longtime observers of the team say they've feared this day
would come all along. Despite being adored and exalted by the press
and fans, Garciaparra feels persecuted.

And when he leaves the Red Sox, either by trade this off-season or
via free agency after 2004, he'll say, "They drove me away."

Not true. He'll leave because he hates it here.

It's no secret pro athletes are among the most out of touch people on
the planet. The planet which, incidently, revolves around them.

Garciaparra is no exception. He operates on the assumption that the
media and fans are out to get him, often carping about the negative
atmosphere in Boston.

Never mind that he's one of the most revered athletes in Boston
history, that he's known nothing but standing ovations and positive
press. He carries a chip on his shoulder the size of the Green
Monster.

Friday night he coated himself in sarcasm in response to a question
about the Red Sox' struggles at home.

"It's a good place to play, right?" he said. "There's a lot of
positive vibes around here. It's great."

No matter how you spin it, that's a swipe at the fans. The same fans
who continue to fill Fenway Park despite Boston's free fall.

Consider some of baseball's leaders. Jason Giambi. Chipper Jones.
Curt Schilling. Now imagine them complaining about boos. Even if Red
Sox fans are the worst front runners in baseball, Garciaparra should
be bigger than to call them on it.

Garciaparra seethed yesterday at press accounts that he blamed third
base coach Mike Cubbage for getting picked off second by Baltimore
second baseman Jerry Hairston in a crucial situation Friday night.

After the game Garciaparra said, "I didn't hear anything, so I didn't
know (Hairston) was there."

Yesterday he complained he merely meant he didn't hear Cubbage.
Replays exonerated the third base coach, who clearly tried to attract
Garciaparra's attention, even though it's a baseball axiom on pickoff
plays that the runner must track the second baseman, while the third
base coach watches the shortstop.

Garciaparra apologized to Cubbage yesterday for what he labeled
inaccurate press coverage, and Cubbage took the high road. "Nomar
didn't hear me," he said.

But a clubhouse source painted a different picture. He said privately
Cubbage was peeved.

"He said, 'That's his problem, not mine," the source said.

Garciaparra made his displeasure known with reporters yesterday in
classic passive-aggressive fashion, waiting until he was on the field
conversing with teammates.

"You're just like those (expletive) reporters," he said to teammate
Lou Merloni. "You just make stuff up."

He shouted the expletive over his shoulder, just to make sure the
assembled members of the press corps heard him. Then he repeated it
three times.

Garciaparra isn't the first guy to clash with the press, and he won't
be the last. But his complaints come off as petty, especially when
one considers that (a) radio replays verify he wasn't misquoted, and
(b) Cubbage felt singled out himself.

The Garciaparra myth appears to be crumbling. It can be summed up in
one sentence: "I don't care about stats."

For a player who doesn't care about stats, take a look the next time
he's charged with an error. First he'll sneak a glance under his left
armpit at the scoreboard. If an 'E' appears, he glares up at the
official scorer between pitches and as he runs off the field.

Because he doesn't care about stats.

It's no secret the Red Sox plan to pare payroll after the season,
possibly as low as $85 million. Re-signing Garciaparra after his
contract expires in 2004 would be a dicey proposition even if he
wanted to be here.

Factor in Garciaparra's increasingly public dislike of Boston, and
it's conceivable the Red Sox could trade him as soon as this off-
season, with his value at its highest.

Should that day come, this is all you'll need to know: no one will be
happier than Nomar.


John Tomase is a sportswriter for The Eagle-Tribune writer. E-mail
him at jtomase@...